SHOULDER CONDITIONS

Arthritis commonly affects the acromioclavicular joint.

AC Joint pain not be well localised to the AC joint. Pain is worse when lifting the arm overhead. There is often a tender bony lump over the top of the shoulder where the AC joint lies if it is arthritic.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of AC Joint Arthrosis here.

Traumatic Anterior Dislocation is most commonly seen in young males, however, it can affect anyone that suffers a high energy traumatic injury to the shoulder.

Typically, the shoulder dislocates forwardly due to an injury. The shoulder will often need to be put back into the joint under an anaesthetic at a hospital emergency department. After the dislocation, a sling is usually recommended for the first few days until the pain settles. Physiotherapy helps with the recovery, however, physiotherapy treatment doesn’t make a significant difference to the likelihood of dislocation reoccurrence.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Anterior Instability here.

Calcific Tendonitis is a relatively common shoulder condition. It has a peak onset age of 40 years of age. It affects women more commonly than men. The most commonly affected of the rotator cuff tendons is the supraspinatus tendon.

It seems that the presence of calcium in the rotator cuff tendons is relatively common. Some studies have suggested that between 2 to 20% of people may have calcium present in their rotator cuff tendons without symptoms. The shoulder becomes symptomatic when an inflammatory reaction occurs in relation to the calcium within the rotator cuff tendon. It is the inflammatory reaction rather than the presence of the calcium that causes the symptoms.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Calcific Tendonitis here.

Frozen shoulder is also called adhesive capsulitis. It typically affects patients between the ages of 40 to 60 years old. It occurs in approximately 2% of the population; however, it is more common in patients with other medical conditions such as diabetes, thyroid disease and cardiac problems. Diabetes has the most common association. In patients with diabetes the incidence of frozen shoulder is high with 10-20% of this group suffering from frozen shoulder at some stage. Frozen shoulder appears to be a unique condition because it doesn’t appear to affect joints other than the shoulder and it seems to invariably resolve.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Frozen Shoulder here.

Rotator cuff tears may be partial or full thickness tears. They may occur as part of a degenerative process where the tendon progressively becomes weaker and wears out or they may be precipitated by impingement. Rotator cuff tears may also occur in relation to acute injuries such as a fall onto the shoulder or other injury.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Rotator Cuff Tear here.

The glenohumeral joint (GHJ) is the joint between the head of the upper arm bone and the shoulder blade. It is frequently affected by arthritis.

There are different types of arthritis that affect the shoulder. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of shoulder arthritis, however in some patients, rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory arthritis may be the cause of symptoms.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Shoulder Arthritis here.

Impingement occurs when the supraspinatus tendon or the region where the supraspinatus tendon is attached to the humerus, contacts the under surface of the acromion and the coraco-acromial ligament.

In patients with impingement, pain occurs as the arm is lifted up away from the side of the body. It typically occurs at approximately 90 degrees abduction and commonly occurs as a painful catch.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Shoulder Impingement here.

There are two major categories of shoulder instability; Traumatic & Multidirectional. The commonest instability pattern is Traumatic Anterior Dislocation. It is seen in patients who suffer an injury to their shoulder and dislocate out the front of the shoulder. These patients are often young males engaged in high impact sports. If they are young and remain active they will almost always redislocate their shoulders and usually they are troubled with recurrent dislocations. Modern treatment involves surgery to stabilise the shoulder and will usually be recommended after the very first dislocation.

Multidirectional instability is usually seen in people who are naturally very flexible. These people have what orthopaedic surgeons call ligamentous laxity, a condition in which the collagen is more stretchy than normal. The shoulder may dislocate out the back or the front and has often done so since the first dislocation.

Tendonitis means inflammation of the tendon. The rotator cuff tendons are particularly prone to tendonitis and of the rotator cuff tendons, the one that is most commonly involved is the supraspinatus tendon.

Symptoms of tendonitis in the shoulder include aching pain down the outer aspect of the arm. Using the arm away from the body can be particularly uncomfortable and can cause deep aching pain. Symptoms of impingement are often prevalent, where the shoulder catches as the arm is lifted away from the body and there is a degree of bursitis in the shoulder.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Shoulder Tendonitis here.

The subacromial bursa is a structure that lies between the upper surface of the rotator cuff and the under surface of the acromion. The bursa in fact, is a potential space that lies between two surfaces that move. It is normally formed by two smooth surfaces with a thin film of fluid between them, and it allows for movement to occur by providing gliding surfaces that can move over each other.

Bursas can become inflamed and this is called bursitis. There are many bursas around all of the joints and some of the bursas are particularly problematic. One of these includes the bursa that lies underneath the acromion, called the subacromial bursa. This is the bursa that causes many of the problems in the shoulder.

Read More About the Diagnosis and Treatment of Subacromial Bursitis here.