Should be suspected of this disease, the throbbing sound of your shoulder, the stabbing pain

Sep 16, 2025

Should be suspected of this disease, the throbbing sound of your shoulder, the stabbing pain
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If you hear a 'tuk' sound whenever you move your shoulder, or if you continue to experience a stabbing pain when you lift your arm, you should suspect shoulder collision syndrome, not just muscle pain. The condition, which is common in people who repeatedly use their arms or shoulders, causes inflammation, damage, and pain when the shoulder tendon, called the rotator cuff, collides with the upper shoulder bone. As the shoulder is one of the joints with a wide range of motion in our body, even small abnormalities can cause great discomfort, and if the collision is repeated, the tendon can weaken and the pain can get worse.

Shoulder collision syndrome is associated with lifestyle habits or sports activities that frequently raise the arms. It is also common for people who exercise a lot of shoulder use, such as swimming and baseball, or who repeatedly use their arms professionally. In particular, after the 40s, the elasticity of the rotator cuff decreases and the structural space narrows, increasing the incidence rate.

If the pain is not severe or is detected early, improvement can be expected with non-surgical treatment. Non-surgical treatments include manual therapy, extracorporeal shock wave (ESWT), and special physical therapy represented by kidney injection therapy (SST).




Manual therapy corrects lumped and twisted muscles and ligaments, and extracorporeal shock waves are effective in improving blood flow and reducing inflammation. Kidney injection therapy is useful in acute pain or postoperative recovery stages. Recently, the effect of restoring nerve, muscle, and joint functions can be enhanced through 'ESMA' treatment, which combines in vitro shock waves and manual therapy.

Exercise therapy that gradually restores muscle strength and joint function by using Biodex, a rehabilitation equipment, can also be performed. After precisely analyzing the function of the shoulder joint and surrounding muscles, rehabilitation exercises suitable for the patient are possible, thereby strengthening muscle strength and preventing unnecessary injuries.

However, surgical treatment is necessary if symptoms do not improve despite non-surgical treatment or tendon damage has already progressed and interferes with daily life. Depending on the patient's condition, cuff plastic surgery or rotator cuff suture through arthroscopy may be considered.




Arthroscopy allows accurate diagnosis and treatment by minimizing the incision to less than 5mm in areas suspected of joint disease and inserting a special small camera-equipped joint endoscope and special instruments to check the condition even in areas where radiographs are difficult to see.

The bone called the crotch forms the roof of the crotch, and if the crotch is not in good shape or the space under the crotch is narrow, it collides with the crotch. In this case, the lower part of the gibbon can be trimmed to reduce collisions, which is called "gibbon plastic surgery".

If the rotator cuff is damaged or severely ruptured, the rotator cuff should be trimmed or " rotator cuff suture" should be performed. After a minimum incision of less than 5mm using a joint endoscope, the operation is performed by checking the joint condition with an endoscope. It has the advantage of less pain and faster recovery because the short surgery time and the incision site are small and the amount of bleeding is small.




Koh Young-wan, head of the Joint Center at Incheon Nanuri Hospital, said "Shoulder health is not limited to simply raising the arm, but is directly related to activities in everyday life and can affect the quality of life. If repetitive pain, feelings, and sounds persist during shoulder movement, it may be an initial signal of 'shoulder impact syndrome' he explained.

Then, "Shoulder impact syndrome can be managed simply as it is treated earlier, but if left unattended, it can lead to rotator cuff rupture and become a complex treatment. If the disease is suspected, it is advisable to receive appropriate treatment early through consultation with a specialist," he added.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.