FAQs
How does one go about getting the "finesse" of pitching back after shoulder surgery? I had a labral tear repair and can pitch the baseball okay. But I'm noticing some difficulties with pitch control a ...more
I had one steroid injection for my frozen shoulder so far. There's been no change that I can see so far. Are there some exercises I can do to go along with the injection treatment? Before prescribing ...more
Everytime I life my arm up overhead, I get a loud snapping sound and instant pain. It feels like it's coming from my shoulder blade. This is becoming a major problem in my life because I am a lacrosse ...more
Three years ago, I had a very severe rotator cuff tear repaired. When I went in for a check-up the surgeon did a follow-up X-ray and ultrasound of the shoulder. Found out the tendon never really heale ...more
If I have arthroscopic surgery to stabilize my chronically dislocating shoulder, what kind of rehab should I expect? The surgeon will use an all-arthroscopic "bony bank bridge" method of reconstructio ...more
I have multidirectional shoulder instability from playing hockey as a kid. My surgeon has suggested I try some physiotherapy before thinking about surgery. Will this really help? Patients are often se ...more
The nurse practitioner I am seeing for a frozen shoulder told me it is a "self-limiting" problem and I don't need any special treatment. Just wait and the body will self-correct. Is this really true? ...more
I developed an impingement syndrome of my shoulder slowly over time. I've had acupuncture and physiotherapy and also massages and still have pain all the time. Where do I go from here? Pain can be a g ...more
I had a steroid injection for a painful rotator cuff shoulder problem. I was expecting relief from the pain fairly quickly but nothing happened. The surgeon wants to inject the shoulder again. If it ...more
I am a semi-professional pianist with a serious problem that could put the kibosh on my career. Anytime I play for more than an hour, my hands start to go numb. I've heard that it's possible to do som ...more
Last fall I suffered a shoulder injury that still plagues me. Now I'm starting to have problems with my shoulder blade. Whenever I raise my arm up overhead, the shoulder blade rubs against my ribs cau ...more
I went to an exercise physiologist for some help with a shoulder/scapula problem. She was adamant that I have to do a core training program as part of the rehab. Is this just a craze or is it really a ...more
I am seeing a physiotherapist for my shoulder problem (adhesive capsulitis) and I'm doing pretty well. I was looking on the Internet and saw you can get the same injections to the shoulder as they say ...more
I'm looking for any information I can find for my 16-year-old daughter who has a SLAP injury of the shoulder from playing volleyball. There are many different ways to treat this problem. What do you r ...more
I've been doing some research on the internet about rotator cuff tears. Both my husband and my sister were diagnosed with this as the cause of their shoulder pain when they didn't do anything to injur ...more
Can you walk me through the typical treatment for a problem of shoulder instability? I don't know how it happened, but I ended up with one shoulder that just doesn't work normally. The physician who e ...more
I had surgery for a rotator cuff tear two weeks ago. I'm wearing the abduction sling but I truly hate it. I've been given instructions by the surgeon but told not to do anything more than dangle and ...more
I am getting ready to have surgery for a rotator cuff tear. The surgeon said I would be wearing a pillow splint under my arm for "four to six weeks." I'm just wondering how they know which it is: four ...more
I am totally for this new approach to medicine demanding evidence that treatments prescribed really work. Right now I'm personally dealing with a shoulder impingement problem. I've been seeing a physi ...more
Our granddaughter separated her shoulder playing volleyball. They put her in a sling and said to rest it. That's it. Seems like that's how this problem was treated 40 years ago in my day. Haven't they ...more
I am going to have surgery to stabilize my AC joint. It keeps dislocating and exercising it hasn't helped. What's the latest I should know about surgery for this problem? The acromioclavicular or AC j ...more
Well, I'm ready to throw the towel in. I have bad arthritis of my AC joint from an old, old football injury. I've tried everything and the pain is unrelenting. I'm going to have the surgeon lop off th ...more
Have you ever heard of something called platelet-leukocyte gel? I saw an article in a magazine that said it is used to speed up healing after surgery. I'm having a decompression procedure for shoulder ...more
Do you think it's true that volleyball players have more shoulder dislocations than anyone else? What about second or third dislocations? Two girls on our team are out with their first shoulder disloc ...more
I injured my shoulder playing touch football. It popped out of the socket but went right back in. The orthopedic surgeon I saw thinks it will be okay but there is a risk or it popping out again. If it ...more
The orthopedic surgeon who is treating me showed me the MRI results and I definitely have a tear in the rotator cuff. But I don't remember ever injuring this arm so how is that possible? The shoulder ...more
I'm thinking about having a procedure done for my shoulder arthritis called joint resurfacing. The surgeon tells me this has been around a good 30 years so it's not new. If that's true, what kind of r ...more
