Shoulder pain when reaching overhead or out to the side — often with a painful catch or weakness lifting the arm.
Shoulder
You will usually feel this deep in the shoulder, especially when you reach overhead, lift, or roll onto that side at night. It can ache from the front of the shoulder down into the upper arm, and reaching behind your back may catch sharply. Sleep is often the first thing it disrupts.
Wherever possible, we start with the least invasive option that has good evidence — and we use live image guidance (ultrasound or fluoroscopy) for any injection so the medication goes exactly where it needs to. Many of the procedures we offer for this condition are OHIP-covered when ordered for an appropriate clinical reason; we will be straight with you about what is and what is not before you book.
These are the procedures we most commonly use for the shoulder area. The right one depends on your imaging, history, and what has helped before.
A regenerative injection using concentrated cells and growth factors drawn from your own bone marrow. We typically consider this for advanced joint arthritis or stubborn tendon and cartilage problems when other treatments have not held.
A steroid injection placed directly into a joint to settle arthritis pain or inflammation. Works for shoulders, knees, hips, elbows, wrists, ankles, and the smaller joints of the fingers and toes.
A gel-like injection that supplements the natural lubricant in your joint. Often used for knee or hip arthritis when steroid injections have stopped giving you the relief they used to.
An injection that targets a specific nerve outside the spine — for example, the occipital nerve at the base of the skull, or the suprascapular nerve at the shoulder. Calms the nerve that is feeding your pain.
A regenerative injection using a processed form of your own platelets in which the healing growth factors are released up front. We typically consider this for nerve-related and tendon pain where a gentler regenerative option is preferred.
A regenerative injection using the healing factors from your own blood. We typically offer this for chronic tendon problems or arthritis when other injections have lost their effect.
A small injection of local anaesthetic into the tight, painful muscle knots that come with myofascial pain. Releases the muscle on the spot, easing tension and referred pain.
If Rotator cuff tendinitis and impingement has been getting in the way for more than a few weeks, ask your family doctor for a referral. We will take it from there.
