Are neck and shoulder pain connected?

It’s common to have neck pain along with shoulder pain. The way your shoulder links to your neck muscles and collar bone means pain in one area can influence how your muscles work or tense up in the other. That means the pain can spread from one to the other. It also means that if you have a fall or injury that affects one, it might also affect the other, as they are close together.

You may get shoulder pain because of an issue in your neck – even if you don’t feel the pain in your neck itself. The shoulder pain might feel more like pins and needles, sharp, hot or burning pain.