Shoulder Instability
Your shoulder joint
allows you to perform a wide range of movements of the upper limb that are
crucial for your everyday activities. However, the shoulder joint is frequently
injured because of its freedom of motion. Shoulder instability results in your
shoulder slipping out of the socket because of torn or damaged ligaments.
Sometimes sports with overhead activity like tennis and volleyball can also
cause shoulder instability without any major tear in the ligaments.
How Can Shoulder
Instability Be Treated?
Shoulder instability
can be treated with proper physiotherapeutic exercises. In some cases when the
injury is too extensive, you might need surgery to repair or reconstruct the
ligaments.
The surgical
procedure is minimally invasive and involves using a small camera (arthroscope)
that is inserted in the joint through a small incision made in front of the
shoulder. Arthroscopy is now the preferred surgical procedure for fixing
shoulder instability.
Rotator Cuff Repairs
Four groups of
shoulder muscles make the rotator cuff and insert into the upper part of the
arm. The rotator cuff muscles help to initiate shoulder movements working
together with other muscles of the back and chest.
When the rotator cuff
gets damaged the first line of treatment is icing and resting the joint along
with anti-inflammatory medicines. Physiotherapy also improves the mobility of
the rotator cuff. In severe cases, you might need surgery (arthroscopy or small
incision surgery).
Frozen Shoulder
Adhesive Capsulitis
or frozen shoulder frequently affects people aged 40 and above. This condition
can be prompted from even a minor injury, and it is more frequently met in
people that have diabetes.
The pain from a
frozen shoulder progresses over weeks to months with the symptoms being more
severe at night or on sudden movements. Inflammation in the joint causes this
pain to occur and can sometimes make it difficult to fall asleep at night.
This pain gradually
lessens when scarring and stiffening of the joint occurs. When this happens,
the shoulder joint ‘freezes’, hence the term ‘frozen shoulder’. The
frozen shoulder causes movements to become restricted and makes it difficult
for you to perform everyday activities.
The final stage is
the thawing stage when the pain and the decreased joint mobility get better.
This may take over a year.
For many people
adhesive capsulitis is distressing, and treatment involves reducing the pain
during the initial inflammatory stage. Surgery is usually not required and
proper physiotherapy often completely improves the mobility of the shoulder
joint.