Shoulder pain location
The location of your pain can sometimes tell you about where it’s originating.
If your pain is located in the region between the neck and the shoulder (as in the photo above), it’s likely that the pain isn’t starting in the shoulder, but rather in the neck.
The shoulder does not refer pain upwards towards the neck.
Rotator cuff issues, such as tears or tendinopathy, tend to refer down to the outside of the upper arm. Rarely do they produce a pain directly over the shoulder.
Internal shoulder joint issues such as labral tears or detachments (bankart lesions) tend to produce a pain at the front of the shoulder.
A acromioclavicular (A/C) injuries will produce a pain directly over the tip of the collarbone.
The shoulder will not produce a pain going below the elbow. If this is occurring, it’s much more likely that you have an issue coming from your neck, which involves the pinching of nerves there, causing referred pain down the arm. This sort of pain could also be due to nerve compression along the path of the nerve in the arm.
There are times when a shoulder issue is complicated by a neck issue. This can sometimes be challenging to differentiate. What part of the pain is coming from the neck, and what part is coming from the shoulder. It requires a meticulous approach to investigate the relative contributions from these areas.
Each person’s presentation is different and needs to be assessed independently. You may know someone who has been told they have a rotator cuff issue, but it may be very different to yours. It could involve different tendons and be sore with different activities.
It’s important the treatment is tailored to your needs and based on an assessment that highlight the issues that need to be addressed in your specific case.
Dr. Phillip Hughes