Minimally Invasive • Image-Guided
Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain can affect sleep, dressing, work, exercise, and even simple reaching. The location of pain matters, but it is only one part of the story. Weakness, stiffness, numbness, instability, and the way symptoms started can all point in different directions.
Start here
Symptoms
Start here if you know how it feels but not what it is.
Conditions & Diagnoses
Conditions we identify and confirm before treating.
- Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy and Tears
- Subacromial Pain Syndrome, Shoulder Impingement, and Bursitis
- Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis)
- Glenohumeral Shoulder Osteoarthritis
- AC Joint Arthritis and Injury
- Biceps Tendinopathy and Proximal Biceps Tear
- Shoulder Labral Tear
- Shoulder Instability and Recurrent Dislocation
Treatments
Non-surgical options, from conservative care upward.
Core Low-Risk Care
Diagnostic and Anti-Inflammatory Procedures
Nerve-Targeted Procedures
Orthobiologic Procedures
Surgical Consultation
How we approach shoulder pain
At Elite Pain & Health, we start by understanding what you cannot do now that you need or want to do. We then combine your history, examination, and imaging when needed. An MRI finding alone does not always explain your pain. The goal is to identify the most likely pain source and build a practical path forward.
How shoulder pain is evaluated
Your visit begins with the onset, location, and behavior of your symptoms. We ask about sleep, lifting, reaching, work, sports, prior injuries, and treatments you have tried. The examination compares motion, strength, sensation, tenderness, and stability.
Imaging is selected for the clinical question. X-rays often come first when arthritis, fracture, or alignment is a concern. Ultrasound or MRI may help evaluate the rotator cuff and bursa. MRI or an MR arthrogram may be useful for selected labral or instability questions. Imaging should be interpreted alongside your symptoms and examination.
Sometimes a carefully targeted diagnostic shoulder injection helps determine whether a particular joint or bursa is contributing to pain.
A treatment ladder built around function
Treatment usually begins with the least invasive reasonable option. That may include activity changes, physical therapy and home rehabilitation, and medications for shoulder pain. A plan should be specific enough to help, but flexible enough to change when your response gives us new information.
When pain continues to limit rehabilitation or daily function, selected patients may consider an image-guided injection, nerve-targeting procedure, or orthobiologic treatment. These options do not all have the same purpose or evidence. The treatment pages explain what each option is designed to do, how strong the evidence is, and what questions to ask.
Surgical evaluation can be appropriate after a major injury, with recurrent dislocation, with meaningful structural loss, or when a well-matched nonsurgical plan has not restored acceptable function. A referral is not a commitment to surgery. It is another way to understand your options.
Get urgent care for these
- The shoulder looks deformed or a bone may be broken after an injury
- The arm is cold, pale, blue or severely swollen
- New major weakness or loss of feeling
- Fever with a hot, red, swollen shoulder
- Shoulder pain with chest pressure, shortness of breath, sweating, or pain spreading to the jaw or arm
These need assessment now, not an appointment next week. Go to an emergency department or call 911.
Clinically reviewed by Keley John Booth, MD