A shoulder injury can be a very long-lasting problem – months to decades of pain, and discomfort, causing poor sleep, and reduced ability to just do normal activities of life. It often limits work, play, sports, lifting grocery bags, cutting and preparing food in the kitchen, driving, working on a computer, etc.

In Part 1. on Shoulder Pain, here in The Portugal News (07 May 2024. You can read here ), we talked about how research has failed to give us a highly effective treatment to help us heal and recover quickly. Now studies are recommending “demedicalization” of care, meaning shifting from medical treatment devices (such as ultrasound, TENS, shockwave, taping, braces, etc.) and instead, shifting towards helping a patient recover at home. That’s what today’s message is all about.


How do we recover at home?

The first thing to do is seek high-quality care as soon as possible. Why? Simply, we are losing healing time. Immediately after a shoulder begins bothering you, your shoulder begins healing. But, if the shoulder is being aggravated and re-injured more than your shoulder can heal every day, then it is a downward losing proposition. Instead of accumulating healing, you are accumulating re-injury. It takes much longer to get better. That’s not a good plan for recovery.

Then, there is a second issue. The longer a shoulder problem exists, the greater the chance for it to develop secondary injuries. This is where the shoulder tries to continue doing what you want to do, but it has to find new and different and sometimes awkward ways to work around the injury and pain. Now we are using our shoulder in way that it was not intended to be used. This causes more injury. This can result in more advanced problems, such as: scapular dyskinesis (the shoulder blade moves in weird ways), impingement syndrome (tendon, muscle and bursa get repeatedly smashed at the outer edge of your shoulder), frozen shoulder (“adhesive capsulitis”, the main shoulder joint glues itself and can last for two years or more). These are not problems that you want.

Lost time healing combined with non-normal awkward movements, both causing long-term problems, is a recipe for disaster for more than 65% of people with a shoulder problem.


What to do?

As mentioned above, seek out expert shoulder care immediately. Find a medical person who is up to date on the latest research. Find someone who will help you stop all re-injury to your shoulder. Someone who is able to identify how your shoulder is not moving correctly, and then create a home-plan for you to correct this problem (hint: it is not through exercise, because the shoulder problem is not usually due to a weak muscle, muscles get weak because of waiting to get treatment.) Even if your shoulder problem has been with you for quite some time, better to start treatment now, rather than later. Waiting really does not do much good.


Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic

We have been providing this precise care since the mid 1980’s. We discovered these issues and developed highly effective treatments while working with athletes during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. We exam your shoulder to determine the root cause of the problem and then design specific home care for you to help you maximize your body’s ability to heal your shoulder. And most importantly, we help you keep all of the healing that your shoulder creates every day, and every night. We show you the proper way to sleep so your pain goes away and you heal while sleeping. Most patients only need three treatment sessions. Sound too good to be true? Since 1984 we have treated more than 50,000 patients, and 97% of patients have recovered in just three sessions.

Final two questions: how do we know that stopping re-injury works? It is what sutures do for a cut (stops re-tearing); it’s what a cast does for a fracture (stops re-breaking of the new healing bone). How many treatments is need for each? Just two treatments, start to finish. The same is true for the shoulder. Stop the re-injury, and the healing is accumulative. Different injuries need different strategies, but the goal is the same. Stop re-injury and your shoulder can heal quickly. Please see us so you can heal your shoulder.


The Portugal News readers are offered a 20% discount on shoulder treatments at the Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic, all treatments are with Dr. Bock. Call and speak with Carla who will find a convenient time for you. We are in Portimão. No matter where you are located, three treatment sessions are worth getting your shoulder back to normal. Please call us at (+351) 282 352 202.

About Dr. Christopher Bock

From San Francisco, California, shoulder specialist to Olympics, major symphony orchestras, Nike and Intel employees, Veterans all around the world. Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic is in Portimão. 40 years’ experience.