Don’t Shoulder the Pain! A wearable, flexible device for shoulder pain management

Post-surgical shoulder pain is a large source of opioid prescriptions in the United States, leading to an alarming and growing number of overdose deaths. A pain management device is needed to divert patients away from potentially dangerous drug treatments. Prior research has shown the effectiveness of topical vibrations in masking afferent pain signals through a process called “spinal gating”, of cryotherapy in reducing inflammation, and of heat therapy in promoting blood flow for recovery. We extend our sponsor Pain Care Labs’ VibraCool product line with a new wearable device that combines these modalities for reducing shoulder pain. The device consists of separate vibrating and cold/heat-delivering components that attach to a wearable strap that lays on the user’s shoulder. To focus treatment on where the injury site is located, our device’s flexibility allows for users to deliver vibrations and thermo-therapy to nearly anywhere along the shoulder and at multiple spots simultaneously. The device’s intuitive straps compress the treatment components firmly against the user’s body, and their magnetic buckles facilitate the user in putting on the device with just one arm. Our testing shows that our device is capable of delivering the biologically-required frequencies of vibrations for pain reduction into the shoulder and that our device can cover 97% of the shoulder in surface area. We believe the adoption of our device for the purposes of reducing post-surgical shoulder pain could lower dependence on opioids and potentially save lives.