Every condition on this site, grouped by where it sits: the neck, the shoulder, and the upper and mid back. Each page explains what the problem is, what a typical recovery looks like and which signs mean you should get checked. If you are not sure where your pain starts, begin with the location guide at the top of each list.
Looking for exercises? Staged plans for the shoulder, shoulder blade, upper back and neck are on the neck, shoulder and upper back exercises page.
Neck
Neck problems range from a stiff neck after a bad night to a nerve or the spinal cord being pressed on. Some of them send pain into the head, the shoulder blade or the arm.
- Neck pain by location: the usual causes for each part of the neck.
- Neck pain relief at home: a starting point for new neck pain, with what helps and what to avoid.
- Woke up with a stiff neck (wry neck): sudden one-sided locking and how it usually settles.
- Neck muscle strain and knots: sore, tight muscles from load, posture or stress.
- Myofascial pain syndrome: long-lasting muscle pain from trigger points that refer pain elsewhere.
- Neck pain from desk work and forward head posture: what long hours at a screen do to the neck.
- Neck arthritis (cervical spondylosis): age-related change in the neck joints and discs.
- Neck facet joint pain: a deep, one-sided ache from the small joints at the back of the neck, often worse looking up or turning.
- Slipped disc in the neck: a bulging or herniated disc and what it can press on.
- Pinched nerve in the neck (cervical radiculopathy): pain, tingling or weakness running into the arm.
- Pinched nerve in the neck: what helps and what hurts: day-to-day choices while a nerve settles.
- Neck pain with arm tingling: what the tingling pattern can and cannot tell you.
- Brachial neuritis (Parsonage-Turner syndrome): sudden, severe shoulder pain, then weakness as the pain fades.
- Cervical myelopathy (spinal cord compression): the signs in the hands and walking that need prompt attention.
- Headache from the neck (cervicogenic headache): one-sided headaches that start in the neck.
- Dizziness from the neck: unsteadiness linked to neck pain, and the other causes to rule out.
- Whiplash: neck pain and stiffness after a car crash or sudden jolt.
- Thoracic outlet syndrome: nerves or blood vessels squeezed near the collarbone and first rib.
- Is it bad to crack your neck?: what the sound is and when it is worth asking about.
- Neck traction: who it helps: which neck problems traction is used for, and which it is not.
Shoulder
Shoulder problems include stiffness, tendon and joint problems, and injuries. Pain felt in the shoulder can also come from the neck, so the location guides are a good first stop.
- Shoulder pain by location: front, top, side and back, and what usually lives in each.
- Left shoulder pain: heart or shoulder?: the signs that point to each, and when to call for help.
- Collarbone pain by location: the inner end, the middle and the outer end, and what usually causes pain at each.
Pain and stiffness
- Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis): a painful, stiff shoulder that settles slowly, often over one to three years.
- Frozen shoulder stages: the freezing, frozen and thawing stages and how long each tends to last.
- Frozen shoulder exercises by stage: what to do in each stage, and what to leave for later.
- Frozen shoulder and menopause: why it is more common in midlife women.
- Frozen shoulder and diabetes: why diabetes raises the risk and can slow recovery.
- Both shoulders stiff over 50: polymyalgia rheumatica: morning pain and stiffness in both shoulders that needs a doctor first.
- Can’t lift arm above head: pain, weakness or stiffness, and how they differ.
- Shoulder pain at night: why many shoulder problems are worse in bed.
- Shoulder pain from sleeping on your side: why lying on either side loads the shoulder, and what to change.
- Shoulder pain that comes from the neck: referred pain and the signs that point to the neck.
- Pinched nerve in the shoulder: usually a nerve root in the neck, sometimes a nerve near the shoulder itself.
- Suprascapular nerve entrapment: a deep ache at the back of the shoulder with weakness turning the arm outward.
- Clicking or popping shoulder: when noise is harmless and when it comes with a problem.
Tendon and joint problems
- Rotator cuff tendinopathy: an overloaded cuff tendon that aches with use and at night.
- Torn rotator cuff without surgery: how many tears are managed with exercise.
