Weeks 1–2
Pain
Calm the pain down.
Hands-on techniques calm the irritated tendon and take the edge off inflammation, starting your very first visit.
What We Treat
Shoulder pain treatment in Murray.
The jolt when you reach back for the seatbelt. The ache that wakes you the second you roll onto that side. It’s fixable, and it starts with a cause-first evaluation, not a guess.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- A stab of pain the second you reach back for your seatbelt
- Waking up every time you roll onto that shoulder
- Asking someone else to grab the plate from the top shelf
- Washing or brushing your hair has become a negotiation
- A deep ache that lingers for hours after any overhead work
- Reaching into the back seat and feeling the joint catch
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
Shoulder pain is a symptom. Something causes it.
Your shoulder doesn’t hurt for no reason. And it’s almost never just one thing. It’s usually some mix of four culprits: an irritated or worn rotator cuff tendon that pinches when you lift. A shoulder blade that stopped moving in sync and crowds the joint. Deep stabilizing muscles that quietly weakened and let the ball drift off-center. And daily habits, how you reach, sleep, and load overhead, that keep aggravating the same spot before it heals.
None of that shows up on a quick glance. It takes a real, cause-first evaluation to sort out which one is actually driving your pain. That’s why rest, ice, or a generic stretching sheet so often falls short: they treat the symptom, not the source. Find the real cause, and the fix gets obvious.
The Honest Truth
Waiting on a shoulder doesn’t make it wait on you.
If you keep waiting
- Your neck and elbow start picking up the slack, and start hurting too
- The joint stiffens as you use it less, and simple reaches get harder
- A cranky tendon that could have calmed down becomes a tear that won’t
If you start this week
- You know the actual cause by the end of visit one
- Hands-on relief starts before you leave the building
- You get a plan with an endpoint: a real one, not an open tab of visits
Nobody regrets starting too early. Every week, someone in our clinic says they regret waiting.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Built for your shoulder.
You’re an athlete, whether or not anyone else calls you one. You believe your body is worth keeping in the game. That’s exactly why this is worth a visit. Every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what the four phases look like for a shoulder.
Weeks 2–6
Prime
Get your motion back.
Targeted mobility work restores the overhead motion the stiff, guarding joint has been holding back.
Weeks 6–10
Perform
Make it strong enough to trust.
Progressive rotator cuff and shoulder-blade strengthening builds the stability your shoulder was missing in the first place.
Weeks 10+
Prevent
Return better than before.
Reaching, pressing, and overhead mechanics get tested under real load before you’re cleared to go all-in: that’s the endpoint, not just another appointment.
The first day he worked on me I could barely move my shoulder without bolts of pain running through it. That day was brutal but he forever changed my shoulder. Three days later my pain had decreased almost 90%.
Shared by Kody A. · Shoulder pain
Week 1: couldn’t lift your arm to a cupboard without a jolt
Week 10: pressing overhead at the gym again
Shoulder pain
10 weeks
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for shoulder pain.
Usually not, and it’s rarely the first step. Most shoulder pain improves without imaging, and studies consistently find rotator cuff wear and “fraying” on scans of people who have zero pain at all, so a scan doesn’t always point to the real cause. We start with a hands-on evaluation to find what’s actually driving your symptoms, and if imaging ever becomes genuinely necessary, we’ll help you get it. You don’t have to wait on a scan to start feeling better.
Yes, in most cases the right movement helps more than rest does. Hurt doesn’t always mean harm, and a shoulder you stop using tends to get stiffer and weaker, which sets up the next flare-up. The key is dosing the right movement for your specific shoulder, which is exactly what a Doctor of PT sorts out at your evaluation, then progresses safely as you improve.
Most patients feel meaningful change within 4-6 visits. A full plan for shoulder pain runs through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, typically over 8-10 weeks, depending on how long you’ve been dealing with it. Either way, you get a plan with an endpoint: you’ll always know which phase you’re in and what’s left, not an open-ended string of appointments.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
- Hours Mon, Tue & Thu: 8:00am-6:00pm, Wed: 2:00pm-5:00pm, Fri: 8:00am-1:00pm
- (385) 743-2757 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
- Same-week appointments available
4.9 · 70+ Five-Star reviews
Typical response: under 2 business hours
Step 1 of 5
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during business hours to lock in your time. Most people are on the schedule same week.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Lodestar Physical Therapy
- 6070 S 1300 E, Ste 102, Murray, UT 84107 (opens in a new tab)
- (385) 743-2757
- Fax: (385) 831-7092
- Frontdesk@lodestarpt.com
- Mon, Tue & Thu: 8:00am-6:00pm, Wed: 2:00pm-5:00pm, Fri: 8:00am-1:00pm