Dr. Jason R. Brown, D.C. is a sports chiropractor, and a lot of his work at Reston Healing Center is on extremities like shoulders, knees, feet and ankles. Shoulder pain is one of the conditions he lists as seeing great results with. He looks at the whole picture, because shoulder pain doesn’t always start in the shoulder.

What causes shoulder pain

The most common cause of shoulder pain is the rotator cuff tendons getting trapped under the bony area of the shoulder, which leaves them inflamed or damaged. Shoulder pain can also come from an imbalance in the shoulder muscles, poor shoulder posture and mechanics, a frozen shoulder or a rotator cuff tear. Sometimes it comes from somewhere else entirely, like the neck.

That fits a lot of Reston routines: shoulders rounded forward over a keyboard all day, a gym session that pushes the same lift too hard, or a weekend of tennis, swimming or throwing a ball with the kids.

When it’s time to get your shoulder checked

It hurts to reach overhead or behind your back
Your shoulder aches when you lie on it at night
Tight, achy shoulders that tense up by the end of the day
You keep re-injuring the same shoulder
Shoulder pain that comes with a stiff neck

Waiting tends to let the problem spread. As your body works around a sore shoulder, your neck and upper back start to complain too.

Your first visit

It starts with a free 10–15 minute consult with Dr. Jason. Tell him what’s going on and ask anything. If you want to go ahead, you know the price before anything happens: $169 cash for your exam, digital X-rays and adjustment, or your price if we work with your insurance.

For every issue, shoulder pain included, we do a consultation and a thorough exam: ranges of motion, muscle testing, posture checks and digital X-rays. That gives each patient an individualized treatment plan to get them on the road back to what they love doing.

How we treat shoulder pain

Dr. Jason adjusts the spine and the extremities, shoulders included. Extremity adjusting means adjusting joints outside the spine, and it’s a big part of his sports chiropractic work. Each visit is about an hour of hands-on work: adjustments with Dr. Jason, then muscle work, stretching and exercises with Dr. Jason or one of our therapists.

Depending on what you need, your plan can also include therapeutic exercises for shoulder stability, active sports massage and kinesio taping, which supports the muscles and joints while still letting you move. You leave with exercises to do at home.

Why choose us

Our patients have given us a 4.9-star rating across 52 Google reviews. Dr. Jason takes his time, explains what he’s doing and wants to be the most conservative person you see. The goal is to keep you away from shoulder surgery. If he can’t help you, he’ll get you to someone who can.