Pain is a common presenting symptom of patients with shoulder conditions, yet there has been little work done to accurately describe its distribution and nature.

We studied all patients attending the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital shoulder clinic from August 2012 – 2013. Patients completed a questionnaire detailing their Oxford Shoulder Score and a validated neuropathic pain questionnaire. Patients were given diagrams to draw on their perceived location of pain or abnormal sensation.

We analysed all patients with frozen shoulder (48), osteoarthritis (37) and rotator cuff arthropathy (17).

We found that neuropathic pain is common in patients with shoulder conditions identified in 39% of OA patients, 42% with rotator cuff arthropathy and 57% with frozen shoulder. Pain outside the shoulder was reported in over 50% of patients, commonly the forearm, hand, neck and chest. Frozen shoulder was especially associated with pain outside of the shoulder with 39% describing symptoms in the neck or chest, 21% into the forearm and 18% into the hand. Interestingly, neuropathic pain radiating down the arm was not described in the rotator cuff arthropathy group.

The high prevalence of neuropathic symptoms and pain felt outside the shoulder aids diagnosis and more accurately identifies these conditions.