How many dislocations of the shoulder can you tolerate before you have surgery? It depends on whether you’ve had one dislocation, your activity level, or where you’re in life. Sometimes, that’s too many for a young contact athlete. We almost always tell them, “If you don’t get this fixed, there’s a 99% chance it will…
A common question people ask is, can you lift when you have shoulder instability? The answer is yes, but often you need to modify it. You need to modify your lifting. It doesn’t typically exacerbate shoulder instability as long as you can see your hand. But every shoulder instability pattern is unique, and you need…
This is a good question. People ask what exercises you should avoid when you have shoulder instability. First off, keep it simple. Don’t do stuff that hurts. If it hurts, don’t do it. In general, if you can’t see your hand, right? Like right there, I can see my hand. And then I’m like pressing…
A common question people ask is how do you stabilize an unstable shoulder? It’s a great question. There are two ways to stabilize the shoulder. First, the muscles around the shoulder should be strengthened to create dynamic stability in an unstable joint, like therapy strengthening exercises. Second, operations repair or tighten the capsule around the…
A common question about shoulder instability is, can I fix it at home? You could. It’s all about efficiency and playing the odds and probabilities. If your shoulders are unstable, it’s a good idea to go and see a shoulder specialist to ensure that is the problem. The human shoulder is very complex. We all…
A common question people ask is what happens if shoulder instability is left untreated? First off, it may get worse. Second off, you can develop arthritic changes. What you can also develop is if you have a shoulder that’s completely coming out of a socket, you’ll start to lose bone. If you keep dislocating your…
What does a dislocated shoulder look like? The most common dislocation is the anterior. You’ll see someone holding the arm down, and you’ll see the deformity of the shoulder. It’s kind of down in the front, and they’ll have a ton of difficulty reaching behind, like internally rotating, because of where it’s at. They won’t…
Can a dislocated shoulder heal itself? Yes and no. When you dislocate your shoulder, a permanent change occurs where you stretch out ligaments in your shoulder and they always stay stretched out. Some people, typically older patients who aren’t as active, can tolerate that and have this kind of loose shoulder, but it doesn’t bother…
A common question people ask is, how long does it take for shoulder instability to heal? It depends. Children’s stability is complex. It depends on your activity level and what you’re doing in life. An 18-year-old football player is much different than a 60-year-old a homemaker or someone who’s not super active. It also depends…
A common question people ask is, what are the tests for shoulder instability? One of the most common ones is the apprehension test. You raise your arm shoulder level, and the practitioner will take your arm abduct, externally rotate, and drive it to the back. You’ll either feel pain or your shoulder will come out…