I was walking out to the car to take my 86-year-old father to a dental appointment when he went down. No warning at all. One minute he was up and going, the next he was down and out. He didn't fall ha ...more
I'm a little concerned about my 72-year-old mother. She fell at home and dislocated her shoulder. The emergency room doctor was able to pop it back in place but she still can't seem to move it normall ...more
I am an orthopedic surgeon and thought you might be able to help me out. I saw a report on postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis somewhere recently but can't find it again. I seem to recall there ...more
Everyone I see tells me I have a shoulder impingement problem yet I keep having to go for more tests. First it was X-rays, now it's an MRI. If they know what's wrong with me, why do I need another exp ...more
Have you ever heard of something called platelet-leukocyte gel? I saw an article in a magazine that said it is used to speed up healing after surgery. I'm having a decompression procedure for shoulder ...more
Our granddaughter separated her shoulder playing volleyball. They put her in a sling and said to rest it. That's it. Seems like that's how this problem was treated 40 years ago in my day. Haven't they ...more
Do you think it makes any difference whether surgery to remove the tip of the collarbone at the AC joint is done with an open incision versus arthroscopically? I can have it done either way if I want ...more
I injured my shoulder playing touch football. It popped out of the socket but went right back in. The orthopedic surgeon I saw thinks it will be okay but there is a risk or it popping out again. If it ...more
Do you think it's true that volleyball players have more shoulder dislocations than anyone else? What about second or third dislocations? Two girls on our team are out with their first shoulder disloc ...more
The orthopedic surgeon who is treating me showed me the MRI results and I definitely have a tear in the rotator cuff. But I don't remember ever injuring this arm so how is that possible? The shoulder ...more
I am in a quandry as to what to do. I have always been athletic but have started developing some shoulder problems in my 30s that I can't seem to overcome. My right shoulder seems too loose and even h ...more
I just came back from the orthopedic surgeon's office where I got a shot of cortisone in my shoulder for an impingement problem. I forgot to ask what I can and can't do for activity and exercise. Now ...more
I'm thinking about having a cortisone injection into my shoulder. Since I'm very sensitive to all medications, can I suggest the physician use a lower dose than usual? Is this out of line?
I have severe shoulder pain and very limited motion. The surgeon says I have a Stage I tear of the rotator cuff and wants me to go to physiotherapy. I think I need surgery. Should I get a second opini ...more
I'm trying to figure out what to do about my shoulder. The X-ray shows a big bone spur under the part the surgeon called the acromion. The rotator cuff is torn and I have something the physiotherapist ...more
I had a rotator cuff repair surgery six months ago that failed. The surgeon wants to redo it. What sorts of things should I consider? Surgeons everywhere are grappling with the fact that rotator cuff ...more
Is it possible to tear the rotator cuff and not know it? I don't have any pain but my shoulder just doesn't work the way it should. I seem to recall injuring my arm years ago. Do you think I should se ...more
I had a full-thickness rotator cuff tear that was repaired using a special blood plasma product. It's supposed to speed up healing and recovery. Right now I'm still in the special pillow sling. I'm no ...more
I am considering having rotator cuff surgery but my surgeon says my osteoporosis may be a problem. I've been told that my brittle bones may make it harder to get a good result. Is there anything I can ...more
I had a very large rotator cuff tear repaired but it didn't hold. The surgeon said it was both a mechanical and a biologic failure. Can you explain it? Massive (very large) rotator cuff tears are at ...more
I had X-rays and a bunch of tests done to figure out what's wrong with my shoulder. I was told I have a shoulder impingement and need an MRI. The MRI wasn't "conclusive" so now I need "diagnostic arth ...more
Do you think there's any risk in delaying rotator cuff surgery indefinitely? I'd like to take a wait-and-see approach but I'm afraid that could jeopardize surgery if it turns out that's what I'll need ...more
I saw a picture in a biking magazine of a guy who could lift his mountain bike up over his head after having a shoulder replacement. I have a shoulder replacement and there's no way I can do that. Why ...more
How in the world did I end up with a frozen shoulder? I'm 36-years-old, very healthy, and athletic. But one day I woke up with a stiff shoulder and the rest is history. Three years later and I am stil ...more
I'm finding quite a bit on the Internet about anterior shoulder dislocations but not much about posterior dislocations. What are the guidelines for rehab and recovery for this kind of injury? Shoulder ...more
What's the difference between a frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis? The term frozen shoulder has been around since the early 1930s. But recent research has been able to show that every stiff, pa ...more
I was trying on clothes at the mall the other day in front of those three-way mirrors. I noticed that one of my shoulder blades is sticking out. What could be causing this? Should I do anything about ...more
