Chiropractors are more than just bones.

I've been to 5+ chiropractors in my prior days . I know some chiropractors only focus on certain areas, such as only the neck or only the spine, but now there are some that are so much more.
My current chiropractor, Dr Jon King (http://www.scomacu.com/page2.html) is also very knowledgeable in sports therapy and physical therapy. If you have a chance to test out a few, 'shop around' for a multi-functional Chiro.

I was going to a PT for an ongoing shoulder issue. I knew it was muscle / joint related so I went to a PT, I didn't think a Chiro would be interested in muscles. On my right arm, certain movements would always illicit pain where the deltoid attaches to the bicep area. I spent about 3 months at physical therapy with electric simulator pads on my arm, massages, stretches and exercises. My arm got marginally better. It still hurt and I still didn't feel like the root of the issue was solved. I gave up and felt I would just have to live with this nagging pain. I tried lots of stretching and yoga, but the pain never went away.

Midway through 2013 I was having a issue with my right hip. I felt that one hip was higher than the other. Again, I thought it would go away over time, or get better with stretching and yoga, but it kept getting worse. Eventually around Oct 2013, I could not even sleep because the pain kept me up and  I decided.. "hmm this is probably a 'bone' issue, so I'll go to a chiropractor". What happened was that the back muscles are so tight, they're pulling the hip up so one side is higher than the other. While my Chiro is working on realigning my hips and all these muscle problems, (which have improved greatly in the 2-3 months), I mentioned to him about my nagging arm issue.

After a few 'tests' he narrowed down that the problem area was a scapular and sub-scapular muscle. Its surprising that a back muscle would be causing the front of my arm to feel pain. He pressed into the very very tender area of the scapular muscles (if you haven't felt it, its a Very uncomfortable area to be pressed). I was laughing because seriously I delirious with pain. After beating me up, that night I was able to move my arm and NOT feel any pain. It was amazing! After 1 visit my arm is significantly better (70% better) compared to 3 months of physical therapy (15% better).

I can understand why PT had such poor results because he only focused on the area of pain, the arm, but the root of the issue was my back. My Chrio said that the scapular muscle is commonly injured when a person sleeps on their side with their hand tucked under their head (which is how I sleep practically every night).

I'm super happy to have the range of motion in my right arm again!