The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body. That mobility comes at the cost of stability, which is why shoulders break down so often. Pain can come from the joint itself, the rotator cuff, the surrounding muscles, or, very commonly, from nerve irritation in the cervical spine. A patient with shoulder pain who has had imaging come back clean is often a patient with a cervical source.

Common causes include neck and upper back tightness, spinal misalignment in the lower cervical vertebrae, arthritis, abnormal movement patterns built up over time, and direct injuries from sports or accidents. The pain shows up in different ways: trouble lifting the arm, pain when carrying objects, deep ache at night, snapping or clicking with movement, sharp pain that comes and goes for no obvious reason.

Dr. Lena Hartwell examines the shoulder, the surrounding muscles, and the cervical spine together. The Gonstead approach is built on identifying the specific joint that is the actual source of the problem. When the source is cervical, an adjustment to the involved vertebra often provides shoulder relief that no amount of work on the shoulder itself would produce. When the shoulder joint is the actual problem, the plan reflects that and may include referral if surgical assessment is appropriate. The goal is to find the real cause before committing to a single course of care. Most shoulder cases respond well when the source is correctly identified, regardless of where on the chain the work needs to happen.