Shoulder

First things first: most people with biceps tendinitis causing anterior shoulder pain improve with rehab, though it often takes weeks to months, and longer if there is a rotator cuff problem too; for a biceps rupture that leaves a bulge in your arm, most people don’t need surgery either. This post is for people whose shoulders hurt in the front, who feel pain when lifting their arms or carrying things, or who heard a “pop” after exerting themselves one day and found a bulge on their arm. ...

Let me start with the most important point: what you need to watch out for after your first shoulder dislocation mostly depends on your age. Young people need to worry about “will it pop out again”, while those over forty need to worry about “did the nearby tendons get injured too”. I wrote this for anyone who just dislocated their shoulder for the first time, and for families of older folks who fell, dislocated their shoulder, and haven’t been able to lift their arm since. ...

Let’s start with the most important sentence: “Shoulder impingement” describes a group of symptoms where raising your arm hurts; it is not the bone crushing your tendon. Most people improve with education and exercise and don’t need surgery, though how fast varies from person to person, and some take a few months. This post is for you if the outside of your shoulder hurts halfway up when raising your arm, or if you feel a catch when putting on a jacket or hanging laundry. It’s also for you if you’ve been told “you have shoulder impingement” and are considering whether to get a shot or surgery. ...

Let me start with the most common misconception: Rotator cuff tears are very common, they aren’t always what’s causing the pain, and they don’t always require surgery. I wrote this for anyone whose shoulder hurts, who can’t lift their arm, or who’s been told after an exam that “your rotator cuff is torn” or “you have calcification in your shoulder.” What exactly is the rotator cuff? The bones in your shoulder are shaped a lot like a golf ball sitting on a tee: the ball is large, and the tee is shallow. ...

Let’s start with the most important point: If a senior’s shoulder repeatedly swells with fluid, and you can draw out a large bottle every time, it’s mostly not “simple degeneration,” but another disease. This post is for you if you have an older family member whose shoulder repeatedly fills with fluid, has been aspirated several times, but always swells up again quickly. What is this disease? Inside the shoulder is a group of tendons called the “rotator cuff,” which is responsible for hanging the arm steadily in the shoulder socket. As we age, this tendon group can tear completely. After it tears, the humeral head moves upward, and bone rubs directly against bone. The fine calcium salt crystals ground off fall into the joint cavity, which in turn stimulates the joint lining to inflame and continue the destruction. ...