Chronic pain in shoulders

[TheNewFinch]

Last night my aunt was staying with me and she mentioned that she is having sever pain in her shoulder going towards the neck and backbone.
She applied an ointment from which she had temporary relief but the pain continued after a couple of hours.
She also got a back massage which instead worsened the pain and now her pain is worse/severe than before.
She has been facing this issue of pain on and off since 8 years and visited to the doctors. The recommended medications and she didn't found much improvement from it so she discontinued them.
What could be the possible reason for this pain or any posture which could bring improvement after bringing a change?

Eight years is a long time to be dealing with this. Shoulder and neck pain can come from muscle tension, posture, joint problems or issues in the neck itself, so it’s difficult to say without an examination. As the massage has made it worse, I’d avoid further massage for now and encourage her to get it checked again, especially as the pain is now severe. Gentle movement and avoiding positions that aggravate it may help, but she shouldn't force any stretches. Hopefully she can get some answers and find something that actually helps.

The pain might be due to some genetic issue and if not that then it could be possibly because of any inconvenience i-e either it could be by lifting weight or some bad posture.

It's likely to be her neck. The spine deteriorates as we as we age and this sets up spasm in the shoulders . I've found the best thing for the pain is to rest the neck and shoulders on a hot water bottle . I take cocodamol as ibuprofen does nothing . Physio does nothing except to irritate the pain further.