Surprisingly, it’s not in your shoulder joint, and most patients do report pain in the joint.
Sometimes it’s anterior. They point in the front and your long-head biceps, which is typically part of the problem there, too. But a lot of time, people put a point down in the deltoid, this kind of shell on the outside of your shoulder and inserts. The bursa travels from underneath the deltoids to the top.
But point to the side of their humerus, which is not where your cuff inserts are. It’s very rare to have deltoid tears or deltoid pathology. Extremely rare.
I’ve seen 20,000 rotator cuff tears in my career. I’ve only seen one deltoid tear, so it’s crazy rare, but people feel pain down here, so it’s a referred pain. Feel and real are not the same thing. The signals they send to our brain and what we perceive versus what’s going on in our body are not always consistent.
Very commonly, people will point to pain in the deltoids, but they also feel pain in the top area of their shoulder.
Considering treatment for shoulder bursitis? Dr. Kruse can help. Schedule a consultation at (469) 804-5977.