Who should you see for a shoulder consultation?

It is difficult to know who is the best person to see for a shoulder consultation. Your GP? A specialist?

Shoulder impingement syndrome is a musculoskeletal condition. It occurs in the general population and in sportspeople. Hence, an orthopaedic or a sports medicine consultant is ideally suited to make a correct diagnosis in the initial stages itself. However, this costs a lot of money, and in the UK can cost you around £120-160 per visit. The session may last 5-20 minutes, and you may need to pay for X-rays on top of the consultation.

However, you do have another choice, you can get a shoulder consultation with a good osteopath or physiotherapist.

When you consult either of them, you will be asked in detail about you, your occupation, your routine and day to day activities, any abnormal and untrained activity that you have done in the recent past, any history of injury and their details, your occupation, and medical history.

Next they proceed to a complete examination of your affected shoulder. They look for any visible drooping of your shoulder, muscle wasting, abnormal bulk of muscle or swelling, bruising, local warmth, or bony abnormality.

Your shoulder consultation will also investigate your joint for confirming the above findings done during inspection. They then proceed to assess the range of movements, movements that cause pain, and any specific tests to assess the shoulder joint problem.