What works best for shoulder pain at one year?
An American study has found that steroid injection and manual therapy appear to be equally effective in relieving shoulder pain.
Patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) were randomly assigned to either a manual therapy group or a steroid injection group. The manual therapy group received 6 half hour sessions of hands on therapy whilst the injection group received a single injection with the option of a further 2 injections in the next year. in addition, both groups were given home exercises.
Both groups improved significantly in terms of pain and disability but by the end of the year 60% of the injection group had sought more treatment, compared with only 37% of the manual therapy group.
It seems like although both groups of patients experienced good pain relief, although those shoulder pain patients who had manual therapy or physiotherapy seemed to require less follow up treatment for shoulder pain due to shoulder impingement afterwards.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from shoulder pain and would like to have a physiotherapy assessment for suitability of physiotherapy treatment, contact us here.
