Advances in Treating Shoulder Instability – B. Rodney Comisar, M.D.

Transcript:

When we talk about shoulder instability, we talk about a separation of the ball and socket joint, so the shoulders is a ball and socket joint sockets are relatively small relative to the size of the ball, which makes up part of the upper arm or humerus. And when those dislocate or separate, that can be termed instability.

The big changes in surgical treatment of instability want from an open procedure or you had to make a big incision divide or sometimes take down muscles and tendons. Then you had to count on them repairing or healing a properly to get a desired outcome.

Often those patients with all that scarring resulted in some stiffness post-surgically. The advantage of arthroscopic surgery is we can go through tiny little portals or incisions and effectively achieve the same kind of treatment.

Patients with shoulder instability really can be impacted from a quality of life standpoint. Pain. That’s something we can definitely help you with. In some cases, physical therapy can improve what you’re doing in conjunction with activity modification.

In many cases, however, surgery is the best option. But it really can be a tremendous improvement in your quality of life.