Interactive Triage
2-Minute Shoulder & Arm Pain Navigator
Where in your shoulder or arm do you feel it most?
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Routing support only, not diagnosis. Severe neurological symptoms need urgent medical evaluation.
Shoulder catching, elbow burning, or hand tingling you cannot quite pin down? This 2-minute quiz helps you sort the pattern and find the right starting point.
Interactive Triage
0 selected
Routing support only, not diagnosis. Severe neurological symptoms need urgent medical evaluation.
Connected Muscle System
Condition Pages
Get answers to your questions about TheraMax
Braces and ice reduce symptoms at the sore spot, but shoulder and arm conditions often run through the full chain from rotator cuff to forearm. If the muscles upstream or downstream stay tight, the elbow keeps absorbing extra stress every time you reach, grip, or twist. That is why the relief fades as soon as the brace comes off. Releasing the tension through the connected chain is what breaks the cycle.
Nighttime numbness in the thumb, index, and middle finger is the signature pattern of carpal tunnel syndrome. Repetitive hand use tightens the muscles around the wrist tunnel and compresses the median nerve. However, nerve symptoms can also start from tension in the shoulder or neck that narrows the pathway higher up. If your tingling changes when you move your neck, the pattern may involve more than just the wrist.
Location is the key differentiator. Tennis elbow affects the outside of the elbow and flares during gripping, carrying, and wrist extension like opening jars. Golfer's elbow affects the inside and spikes during wrist flexion and forearm rotation like swinging a club or twisting a wrench. If your pain is on the outer side and worsens with gripping, tennis elbow is more likely, though both share common forearm tension pathways.
Catching and weakness during overhead movement is the classic rotator cuff pattern. The four rotator cuff muscles stabilize the shoulder joint, and when they stay overloaded you feel that sharp catch or pinch at certain angles instead of smooth gliding motion. General shoulder pain from posture tends to produce a constant ache rather than catching. If overhead reaching or behind-the-back motions trigger the pain, start with the rotator cuff page.
In most cases, yes. When one area of the chain stays overloaded, the joints above and below compensate and develop their own tension patterns. What starts as a sore shoulder can become a sore shoulder plus elbow pain plus grip weakness over several months. Many Miami clients tell us they wish they had addressed the pattern earlier, before the second or third area started flaring.
When shoulder tension builds over time, the nerves and blood vessels that supply the hand can get compressed along the way, contributing to grip weakness or numbness downstream. That pattern can overlap with carpal tunnel syndrome at the wrist. If hand weakness came on suddenly, see a medical provider. For gradual patterns, your first TheraMax visit in Miami includes an assessment to identify which area of the chain is primary.
Strategically located between Brickell and Coral Gables, our clinic is just 5 minutes from Coconut Grove and a quick drive from Downtown Miami. Whether you work downtown or live in the surrounding neighborhoods, we're easy to reach.