I have severe shoulder pain in my right shoulder. I am right handed. The pain is at the back of my shoulder. I get pins and needles all down my arm into my fingers, predominantly my little finger. I thought it might be a trapped nerve but wonder if there is another explanation?

You could have one of a number of causes behind your pain.

One could well be some wear and tear in the vertebrae of the neck, which could account for the pins and needles, though I wouldn't expect shoulder pain with that.

Second, muscle pain in the neck could impair circulation but again I wouldn't associate that with shoulder pain.

But they are both possibilities for which you might try Atrogel^® and glucosamine sulphate for any wear and tear or please take a look at a video blog we made that demonstrates some exercises to ease neck muscle tension. You'll find it under "Upper back pain" (because that's where neck tension originates).

However, I think you more likely have Rotator Cuff tendinitis, bursitis of the shoulder or Shoulder Impingement.

The rotator cuff is like a lip on the rim of your shoulder socket that prevents the ball from popping out.

As you can imagine, the range of movement performed by the shoulder needs a lot of muscles and tendons pulling and supporting it in all sorts of directions and this means there is a lot of scope for injury.

People who reach up a lot, such as basketball players, swimmers and tennis players and those who paint, lift or in the building trade are particularly susceptible.

This sort of situation could also lead to overuse and inflammation of the fluids of the bursa that lubricate between the tendons running across the bones.

Shoulder impingement results from the  bone on the top of your shoulder (the acromion) pinching the tendons nearby as you lift your arm.

Do ask your doctor or a physio for confirmation as we cannot diagnose but they are the 3 most likely explanations and a combination of Atrogel^® applied externally 2-4 times a day and Atrosan^® internally to reduce the inflammation would be the best natural options.

Best wishes

Earle