You had surgery to correct a problem in your shoulder, so it is a cruel stroke of irony to discover that the surgery has caused pain, stiffness, and arthritis to develop. In the past, shoulder surgeries, especially those like the Magnuson Stack or the Putti-Platt procedures, were designed to stabilize the repaired shoulder by limiting […]
You may hear the term “fatty infiltration” for the first time when you see a physician about a rotator cuff injury. After you tear the tendon in your shoulder, a large gap remains between the tendon and the bones, keeping the shoulder muscle from performing its usual actions of shortening and lengthening. The body attempts […]
The rotator cuff is a complex of four muscles and the tendons that attach them to the three bones that make up the shoulder joint. A tear in any one of the tendons is extremely common and can cause pain, weakness and limited range of motion. Tears in rotator cuff tendons develop in two ways. […]
Rotator cuff tears are common, and recovery can take a long time. But do all rotator cuff tears need to be surgically repaired? After reviewing 137 studies on the outcomes of rotator cuff treatments, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, said no. The […]
Are you an avid swimmer now sidelined by swimmer’s shoulder? You have plenty of company. Swimmer’s shoulder can develop from overuse, a change in your stroke or an increase in the intensity or duration of your swimming activity. Swimmers tend to have above-average flexibility and range of motion in the shoulder—that’s great for swimming. But […]
For most of us, the idea of “fighting fat” is nothing new. But fat is not just an enemy of your waistline. It’s an enemy of your muscles, too—especially when you are recovering from rotator cuff surgery. When the rotator cuff tendon is torn, a gap between the tendon and bones is formed. Your body […]
It is a classic movie scene: The hero’s shoulder gets knocked out of joint. With a nonchalant grunt, he pushes it back into place and goes about his business saving the world. Well, that might work in the movies, but in real life a dislocated shoulder is a very serious problem that cannot be simply […]
Rotator cuff tears, a common injury, send as many as 2 million Americans to their physicians’ offices every year. While many cases can be treated with conservative measures, such as physical therapy, others require rotator cuff repair surgery. One factor affecting surgery outcome is the presence of fat in place of muscle, a condition that […]
At the head of the arm’s humerus bone, where the muscles of the rotator cuff are attached, is a rounded section called the greater tuberosity. A dislocation or a fall on the shoulder can cause the greater tuberosity to fracture, leading to pain when lifting the arm or moving the shoulder, and limiting your range […]
