You Need To Consider Doing This If Your Shoulder Joint Pain Is Not Improving With Exercise

Shoulder joint pain can be a constant reminder that something isn’t right, making simple actions—like lifting a bag, reaching for something on a high shelf, or even getting dressed—painful and difficult. Whether it’s caused by an injury, overuse, or underlying conditions like rotator cuff tendinitis or arthritis, shoulder joint pain can affect your daily activities and reduce your overall quality of life.

The emotional toll of shoulder joint pain can be just as overwhelming as the physical discomfort. The frustration of not being able to move freely, combined with the uncertainty of whether the pain will ever subside, can leave you feeling anxious, defeated, and uncertain. If exercise hasn’t provided lasting relief from your shoulder joint pain, it may be time to explore other treatment options that target the root cause and provide real, long-term solutions.


Exercise: A Common Approach to Treating Shoulder Joint Pain

Exercise is often recommended for shoulder joint pain because it helps to strengthen the muscles surrounding the shoulder, improve flexibility, and enhance joint stability. Targeted exercises can help alleviate pain, restore range of motion, and prevent further injury by improving muscle balance and supporting the shoulder joint.

However, while exercise can provide relief for many, it may not always offer complete or lasting improvement, especially if the pain is caused by more serious issues such as a torn rotator cuff, impingement, or arthritis. For some, the discomfort may persist or even worsen despite regular exercise, leaving them uncertain about the next steps in their recovery.


Why Getting a Clear Diagnosis Is Crucial

Shoulder joint pain can result from various causes, and understanding the exact cause is essential for developing the right treatment plan. Here are five common causes of shoulder joint pain:

  1. Rotator Cuff Tendinitis – Inflammation of the tendons in the rotator cuff can cause pain, especially with overhead movements.
  2. Shoulder Impingement – The tendons of the rotator cuff may get pinched between the bones of the shoulder, causing pain and inflammation.
  3. Arthritis – Degeneration of the cartilage in the shoulder joint can lead to pain, stiffness, and limited mobility.
  4. Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis) – Scar tissue and inflammation can cause stiffness, pain, and restricted movement in the shoulder joint.
  5. Labral Tears – Tears in the cartilage of the shoulder joint can cause pain, instability, and limited mobility.

In addition to these common causes, two less common but potentially serious causes of shoulder joint pain include:

  1. Fractures – A broken bone in the shoulder joint can cause immediate, severe pain and limit movement.
  2. Infections – Infections in the shoulder joint can cause significant pain and require immediate treatment.

The Need for Imaging to Get a Precise Diagnosis

It’s important to understand that shoulder joint pain cannot always be fully diagnosed based on symptoms alone. Imaging techniques such as X-rays, MRIs, and ultrasounds are necessary to assess the health of the bones, tendons, muscles, and cartilage in the shoulder. These diagnostic tools help healthcare providers identify the exact cause of the pain and develop an effective, personalized treatment plan.


The Pain Relief Clinic: Your Partner in Finding a Clear Diagnosis

At The Pain Relief Clinic, we understand how shoulder joint pain can limit your movement and affect your daily activities. With over a decade of experience, we specialize in offering non-invasive diagnostic services to uncover the root cause of your pain. If exercise hasn’t provided lasting relief, we can arrange for affordable scans, typically within one working day.

Medisave can often be used to help cover the cost of these scans, making them more accessible for you.

We also assist with insurance claims, including accident insurance, travel insurance, and company insurance, ensuring that you can access the care you need without added financial strain.

Once we have a precise diagnosis, we can provide targeted treatments, solutions, and non-invasive technology to help alleviate your shoulder joint pain and restore your mobility.

Ready to take control of your shoulder joint pain? Send us a message today to arrange an appointment and take the first step toward lasting relief from shoulder joint pain.

What To Expect When I Visit The Pain Relief Clinic

A typical visit will involve our doctor first understanding your medical history, concerns and previous experience with other pain treatments.

For patients who have consulted many people but have yet to receive a clear diagnosis, selecting an affordable imaging scan might be recommended to confirm the cause of your pain..

Some patients have already done scans with other doctors for their pain condition but are still not clearly told what they suffer from.

Dr Terence Tan is happy to offer you a second opinion and recommend how best to manage your condition.

We also see patients who already have a confirmed diagnosis from specialist pain doctors, but are "stuck” because treatment options offered are not practical or acceptable.

We can help by discussing options that you might have potentially never been told of.

A common experience is when a patient has already consulted a specialist doctor for pain management and is told to consider orthopaedic surgery which they find too aggressive.

Or they may have seen doctors for their pain and were prescribed painkillers with potential side effects which made them feel uncomfortable.

Many of our patients have also first tried complementary treatments or acupuncture with traditional Chinese pain doctors.

They look for a second opinion after finding any relief experienced from other treatments to be temporary or requiring repetitive treatments, which add up to time and cost.

Especially in such situations, we emphasize using non-invasive medical technology you likely have not been told about .

This can make a big difference to your results.