Continuous and mild pain in the shoulder especially at night

Dear Ask The Doctor: Hello, since about 15 days iam having continious mild pain on my right shoulder and the pain is coming up to the muscles, and in the night specially the shoulder is freezing. I need your suggestion Doctor, Thanking you

Dear Abdul:

There are several causes of arm-shoulder pain; one of the most common is the Rotator Cuff tendinitis and this seems to correspond with the description that you made of your pain. The rotator cuff is a group of tendons that support the shoulder. These tendons can be injured during weight lifting, when playing sports with a lot of throwing, after repetitive use over a long time or suffer degenerative changes with the aging process. Typically, the pain worsens at night, a dull ache in the upper outer arm and shoulder, it results from mechanical impingement of the rotator cuff tendon beneath the anteroinferior portion of the acromion (one of the bones of the shoulder joint), causing changes in the distal part of the rotator cuff tendon, which is at risk due to poor blood supply.

Conservative treatment of the Rotator Cuff tendonitis involves: physical therapy to control pain and keep range of motion of the shoulder, avoidance of painful movements and activities; anti-inflammatory drugs (i.e.: “Advil”, “Aleve”). If the patient shows poor or no improvement, then, local corticosteroid injection may be considered.