Shoulder Pain Treatment

Connecticut Pain Solutions provides pain management and neurology services in Ridgefield and Wallingford, CT. Call 203-724-9290 (Ridgefield) or 203-626-9080 (Wallingford) to learn more and schedule your appointment.

At Connecticut Pain Solutions, our goal is simple but powerful: to use our minimally invasive, high-tech interventions to help you avoid surgery. We have many different tools to treat your shoulder pain safely but aggressively.

We will first evaluate your pain to see whether it is neurological or anatomical in nature, and to learn exactly how it affects your body structurally. The results of this evaluation will determine which treatment will benefit you most.

Suprascapular Nerve Block

If the nerves in your shoulder are determined to be irritated and inflamed, a suprascapular nerve block can help. Patients typically report dramatic and long-lasting pain relief from this procedure when the pain is caused by nerve compression or irritation.

Steroid Injections

If the pain originates in a specific joint, such as the rotator cuff, we can inject steroids and numbing agents directly into the affected joint. You may need just one injection, or a series of two or three, to achieve pain relief that will last for months or years.

Suprascapular Radiofrequency Ablation

Also known as radiofrequency rhizotomy, radiofrequency ablation is typically performed only after a nerve block confirms that the nerve is causing the pain. The affected nerve is burned off with radiofrequency waves, providing pain relief until the nerve regenerates (typically 18 months to two years). However, for some people, the pain never returns, even after nerve regeneration.

Trigger Point Injections

Shoulder pain, regardless of its origin, almost always results in trigger points, or tightly bound muscle knots that can be debilitating. These can generally be relieved through massage, but many people with severe trigger points find that a medication injection brings faster and more thorough relief.

Medication Management

If you have shoulder pain, you are probably taking at least one pain medication. We provide medication management services, with a targeted goal of slowly reducing the amount of medication you require.

Physical Therapy

All of the other pain management techniques are designed to bring enough pain relief that you can participate in physical therapy. This is the only way to truly rebuild your shoulder without surgery, and it takes a great deal of commitment on your part.

Your physical therapist will carefully evaluate your shoulder issue, including your current pain level, strength, and range of motion. He or she will consider your health history and your goals for treatment. Then you will embark on a customized therapy plan that includes a variety of stretching and strengthening exercises to be performed both in the treatment room and at home. Depending on your needs, your physical therapist may also use various pain control techniques such as ice, heat, or electrical stimulation.

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