When is your patient's shoulder pain from their neck? Are you missing a cervical spine component in your shoulder patients?
After a day in clinic reviewing patients with years of unresolved shoulder pain, Shoulder Specialist Physiotherapist Jo Gibson breaks down the five most common mistakes clinicians make when ruling in — or out — the neck.
In this podcast, Jo covers:
- Why you don't need neck pain to have neck-driven shoulder pain (and which pain locations are most pathognomonic)
- Why referred symptoms below the elbow don't automatically point to the cervical spine
- Why active range of movement alone is not enough to clear the neck
- What palpation findings are actually sufficient — and why you don't need to reproduce peripheral symptoms
- Why using neck movements to modify shoulder symptoms can be misleading
Whether you're seeing patients with posterior-lateral shoulder pain, scapular pain, or symptoms that just aren't responding to local shoulder rehab, Jo shares a practical framework for refining your clinical reasoning and avoiding these common assessment pitfalls.
Key takeaway: Up to 40% of patients with shoulder problems lasting six months or longer have some degree of cervical spine involvement. The subjective examination is doing 80% of the work — Jo explains exactly what to listen for.
Free 7-day Shoulder assessment bootcamp
Join the free 7-day Shoulder assessment bootcamp with Jo Gibson and Clinical Edge
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The handout for this podcast consists of a summary and transcript associated with this podcast.
Shoulder: Steps to Success online course with Jo Gibson
Improve your assessment and treatment of shoulder pain with the Shoulder: Steps to Success online course with Jo Gibson, now available for enrolment at clinicaledge.co/shouldersuccess
Free trial Clinical Edge membership
Use a fresh approach to your musculoskeletal and sports injury treatment with a free trial Clinical Edge membership at clinicaledge.co/freetrial
Links associated with this episode:
- Join the free 7-day Shoulder assessment bootcamp with Jo Gibson and Clinical Edge
- Free video series - How to be a shoulder detective: Solving acute shoulder pain with Jo Gibson
- Get your access to the free video series “Frozen shoulder assessment & treatment” with Jo Gibson
- Improve your shoulder assessment & treatment with the Shoulder: Steps to Success online course with Jo Gibson
- Improve your confidence and clinical reasoning with a free trial Clinical Edge membership
- Join Jo Gibson live on Facebook & ask your shoulder related questions every Monday
- Download and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes
- Download the podcast now using the best podcast app currently in existence - Overcast
- Listen to the podcast on Spotify
- Jo Gibson on Twitter
- Let David know what you liked about this podcast on Twitter
- Review the podcast on iTunes
- Infographics by Clinical Edge