Neck shoulder pain is very common in our daily life. The causes are varies, from local muscle, bulging disc to stress, even tumor. Therefore, a clear diagnosis is important.

The most two common reasons for neck shoulder pain I saw in my clinics are posture strain and stress. Patients usually complain stiff neck, pain around shoulders or between shoulder blades. In severe cases, they even wake up at night time due to the pain. A muscle named trapezius covering neck and shoulder area is usually involved. The trapezius is originated just under the occipital bone where an acupoint Feng Chi is located, connecting to the tips of both shoulders. When we are in a head-forwarded position which is quite common due to daily activities such as long time use of computer, the muscle fibers between the two points gradually tensed up. The pain becomes obvious over time. Apart from physical injury, stress or anxiety is a big contributing factor. Heaps of studies already proved their causal relationship. I usually take stress into consideration and treat correspondingly if any physical causes can be excluded.

Another kind of shoulder pain to be mentioned is located on the top of scapular. The pain typically happens when the patient tries to reach up high on the effected side. It usually occurs on people with labor work. They have to reach up high all the time during their work. As a result, the related muscles (usually rotator cuff) are over stressed and flare up which leads to the pain, sometimes even shooting feeling going down the arm. So, in addition to acupuncture treatment, a good rest is very important for the recovery.