Bursitis in shoulder armpit pain

by Nathan Wei, MD, FACP, FACR

Nathan Wei is a board-certified rheumatologist and author of the Second Opinion Arthritis Treatment Kit. It's available exclusively at this website... not available in stores.

Click here: Second Opinion Arthritis Treatment Kit

Shoulder disorders can not only originate from elsewhere but it, in turn, can cause pain referral to other areas as well.

For example, disorders of the neck often cause referred pain to the shoulder.

It is a basic lesson that medical students learn on their first rotation in orthopedics. If the patient has shoulder pain, examine the neck. If they have neck pain, examine the shoulder.

Bursitis... one of the most common problems in the shoulder can cause pain to be felt in the shoulder itself but also may be referred to the neck, the arm, and the armpit.

Another cause of arm pit pain is swollen lymph nodes. These may be due to local inflammation, infection, or cancer.

It’s important though to remember that shoulder pain can arise from many different factors. For instance, disease of the gall bladder can cause pain referral to the shoulder. Heart attacks and lung infections can also cause pain referral to the shoulder.

It’s important to resist the temptation to consider any shoulder pain “bursitis.”

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