When is your patient's shoulder pain from their neck? Are you missing a cervical spine component in your shoulder patients?

After a day in clinic reviewing patients with years of unresolved shoulder pain, Shoulder Specialist Physiotherapist Jo Gibson breaks down the five most common mistakes clinicians make when ruling in — or out — the neck.

In this podcast, Jo covers:

Why you don't need neck pain to have neck-driven shoulder pain (and which pain locations are most pathognomonic)
Why referred symptoms below the elbow don't automatically point to the cervical spine
Why active range of movement alone is not enough to clear the neck
What palpation findings are actually sufficient — and why you don't need to reproduce peripheral symptoms
Why using neck movements to modify shoulder symptoms can be misleading

Whether you're seeing patients with posterior-lateral shoulder pain, scapular pain, or symptoms that just aren't responding to local shoulder rehab, Jo shares a practical framework for refining your clinical reasoning and avoiding these common assessment pitfalls.

Key takeaway: Up to 40% of patients with shoulder problems lasting six months or longer have some degree of cervical spine involvement. The subjective examination is doing 80% of the work — Jo explains exactly what to listen for.

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The handout for this podcast consists of a transcript associated with this podcast.

Shoulder: Steps to Success online course with Jo Gibson

Improve your assessment and treatment of shoulder pain with the Shoulder: Steps to Success online course with Jo Gibson, now available for enrolment at clinicaledge.co/shouldersuccess

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Links associated with this episode:

176. Neck-driven shoulder pain - 5 common misunderstandings. Physio Edge Shoulder Success podcast with Jo Gibson

Physio Edge podcast with David Pope

176. Neck-driven shoulder pain - 5 common misunderstandings. Physio Edge Shoulder Success podcast with Jo Gibson