Why Do I Have Shoulder Pain After a Normal MRI?

Shoulder pain can be debilitating, causing constant discomfort, limited range of motion, weakness, or stiffness. Doctors often use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to get a more detailed image of your shoulder’s bones, tendons, muscles, and blood vessels to diagnose the cause of shoulder pain.

However, MRIs might not tell the full story of why your shoulder hurts.

If you find yourself asking, “My shoulder MRI is normal, but I’m still in pain. Why?”, our team at REACH Rehab + Chiropractic can help you understand your pain and how to address it.

Shoulder pain can be frustrating to deal with, no matter how severe. Even minor pain in the shoulder can prevent you from being as active as you like by causing constant discomfort.

Additionally, shoulder pain doesn’t have to result from a traumatic injury. You could start experiencing shoulder pain due to muscular imbalances, strains, or overuse. Before treating your shoulder pain, you need to know what’s causing it.

MRI scans provide a detailed picture of your shoulder joint, which helps detect injuries and certain diseases. However, MRI scans cannot reveal everything about your shoulder, often presenting interpretation challenges for doctors and radiologists.

If your recent shoulder MRI is normal, but you’re still experiencing pain, schedule an appointment to see how our team can help.

Although MRI scans can provide a detailed image of your shoulder joint, it takes a highly skilled and experienced radiologist to interpret the image and understand your shoulder pain.

After you get an MRI scan, a radiologist will examine the images to get a better idea of your shoulder’s current state. This is often difficult to do, as deciphering an injury versus certain abnormalities is quite challenging.

As such a complicated procedure, MRI scans often require more than one professional eye for accurate diagnoses, so you should consider getting a second opinion if you’re thinking, “My shoulder MRI is normal, but I’m still in pain.”

Patients often think that since their shoulder hurts, it’s the source of the problem. However, the human body is extremely complex, which means you can feel pain in one area while the problem source is somewhere completely different. For example, shoulder pain could be the result of an issue with your neck.

The best way to determine what’s causing your shoulder pain is to talk about your symptoms and concerns with a doctor who can take a holistic look at your pain and possible causes. Our REACH Rehab + Chiropractic team knows how crucial it is to consider all potential pain sources to diagnose and manage shoulder pain.

You might think that surgery is your best or only option for stopping pain, but you have several non-surgical options.

You can address some shoulder injuries or conditions with chiropractic care, massage therapy, or physical therapy rather than surgery. This allows you to avoid invasive surgery and long recovery. Instead, you can see one of our specialists and learn exercises and movements to help reduce pain and improve mobility.

At REACH Rehab + Chiropractic, we are passionate about helping patients explore their non-surgical treatment options for shoulder pain.

Although constant shoulder pain may not entirely prevent you from completing routine tasks, it can certainly affect multiple parts of your life. Instead of settling for constant pain and discomfort, reach out to our professionals at REACH Rehab + Chiropractic.

When you contact us, we’ll schedule a time to meet so we can get to know you and your shoulder concerns better. Once we have a better idea of what’s causing your discomfort, we’ll customize a treatment plan to help you reach your goals. We’ll continue working with you to ensure you find the shoulder pain relief you are seeking.

“My shoulder MRI is normal, but I’m still in pain. What can I do?” If this question has been on your mind recently, contact us. Our REACH Rehab + Chiropractic team can help you effectively manage and understand your pain. Schedule an appointment today and take the first step to addressing your shoulder pain.