There are many types of pain that plague our bodies, one of the biggest is shoulder pain. You often don’t realise how much you rely on your shoulders being pain free until it becomes a struggle to put on a t-shirt or a jacket, or to stretch up to reach something from a shelf, and so on.

Many people are now turning to osteopathy for shoulder pain as a way to avoid taking overly harsh painkillers with possibly dangerous side effects. This is a positive step since osteopathy tries to get to the root causes of your shoulder pain and make adjustments to change those circumstances and stop the pain at that source.

But what are the most common causes of shoulder pain? How does this most uncomfortable state come about?

Cause 1: Injury to Your Rotator Cuffs

Around your shoulder joint is a group of 4 muscles known as the rotator cuff. They surround the joint and connect the shoulder blade to the upper arm bone. People who overuse their shoulders can develop issues like tendonitis, shoulder strains and even tears in their tendons. The resulting inflammation causes great pain, and lasting pain. It can take time to recover through rest, application of ice and other treatments.

Cause 2: Poor Posture

You might think that your posture is all to do with your back and neck, but there’s a lot to do with your shoulders there, too. Protracted periods of sitting and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is causing muscles at the front of our body, including in our shoulders, to weaken and lose balance. Weaknesses in the muscles make them more susceptible to the injuries mentioned in the previous point, and some others below.

Cause 3: Osteoarthritis

This disorder happens when your shoulder cartilage deteriorates, causing stiffness and deep throbbing aches in the back of the shoulder. As the disorder progresses, the pain just gets worse, leaving some patients unable to even scratch their back --- imagine that! It can be fixed through physical therapies and in extreme cases might require surgery, but is a common complaint in adults.

Cause 4: Bursitis

Your shoulder is home to something called the bursa, which is a fluid-filled sac which works to cushion the joint. If the bursa becomes irritated it can swell up and cause pain. This mostly happens as a result of too much repetitive action and strain on the shoulder. Those doing repetitive physical labour  might experience this problem. It can also be caused by a sudden fall. Bursitis is characterised by sudden sharp pains when you try to move your shoulder. That cushion has become inflamed so anyway you move it causes that same pain.

Cause 5: Frozen Shoulder

This problem is typically caused by something called adhesions that build up in your joints especially when you don't use your shoulder much for anything - another product of sedentary lifestyles. These adhesions can cause a feeling almost like your shoulder is being “frozen” in place and unable to move comfortably. It can sometimes emerge after people have had shoulder surgery and thus their shoulder may remain inactive in a sling for a long time.

Cause 6: Fractures and Breaks

Finally, another common cause of lasting shoulder pain is from cracks (fractures) and breaks. Sometimes these bones like the clavicle (collarbone) and the humerus don’t have to break but instead bruise, which is another way pain can be caused. Sometimes the cracks and bruises are worse because they might go undetected for some time until very serious pain starts to develop.