Question 1

When night pain in the shoulder keeps me from sleeping, what do you treat first?

Accepted Answer

Patients tell us it's more or less bearable during the day, but at night it throbs so much that even rolling over is hard. Among people coming to us for the first time with a shoulder problem, this night pain is the most common reason.

Question 2

If I've been diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury, in what order do we approach it?

Accepted Answer

If the tendon is completely torn, or you suddenly couldn't lift your arm after an injury, surgery may be needed. An orthopedic exam and imaging come first.

Question 3

Why does a shoulder injured during exercise keep coming back?

Accepted Answer

Because once it stops hurting, people put weight back on a tendon that is still healing. Pain stopping and the tendon healing happen at different times.

Question 4

When shoulder and knee pain have made me give up exercise, what do you look at?

Accepted Answer

Patients tell us their shoulder hurts so lifting heavy things feels like a burden, and their knees hurt too, so one by one they've given up the exercise they used to enjoy.

Question 5

Afternoon shoulder stiffness in office workers: where do you look for the cause?

Accepted Answer

Patients tell us that while sitting at work, the back of the neck turns stiff as a rock, and by afternoon the whole upper body feels heavy and droopy. Many also say the exercise they started for their health made their knees ache, so now exercise itself feels scary.

Shoulder tendons · Night pain