| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | | | | Treatment for a Dislocated Shoulder: Treatment |
| reports shoulder pain afflicts nearly 1 in 10 people. | | | | generally includes rest, cold packs, pain medicine, |
| Shoulders have a range of motion greater than any | | | | muscle relaxants, and physical therapy. Separation: A |
| other human joint. It is no wonder they are frequently | | | | separated shoulder happens not in the ball-and-socket |
| injured! | | | | joint but closer to the neck, at the point where the top |
| Shoulder Injuries: As a personal injury attorney, I | | | | of the shoulder blade (scapula) meets the collarbone |
| represent clients who have suffered serious shoulder | | | | called the clavicle. The ligaments holding the two bones |
| injuries and broken bones as the result of being in an | | | | together are stretched or torn. |
| accident. Injury to the shoulder may occur when a | | | | Treatment for Separated Shoulder: Treatment for a |
| bicyclist is hit by a car in a crosswalk, in a grocery | | | | separated shoulder joint injury usually involves rest, ice, |
| store fall when someone slips and falls on a spill on the | | | | pain relievers, and physical therapy. |
| floor or falls in a pothole or other tripping hazard as | | | | Rotator Cuff Injury: The rotator cuff is the structure |
| well as in pedestrian/car collisions. | | | | that holds the ball of the shoulder in its socket and |
| Shoulder Anatomy: Shoulders are the most commonly | | | | comprises four muscles and several tendons that are |
| dislocated joint. The shoulder is not put together as | | | | attached to the ball, beneath the deltoid and pectoralis |
| snugly as our body's other ball and socket joints. | | | | muscles. A rotator cuff injury can progress from |
| Shoulder sockets are shallower, flatter, and the balls | | | | inflammation to partial tears, small tears, and larger |
| (the upper end of the top arm bones) have to be held | | | | tears. One of the tendons in an injured rotator cuff |
| in position by a lot of soft tissue. | | | | may begin to detach from the arm bone. Symptoms |
| Shoulder Problems: Aside from wear and | | | | include pain in the shoulder and upper arm which |
| tear,shoulders are susceptible to many other | | | | becomes worse with time and when the arm is lifted |
| injuries.Problems more often occur in the ligaments and | | | | overhead or lowered. |
| tendons of the shoulder rather than in the bones. | | | | Treatment for rotator cuff tears: If caught early, they |
| Doctors may diagnose the precise location of shoulder | | | | may be treated with rest, ice and an anti-inflammatory, |
| pain by performing an examination, or through x-rays | | | | and physical therapy. Ultrasound, along with a steroid |
| or an MRI. | | | | cream, can reduce inflammation and increase blood |
| Types of Shoulder Injuries: Dislocation: When the | | | | flow, which speeds up healing. Tendons may be |
| ball-shape top of the upper arm (humerus) becomes | | | | reattached using arthroscopic surgery, in more serious |
| pulled out of its socket (glenoid) the surrounding soft | | | | shoulder rotator cuff tears. |
| tissue is stretched and often torn, causing a lot of | | | | Frozen Shoulder: Some people, who have an injured |
| swelling and pain in the shoulder. As a result, the | | | | shoulder requiring immobilization as part of their |
| supporting ligaments in the front of the shoulder may | | | | treatment plan, suffer what is called, frozen shoulder. |
| become damaged. Dislocation of the shoulder can | | | | This is caused when the shoulder is immobile and scar |
| cause excruciating pain. A doctor can usually | | | | tissue forms locking the shoulder joint into place. |
| maneuver the arm back into place, although | | | | Treatment for Frozen Shoulder: Frozen shoulder can |
| sometimes shoulder surgery is indicated. | | | | be quite painful and is sometimes treated with an |
| A dislocated shoulder injury is frequently the result of a | | | | anti-inflammatory, heat and stretching. More serious |
| slip and fall accident or pedestrian or bicycle | | | | cases require the injection of steroids into the shoulder |
| accident.The nature of the injury makes it more | | | | joint or electrical stimulation. When frozen shoulder |
| vulnerable to future dislocation. When this occurs in an | | | | does not respond to conservative care, doctors |
| older adult, the damage may be more severe, due to | | | | perform a forced manipulation under anesthesia to |
| soft tissue becoming weaker with age. | | | | actually free the joint from the scar tissue. |