Skip the Steroids for Shoulder Pain? Chiropractic/Physical therapy as effective as injections.

For relief of shoulder pain, chiropractic/physical therapy and steroid shots provide similar results.

Researchers have compared the nonsurgical approaches in adults suffering from shoulder pain caused by rotator cuff problems, tendinitis or bursitis.

Whether you have a steroid injection or chiropractic/physical therapy, the improvement is the same.  Improvement is 50 percent or more and this improvement can be maintained for a year or more.

Patients that receive injections use more health care services and have significantly more shoulder-related doctor visits increasing the cost of medical care.

In addition, patients that have injections end up going to chiropractic/physical therapy anyway, and about 40 percent who get shots need more than one injection.

This information should reassure patients who prefer to avoid injections, that chiropractic/ physical therapy is a great and effective option for shoulder pain

Steroid injections may work as part of a treatment plan when chiropractic/physical therapy is not enough.

Shoulder pain is a very common condition, and treatment decisions aren't uniform, in my opinion, "An accurate diagnosis needs to be established before initiating treatment. An experienced physician needs to evaluate the patient and consider appropriate diagnostic tests, such as X-ray and/or MRI," 

Chiropractic/Physical therapy should include a combination of joint and soft-tissue manipulation, manual therapy, stretching, muscle contraction-relaxation techniques and exercises to promote movement in the shoulder, chest or neck. Home exercises should be given to reinforce the therapy goals as well.