Shoulder Dislocation

Today’s blog is a collaborative post with my friend and orthopaedic surgeon, @drnimamehran and follow-up to Monday’s post (make sure to read that one too).

Shoulder dislocations often occur in contact sports like football, basketball, soccer, rugby, lacrosse and martial arts and can lead to joint instability. Here are a few details about this injury.

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲? The overwhelming majority of shoulder dislocations are anterior (popping out the front). The most common mechanism of injury is an anterior directed force on an arm that is abducted (away from body) and externally rotated.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? When the shoulder dislocates it can tear off the labrum from the socket. The function of the labrum is to deepen the socket allowing for more motion, improved mechanics and increase stability.

𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Physical Therapy can be successful and is often tried first, but is generally more successful in older patients. In younger patients (<20 years), the recurrence rates have been shown to be as high as 90 percent. In this patient population, particularly contact athletes, repairing the labrum to the socket can help improve stability. It is also crucial to do several months of post operative therapy to improve mechanics, motion and strength of the shoulder to decrease risks of future dislocations!