Shoulder-Arm Pain

Shoulder pain can develop from a variety of sources, such as tendinitis, arthritis, torn cartilage, and many other medical conditions and injuries. One other common cause of shoulder pain is a pinched nerve in the upper spine, also known as cervical radiculopathy. A nerve can become pinched when bone spurs form around the spinal discs. These discs are the “shock absorbers” between the vertebrae in your spine.

Bone spurs are new formations of bone that grow when discs start to weaken with age.As you get older, the vertebrae become compressed and the discs become thinner. Bone spurs grow around the discs to strengthen them, but that new bone growth can put pressure on the nerve root in the spine.

Pain in the arm can result from a number of factors. Abnormalities or injury of the skin, nerves, bones, joints, blood vessels, and soft tissues of the arm can all result in pain. Arm pain, depending on the location and cause, may be accompanied by numbness, redness, swelling, tenderness, or stiffness of the joints. Injuries or trauma to any part of the arm or shoulder, including bone fractures, joint dislocations, and muscle strains and sprains, are common causes of arm pain. Sometimes heart diseases also leads arm pain.