- Torn rotator cuff treatment options: physical therapy, injections, repair and other operations compared.
- Shoulder impingement (subacromial pain): pain partway through lifting the arm.
- Shoulder bursitis: an irritated bursa, often alongside a tendon problem.
- Calcific tendinitis: calcium deposits in a tendon, sometimes with sudden, severe pain.
- Biceps tendinitis at the shoulder: pain at the front of the shoulder with lifting and carrying.
- Labral tear (SLAP tear): a tear in the rim of cartilage around the socket.
- Loose shoulder (instability without dislocation): a shoulder that shifts or slips partly out and back in.
- Shoulder blade not moving right (scapular dyskinesis): a shoulder blade that tilts, lifts or moves out of time as the arm moves.
- Shoulder arthritis: wear in the ball-and-socket joint, with stiffness and grinding.
- SC joint pain: pain where the collarbone meets the breastbone, after a fall or from wear.
Injuries
- Dislocated shoulder recovery: the weeks after the joint is put back in place.
- Shoulder subluxation: the ball slips partway out of the socket and slides back in by itself.
- Sprained shoulder: a stretched or partly torn shoulder ligament, and what the label can cover.
- Separated shoulder (AC joint sprain): an injury where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade.
- Broken collarbone recovery: healing in a sling, and when surgery is considered.
- Broken upper arm near the shoulder: a common fracture after a fall onto the arm.
- Torn biceps tendon at the shoulder: a sudden pop, bruising and a change in the shape of the arm.
- Torn pec muscle: a pop at the front of the shoulder and chest, often during a heavy bench press.
- Little League shoulder: a growth plate stress injury in young throwers.
Upper and mid back
Upper and mid back pain often comes from stiff joints, strained muscles or the rib joints. It can also be referred from the neck, and a few causes need a doctor first.
- Shoulder blade pain by location: the usual causes for each part of the shoulder blade.
- Pain under the left shoulder blade: the usual muscle, rib and neck causes, and the organ causes to rule out.
- Pain under the right shoulder blade: the usual muscle, rib and neck causes, and when to think of the gallbladder.
- Upper and middle back pain by location: the usual causes for each part of the upper and mid back.
- Pain between the shoulder blades: common causes, and the ones that need a doctor.
- Upper back strain: a strained muscle after lifting, twisting or long hours bent forward.
- Shoulder blade pain that comes from the neck: pain referred from neck joints, discs or nerves.
- Stiff, rounded upper back: why the upper back stiffens and what that does to the neck and shoulder.
- Rib joint pain (“rib out of place”): sharp, one-sided pain with breathing or twisting.
- Pinched nerve in the upper back: band-like pain that can wrap around the chest.
- Winged shoulder blade: the blade lifts off the ribs, sometimes from a nerve problem.
- Snapping shoulder blade: clicking or grinding as the blade glides over the ribs.
- Spinal compression fracture: a collapsed vertebra, often linked to bone thinning.
- Broken rib recovery: healing over about 6 weeks, and keeping the chest clear while it hurts to breathe.
- Upper back pain when breathing: joint and muscle causes, and the signs that point elsewhere.
- Costochondritis: pain at the front of the chest where the ribs join the breastbone, and the signs that need a doctor first.
- Scheuermann’s kyphosis: a rigid rounded upper back that develops in the teenage years.
After an injection
These pages cover the first days after an injection, how long the effect usually lasts and how to use that time for movement and strength.
- Cortisone shot in the shoulder: the first week and what comes after.
- Hydrodilatation for frozen shoulder: stretching the joint capsule with fluid, then moving it.
- PRP injection for the shoulder: what it involves and what recovery looks like.
- Neck nerve root block or epidural: the days after an injection for nerve pain from the neck.
- Neck facet injection and radiofrequency ablation: treatments aimed at the small joints of the neck.
- Suprascapular nerve block: numbing a nerve that carries much of the feeling from the shoulder, and the weeks after.
Preparing for or recovering from an operation? See neck and shoulder surgery: preparing and recovering.
Start with where it hurts, and let the safety signs on each page decide how soon you get checked.