I am having a weird shoulder problem. I don't have any pain but every time I reach back to put my seatbelt on, my left shoulder clunks. What could be causing this? You may have some shoulder instabili ...more
I have a chronic shoulder "instability." It's not bad enough to justify the expense of surgery yet but it is affecting my daily activities. I've heard that there's a new platelet injection therapy for ...more
The MRI I had taken of my right shoulder showed that my rotator cuff tear (repaired 10 years ago) was no longer whole. Somewhere along the line, it tore again. I never felt a thing and the arm works j ...more
I knew I tore my rotator cuff a couple of years ago but it didn't bother me so I didn't have surgery. When I started developing some shoulder pain, the orthopedic surgeon did an MRI on me and found th ...more
My sister has a chronically dislocating shoulder. She tried rehab but got kicked out because she either didn't go to her appointments or if she did, she didn't do her exercises. Should she have surger ...more
My 18-year-old son had a seizure severe enough that his shoulder dislocated posteriorly. The shoulder has popped back in but there is a concern that it will pop out again. The surgeon doesn't want to ...more
I just found out that I have a rotator cuff tear and damage to the biceps pulley. I'm having surgery next week for both. Are these two problems part of the same thing, separate issues, related to each ...more
Is everything that goes wrong with muscles, tendons, and joints related to age? I've had two shoulder injuries that the surgeon says are both caused by "degeneration". One was a rotator cuff tear. The ...more
What are the chances I can heal from a full-thickness tear of my rotator cuff? Only the supraspinatus tendon was damaged. Right now they are recommending physiotherapy with surgery as a back-up plan. ...more
I am a cabinet maker with an unfortunate problem: shoulder pain. The surgeon wants to release part of my biceps tendon away from the shoulder. She says this won't affect my work and will probably redu ...more
I'm on my third shoulder surgery now. Now I have what they call a "Popeye deformity." Will I need surgery for this? A Popeye deformity is defined as any abnormal shortening or defect of the biceps mus ...more
I had a rotator cuff repair but I still have shoulder pain. It's right in the front of my arm and mostly hurts when I raise my arm up. Should I go back to the surgeon? See my physiotherapist? Give it ...more
My orthopedic surgeon thinks I have something called coracoid impingement. She wants me to see a physical therapist before considering surgery. What can a therapist do for this problem? The coracoid ...more
What is chondrolysis? My sister says she got this after having arthroscopic shoulder. Can anything be done about this? Chondrolysis is defined as a generalized (all over) loss of the articular (surfac ...more
Is it possible to have a rotator cuff strain that is not a rotator cuff tear? When it comes to injuries of the rotator cuff, there are actually three possibilities. There can be a strain, muscle tear ...more
Despite my daily workout routine I tore my rotator cuff. The surgeon says I probably had a worn out tendon to begin with and the exercises helped but couldn't prevent the injury. Is this true? Maybe I ...more
I'm 66-years-old and participating in the Senior Olympics for the first time. Right out of the shoot, I tore my rotator cuff (the subscapularis muscle). What would you predict for recovery time? The l ...more
Can anyone get one of those new reversed shoulder replacements? I had a regular shoulder implant that didn't work so I need to replace the replacement. The reverse shoulder arthroplasty is a new enoug ...more
Can you please give me some basic info on reverse shoulder replacements? Along with hip and knee joint replacements, shoulder replacement has become increasingly popular for people with pain and loss ...more
If I have a rotator cuff tear but it doesn't bother me, what are the chances it will just go away? The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendinous attachments that surround the shoulde ...more
I have a frozen shoulder that just isn't getting better. I've heard they can put you to sleep and manipulate the joint. Is there some other easier way to get the motion back without that kind of traum ...more
What's the difference between adhesive capsulitis and a frozen shoulder? I thought they were the same thing but my sister who is a physician's assistant says they are not. Your sister is correct: froz ...more
What's the best way to recover from a frozen shoulder? Many adults (mostly women) between the ages of 40 and 60 years of age develop a strange case of shoulder pain and stiffness called adhesive caps ...more
Am I too old to have shoulder surgery? I've had a bum shoulder for 20 years. I'm getting too old to put up with this problem. Is it too late to have the surgery now? In theory, yes, you could have sur ...more
I'm playing the odds here. With a Bankart lesion in both shoulders, I'm trying to rehab with physiotherapy and skip the surgery. What's the likelihood that I can recover on my own? A Bankart lesion oc ...more
If my shoulder popped out of the socket but went back in the socket by itself, do I have a subluxation or a dislocation? Subluxation is usually defined as an incomplete instability event that did not ...more
Loss of circulation to the hands can occur with arms raised overhead from one of several different problems.
