Signs Your Shoulder Pain Needs Help
Shoulder pain isn’t uncommon, but how do you know when to see your doctor? Here’s what you need to know.
If you have what’s known as “frozen shoulder” — or in medical terms — adhesive capsulitis, your shoulder probably feels stiff, in pain, and progressively losing its range of motion. Did you know that you can actually sustain an injury and not even realize its impact on your shoulder? That’s because the condition can sneak up on you slowly over time.
At Crescent City Orthopedics, we’re shoulder pain specialists who can treat your frozen shoulder. If your frozen shoulder doesn’t resolve on its own, or if medications and physical therapy aren’t reducing your inflammation and pain, we may need to perform surgery. Though this is a rare solution, it might be necessary to remove adhesions from the inside of your shoulder joint.
Before moving forward with surgery, we first perform a physical exam, evaluating your range of motion and checking your active and passive range. We also learn about your symptoms. To rule out or confirm your condition, we may suggest imaging tests, such as X-rays or an MRI.
Frozen shoulder develops when the capsule in your shoulder, or the tissue that surrounds your joint that holds it together, becomes inflamed. Scarring begins to develop, which causes your shoulder to feel pain and become immobile.
The thought of surgery can seem daunting, but the advances in technology alongside the expertise of our team can give you peace of mind. We use arthroscopic surgery to “unfreeze” your frozen shoulder, manipulating it by breaking down the scar tissue.
Before your procedure, we provide general anesthesia to make sure you don’t feel any pain. We provide regional anesthesia, numbing your arm and shoulder area and providing medicine to keep you drowsy during your surgery.
We then perform arthroscopy, a surgical technique where we put a small incision in your skin to insert a tiny camera or arthroscope. The camera is connected to a video monitor that allows us to see an up-close look inside the affected area of your shoulder. We inspect it carefully and assess what needs to be repaired.
Once determined, we make 1-3 more incisions to insert medical instruments to repair any damaged tissues. This method of treatment provides impeccable precision.
Arthroscopy offers many benefits, especially when compared to open surgery.
They include:
You can also start rehabilitation right away. Expect to regain your range of movement, experience the “unsticking” of the lining of your joint, which helps release your stiffness, and not feel any more pain.
If you’re having trouble with your shoulder, contact us to book an appointment at one of our offices in Metairie, Chalmette, or Covington, Louisiana, today.
