Arm & Shoulder Pain

Arm pain often occurs with shoulder and neck pain but each of these problems may appear alone. When occurring together, the term cervicobrachial pain is often used. The pains may be aching, stabbing, shooting, radiating, sharp or burning. The pain from this condition may radiate through the shoulder and into the arm, mimicking the warning signs of a heart attack.

Aggravating factors may be related to sports activities such as throwing a ball but may also occur with relatively sedentary activities as in working on a computer.

Conditions that cause arm pain may include carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve entrapment, tennis elbow, tendonitis, arthritis, bursitis and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and a pinched nerve in the neck (cervical radiculopathy). A particular form of shoulder pain and arm pain is brachial neuralgia which may occur spontaneously or may result from a virus or traumatic event.