Shoulder Pain


Young patients involved in active sports usually develop injuries to shoulder leading to tears in capsule and tendinous structures causing pain and instability in certain positions. These injuries are more common in throwing athletes and can be diagnosed by thorough clinical examinations and relevant imaging investigations and majority can be managed by supervised exercise regimen. Recalcitrant cases can be managed by arthroscopic(keyhole ) or mini open procedures surgically

In middle age patient usually presents with complaints of pain in shoulder in certain activities such as lifting an object from behind him or elevating shoulder at certain angles or while sleeping on the same side. The usual cause is tear of the rotator cuff (a group of muscles surrounding the shoulder joint) where in repeated rubbing of tendons between head of shoulder and overlying bone and ligaments can cause fraying and subsequent tears in the tissue causing impingement and pain when the torn or frayed cuff rubs the overlying structures. Progression of tear leads to weakness of muscles and increase in pain. Complete tears would usually require surgical repair whereas supervised physiotherapy and activity modification can provide relief to majority of patients with partial cuff tear.

Sometimes the underlying capsule becomes involved and causes inflammation, adhesions, shrinkage and contracture leading to development of condition commonly known as frozen shoulder. . Short term relief in pain can be obtained by intra-articular steroid injection to enable better rehabilitation. Recalcitrant or advanced cases require surgical treatment which can be done by arthroscopic or mini open procedures

Shoulder surgeries are complex surgeries which require expertise in both open and arthroscopic procedures along with experience in handling these cases which Dr. Dave is able to provide to his patients to give successful results.