If you experience shoulder pain that does not go away, there are numerous treatment options, but few resolve the problem. Your choices can include going for therapy to the shoulder, having it evaluated and possibly injected by an orthopedic, or seeing your primary physician. Another choice being made more frequently is to visit a chiropractor first. Chiropractors are primary care providers for the musculoskeletal system. As Dr. C explains, rather than just looking at the shoulder, they look at you first, and when diagnosing the problem, then look at your shoulder. Most chronic shoulder problems including frozen shoulder involve the lower body. The big idea is a holistic evaluation that involves not only the shoulder but also the rest of the body. Since most shoulder problems are postural, your healthcare provider is likely missing the cause if they do not look at the rest of the patient. Proper treatment requires a proper understanding of why you hurt. Check out our newest video on shoulder pain below . Below is the full text of the video Hey, it’s Dr. Charschan, I wanted to cover one of the most common things we see in the office, and that’s shoulder pain. A lot of people have misconceptions. It’s interesting to hear people talk; Oh, its just a shoulder problem; Oh, it’s rotator cuff; oh my god… It’s the same thing since the rotator cuff is the shoulder. The shoulder is affected by different things. The most common reasons most people will see a professional for a shoulder problem might include A tear Impingement Frozen Shoulder which is when it gets really bad. And a shoulder strain which can happen from anything from a fall with an outstretched hand and repetitive motion. But the problem is; Why is the shoulder problem occurring? And what works to relieve it? So, the thing is that there are things that can be done to offer temporary relief. A lot of people will have a shoulder problem and see their primary doctor is not too adept at looking at shoulders and they will send you to a specialist, usually an orthopedic who will look at the shoulder. He’ll take x rays and may do some other tests to the shoulder but what about the rest of your body? If you have ever seen a shoulder walking around in the park, please let me know because I have never seen one in the wild however, I’ve seen people who happen to have shoulders. So, if you are not looking at the whole person, you are never going to figure out what is going on with the shoulder. So the thing is that, if you get an injection, it might offer temporary relief or maybe not. If you are going for rehab and they are doing things to the shoulder, well who did the shoulder go bad? Well, if it was because of exercise, doing more exercise might aggravate it. So, we’ve got to look at the shoulder as part of the body. Now the things is, it is very important to have good posture. If you have a posture where the shoulders roll in like this, there is a very good likelihood you are going to develop an impingement. There is also a likelihood that you might have other problems going on there including problems in the feet. If you look down you will see what I am talking about. So, if we are not looking at this, if we are not looking at the pelvis which is up in here, and if we are not looking to see if the pelvis is level or distorted which will conversely create a distortion in the upper back and restrict your upper body movement noticeable when you bring your arms up and reach. Over time, that’s going to cause problems in the shoulder as well so we really need to look at all of these different things. So, the lower back will affect the shoulder. Common conditions often affiliated with the shoulder include A hip capsule problem A foot issue or foot problems A lot of people come in and say well, I have a shoulder issue and then you further question them and they say well, I also have sciatica and I also have this. We ask them about everything. It’d is called being holistic. Its called being thorough. So, its really a movement problem. And, when people have a frozen shoulder, what usually happens is they were already restricted, they may not have been in pain before and now they go and reach for something and ouch , now they’re in pain. So, who should you see first? The chiropractor is probably your best bet because we are primary care for musculoskeletal. We’re the one stop shop who will take a look at everything. We will look at your feet, we’ll look at your legs, we will have you squat down, we will look at other parts of the body. We will be able to trace the restrictions in your shoulder to maybe another part of the body and more commonly, a shoulder problem that’s chronic, will also have other things that are going on in the other parts of the body affecting how it functions. So it’s important that you look at people first. So, the chiropractor is really your best first person to see for a shoulder problem. Our goal is your goal; pain relief and a return to normal function. So, who should you see first for a shoulder problem; Well, a chiropractor, naturally and you can feel better in as little as one visit. Call us today. You have nothing to lose but your pain.