Can Physical Therapy Help Relieve Shoulder Pain?

doctor massaging patient shoulders

Shoulder pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal ailments, affecting up to 26% of the adult population. It can make it difficult for you to perform even simple tasks that require the shoulder joint movement, creating a number of obstacles.

Many individuals who suffer from recurring shoulder pain turn to physical therapists for treatment. Let’s take a look at how this helps.

How Do Physical Therapists Help Ease Shoulder Pain?

A physical therapist can significantly help alleviate your shoulder pain by employing a range of modalities for the treatment process. They’ll start by conducting a thorough exam testing your functional abilities. This will also help in evaluating your strength and range of motion. By monitoring the quality and severity of your shoulder pain, they can then determine what exactly they’re dealing with.

For instance, whether or not you’re able to reach your arm behind your back or over your head allows physical therapists to determine the extent of loss of shoulder joint mobility. They can then devise a personalized treatment plan that can restore your range of motion and relieve the shoulder pain and discomfort entirely. In addition to this, physical therapists also perform a series of other tests if needed to diagnose the case at hand further.

Another thing physical therapists can do to treat your shoulder pain is to advise you regarding workplace ergonomics and the everyday activities you participate in. For instance, they can help you identify risk factors at your workplace that may be contributing to your shoulder pain. In addition to this, they can also assist with activity modification, helping you reevaluate your activities and implement new strategies to prevent muscle injuries to the shoulder.

How Soon Can You See Results?

It’s important to note that physical therapy isn’t an overnight fix. Your pain is unlikely to disappear right after your first session, unless it was a low-intensity pain to begin with. Like most non-pharmacological treatments, this too takes some time for the recovery process to be kick-started.

physiotherapist giving shoulder massage

That said, you will notice an improvement in your shoulder pain after a few sessions. Depending on the severity of your case, this change may even be noticeable within the first week. If the treatment is continued for the designated period, you’ll see a massive improvement in your condition with each passing therapy session and a significant reduction in shoulder pain. As your treatment proceeds, you may require less intensive therapy sessions over time.

Shoulder Pain Treatment at HealthRite

At HealthRite Medical and Rehab, we offer shoulder pain therapy to patients in Houston, TX. This incorporates a variety of modalities and techniques used in physical therapy to relieve shoulder pain and discomfort. We also provide massage therapy to help with this.

Get in touch with us to learn more about our services!