For the past four years, I've had a problem with my shoulder that has come and gone at seemingly random times. It's possible that the pain has actually never gone away, but just gets dull enough that I only remember the times when it starts flaring up. The pain usually travels up the muscle and into my neck, sometimes causing headaches. When it gets really bad the pain can travel down my arm and sometimes cause numbness. I've been to two chiropractors for treatment, and the result was always the same: the pain would be worse for a few hours after the adjustment, and then usually feel a little better the next day or two.
Yesterday I went to a doctor of internal medicine and he thinks something caused the muscle(s) in my back to get weak, so when I use it a lot the muscle gets irritated and inflamed. He gave me a shot of Depo-Medrol (a corticosteroid) to reduce the inflamation and told me to join a gym and get a trainer to show me some excercises to build up the strength in my back muscles. So far the only effect I've noticed from the injection is more pain. I guess I'll just have to get used to that since the required workout will probably put me in a world of hurt. Hopefully in a few months this whole thing will finally be a thing of the past.