Shoulder pain treatment in Queen Creek: what to bring and where to go

What to bring to the first visit

Note when the soreness started and whether you had a fall. Those details help the doctor decide what to check.

Write down which reach first became hard during your day. It may be washing your hair, dressing, or reaching behind you.

Bring any scan report, medicine list, and exercise sheet you have. You won’t need to remember every detail during the visit.

You don’t need someone to move the sore arm at home. During the visit, the doctor may guide it gently while you relax.

Do you need a scan first? Often, the movement exam gives the doctor a useful starting point.

What to check before making the drive

The Chandler office is at 1100 S. Dobson Road, Suite 210. From Queen Creek, the drive runs west toward the Loop 202.

The distance is roughly 14 to 24 miles across different parts of town. Leave extra time when traffic is heavy.

Ask how many trips the care may require before you choose it. Several drives can be harder than driving there once.

Also ask what insurance covers and what you would pay yourself. Don’t agree to care until that answer is clear.

For chest symptoms or other emergencies, don’t drive to Chandler. Go to Banner Ironwood Medical Center on Gantzel Road.

Sources

1. A UK primary-care database study of 658,469 adults found an annual prevalence of consulting for a shoulder condition of 2.36% and an incidence of 1.47%. Over three years of follow-up, about half of incident cases consulted only once, 13.6% were still consulting in year three, 22.4% were referred to secondary care and 10.6% received an injection from their GP. Five of 426 possible diagnostic codes accounted for 74.6% of new-case diagnoses.

   Linsell L, et al. — Prevalence and incidence of adults consulting for shoulder conditions in UK primary care; patterns of diagnosis and referral.. Rheumatology (Oxford), 2006. DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/kei139.

2. Medicare's national coverage policy covers autologous platelet-rich plasma ONLY for chronic non-healing diabetic, pressure and/or venous wounds, and only within an approved coverage-with-evidence-development study. There is no Medicare national coverage for PRP in shoulder osteoarthritis or rotator cuff disease, which is why these injections are billed to the patient directly.

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma (Coverage with Evidence Development). CMS.gov, 2024.

3. A systematic review of 61 studies across high-, middle- and low-income countries found a MEDIAN community prevalence of shoulder pain of 16% (range 0.67% to 55.2%), a median primary-care prevalence of 2.36%, and a median incidence of 37.8 per 1,000 persons per year. Estimates were generally higher for women and in high-income countries.

   Lucas J, et al. — A systematic review of the global prevalence and incidence of shoulder pain.. BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 2022. DOI: 10.1186/s12891-022-05973-8.

4. Among 88 patients presenting with adhesive capsulitis and no reported history of diabetes, blood testing found diabetes in 38.6% and prediabetes in 33.0% - a total of 71.5% with a diabetic condition, including 2% newly diagnosed diabetes and 28.4% newly diagnosed prediabetes.

   Tighe CB, et al. — The prevalence of a diabetic condition and adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder.. South Med J, 2008. DOI: 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181705d39.