Typically 4–8 visits alongside home exercises
Shoulder pain
A shoulder that catches reaching overhead, aches at night or will not let you lie on that side, including rotator cuff and swimmer's shoulder.
How we treat it
Shoulder pain is often a team problem. The shoulder joint depends on the shoulder blade moving well, and the shoulder blade depends on a mid-back that can extend and rotate. When one link stiffens, the rotator cuff tendons take the extra load and start to complain.
We test all three links: the shoulder itself, the shoulder blade and the upper back, as well as the neck, which can refer pain into the shoulder. That tells us whether the problem is irritated tendons, a stiff joint or pain arriving from somewhere else.
Treatment combines soft-tissue work on the cuff and upper back, mobilisation of the thoracic spine, and a short loading programme for the rotator cuff that starts easy and progresses every visit. Swimmers, climbers and anyone lifting overhead usually need the loading part most.
Common signs
- Pain reaching up to a high shelf or behind your back
- Ache at night, especially lying on that side
- A painful arc part-way through lifting the arm
- Clicking or catching with a weak feeling
See a doctor first if you have
- Shoulder pain with chest pain or breathlessness
- A sudden loss of strength after a fall
Call 999 or go to A&E for anything sudden and severe. For urgent advice, call 111.
“Booked online at 10pm, seen at 7:30 the next morning. My shoulder had been catching for weeks and Nadia found the reason in about ten minutes.”