This type of pain can be caused by common conditions like muscle strain or cervical stenosis. Or, it may stem from rarer but more serious concerns like a heart attack or lung cancer. This article will detail eight potential causes of left-side neck and shoulder pain and address how to find relief from each.
A shoulder dislocation is an injury that occurs when the ball of the ball-and-socket shoulder joint is separated from its normal position. The ball comes out of the socket of the shoulder. When this occurs, the ball may stay out of the shoulder and need to be put back into place, or it can slide back into normal position on its own.
Shoulder blade pain can have many different causes. Although you may assume you sustained an injury or simply slept in the wrong way, the pain might actually be related to your heart, lungs, spine, abdomen, or pelvis. In cases like these, the pain may be referred, meaning that a problem in one part of the body excites nerves that trigger pain in another part of the body, such as your shoulder blade.
Swelling, pain and stiffness in the joints are common symptoms for people with arthritis. If you have arthritis, your health care professional may recommend hand exercises to help you improve joint flexibility and range of motion.
The neck and shoulders are complex and interconnected areas, and medical problems that affect one often affect the other, as well. Pain and dysfunction from injuries or conditions that impact the joints, muscles, and other structures can easily spread from the neck to the shoulder(s) and from the shoulder(s) to the neck.
