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The Joint Clinic

About Shoulder

About Shoulder

Common problems affecting the shoulder are:

Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain and difficulty in lifting the arm interferes in day-to-day activities like combing hair, putting hands behind the back, bathing and wearing clothes. Most common cause is impingement syndrome where the bony arch of shoulder pinches the muscle under it (called the rotator cuff). Early cases respond well to medication and exercises. In severe cases, we use arthroscopic (keyhole) technique to remove the protruding bone and clear inflamed soft tissues thereby increasing space for underlying rotator cuff muscles. This gives quick and permanent relief from pain. (More about subacromial decompression).

Rotator Cuff Tear

If rotator cuff is torn by injury or overuse, one can hardly lift up the arm as there is a loss of strength along with shoulder pain. However, small tears can present only with pain. MRI scans are used to confirm the diagnosis. Rotator cuff tears can be repaired with arthroscopic techniques. Injections are not advisable in rotator cuff disease as they can worsen the problem. More about rotator cuff repair

Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder, causes your joint lining (capsule) to thicken and shrink like a deflated balloon leading to pain and loss of movements. Early stages can be managed by medications, exercises & sometimes injections in the shoulder. When physiotherapy fails in advanced disease, best management is to release the tight capsule which is done with keyhole technique and allows immediate increase in movement and diminution of pain. More about capsular release

Shoulder Dislocation

Sometimes, a significant amount of bone has already eroded due to repeated dislocations. In this situation, we have to supplement the bone in the socket. This can come from the bony projection of the shoulder (coracoid) or from the hip bone. More about Latarjet surgery

SLAP Tear

SLAP tears are seen in people involved in throwing sports or after a single episode of injury. Patients complain of pain, clicking or difficulty in performing overhead activities. MRI scans can confirm the diagnosis. Some SLAP tears will require a repair to cure pain and restore shoulder function. We perform arthroscopic SLAP repairs with excellent outcomes. More about SLAP repairs

Shoulder Arthritis

Shoulder arthritis starts with increasing age or after injury. Complaints are pain, stiffness or a grinding sensation. For severe arthritis, we replace your shoulder to give excellent pain relief and improvement in function. Depending on your type of disease this is either hemiarthroplasty (changing the ball) or total shoulder replacement (changing both ball and socket).
When shoulder arthritis occurs due to long standing rotator cuff tears,  we perform a reverse shoulder replacement (ball replaces socket and socket replaces ball). More about shoulder replacements