Can a Shoulder Injury Cause Neck Pain?

When you sprain an ankle or break a bone, it’s easy to understand the when, why, and how behind your pain. However, not every injury is so straightforward — you may not even feel pain where you’re “supposed” to feel it. 

That’s often the case with shoulder injuries and neck pain, and figuring out the source of your symptoms can be a long journey if you try to go it alone. 

Fortunately, you have our team at Somers Orthopaedic Surgery to diagnose and treat your pain (wherever it may be). 

Shoulder pain referred to your neck

One of the most common ways a shoulder injury can trigger pain in your neck is through an injury in the acromioclavicular, or AC joint. The AC joint is where your collarbone (clavicle) joins with the acromion section of your shoulder blade (scapula). 

As with the other joints in your body, the AC joint has cartilage, which allows the bones to move together easily and without pain or friction. 

However, your AC joint is incredibly vulnerable to injuries, including arthritis, fractures, and separations or dislocations. Pain and injury in the AC joint (and any other shoulder injury, for that matter) can cause pain that radiates and settles in your neck. 

We call this referred pain. Referred pain is pain that stems from an injury in one place but is felt somewhere else in your body. 

There’s potential for a shoulder injury to cause referred pain in your neck because your shoulder and neck share the same densely packed nerve pathways. When an injury occurs, your brain can’t always tell exactly where the true issue lies. 

The flip side

Shoulder injuries can cause neck pain, and the reverse is also true. If you have a problem in your cervical spine, such as arthritis, spinal stenosis, herniated discs, and/or muscle or ligament injuries, you could have shoulder pain as a result. 

Neck-originating shoulder pain can also cause rotator cuff muscle weakness and shoulder bursitis.

Getting to the bottom of it

Musculoskeletal pain is often a complex issue. Fortunately, our orthopedic experts are trained to sort through the intricacies of neck and shoulder pain and have an extensive diagnostic process that helps us understand exactly where your pain started.

We employ the best diagnostic and imaging services to get detailed information and the exact location of your injury. 

Getting help for your pain

Neck pain that stems from a shoulder injury should resolve once we’ve helped you recover from your shoulder injury. Depending on how you’ve injured your shoulder, your treatment plan can include any of the following:

• Medications
• Physical therapy
• Electrical stimulation
• Steroid injections
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections
• Stem cell injections
• Shoulder brace

In the most severe cases, or if your shoulder and neck don’t respond to conservative care, we may recommend surgery as the next best step. We have board-certified orthopedic surgeons on staff who perform minimally invasive, arthroscopic surgeries to repair your shoulder quickly and with as little damage as possible. 

If severe shoulder arthritis is the root problem, joint replacement surgery may be right for you. 

We also specialize in sports medicine, which allows us to help athletes, young and old, recover from activity-related shoulder injuries and prevent them in the future. 

Your musculoskeletal system is as complex as it is powerful — but you don’t have to figure out its problems alone. If you’re in any kind of musculoskeletal pain, don’t wait. Call or click to schedule an appointment with one of our experts today.