I have a chronic shoulder problem from a degenerating rotator cuff and now bursitis on top of it. The surgeon has given me two treatment choices to consider: physiotherapy and rehab or surgery. I real ...more
Mother is 72-years old but fairly frail and immobile. She tore a muscle in her chest when the nurses aide was helping transfer her from the bed to the chair. The doctor says not to do surgery (and we ...more
Our son is in the military and just ruptured his major chest muscle bench pressing. They made this diagnosis without even an X-ray. Should we accept the physician's assistant's opinion or insist on hi ...more
My doctor thinks I have shoulder bursitis but wants me to have some ultrasound studies done to confirm it. Aren't there some simpler tests that can answer this? There are some clinical tests examiners ...more
My sister-in-law and I had the same surgery for a rotator cuff tear two days apart. She's already out of her abduction brace and I'm still lugging mine around. Is it safe for me to stop wearing mine n ...more
My mother fell out of bed and broke her upper arm. She will need a shoulder replacement. She has a choice of the traditional ball in socket joint or the new reverse arthroplasty. Can you give us some ...more
I had shoulder surgery about six months ago. They repaired a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum. The joint just seems so stiff some days. Is this normal? According to surgeon observation and reported ...more
How is it possible for a relatively healthy 53-year-old to end up with a rotator cuff and labral tear of the shoulder at the same time without an injury? Most rotator cuff tears are the result of spor ...more
I am 33-years-old and retiring from a professional ball throwing career. My pitching arm has become unstable from overuse. The team doc has suggested I have surgery to tighten up the joint so it will ...more
Two weeks ago, I had rotator cuff surgery. I'm doing the pendulum exercises the physiotherapist showed me but I think these are stupid. I'm really ready to start using the arm more. Is there any reaso ...more
My sister had a rotator cuff repair 10 years ago and had a rough time of it. The tear reopened after surgery and she ended up having two more operations. Now I find myself in the same position of need ...more
I just had rotator cuff surgery and start rehab in about a month to six weeks. I don't have a job that involves manual labor but I do enjoy a high level of sports activities on the weekends. How soon ...more
I had an ultrasound picture of my rotator cuff that showed something weird. The muscle that was starting to show signs of wear and tear wasn't torn. It was the other (healthier looking) muscle next to ...more
I saw a physical therapist after dislocating my left shoulder. She put me through a complete program until I was ready to get back to work. From start to finish, I was back on the job in eight weeks. ...more
I confess I'm not much for exercise, so when I was diagnosed with snapping scapula syndrome, I skipped the surgeon's recommendation for physiotherapy and just took the antiinflammatory pills. But six ...more
I just found out my shoulder pain is caused by something getting pinched in there. We're not sure just what's getting pinched but the MRIs should help clear up the anatomy of the problem. What's the c ...more
Have you ever heard of using laser to treat a shoulder impingement problem? How does it work?
I was very active in sports during my high school and college years. I never hurt myself and always felt proud of that fact. But now it turns out I have a rotator cuff tear in both shoulders and didn' ...more