Prolotherapy and Shoulder Pain

Frozen Shoulder
A frozen shoulder is also treatable with Prolotherapy, but healing occurs over a longer period of time. The term adhesive capsulitis refers to scar tissue that forms inside the joint due to lack of movement. If a joint is not moved through its full range of motion every day, scar tissue will form inside the joint. 

Prolotherapy and Shoulder Injuries
Shoulder injuries and pain are quite common in golfers, swimmers, and tennis players. Shoulder pain may be due to acute bursitis, also known as an inflammation of the gel-like cushion in the shoulder. This results in extreme pain in the upper arm and shoulder region. Pain may even extend down the arm and can be quite severe. These patients find it almost impossible to lie on the shoulder. 

Shoulder Arthritis
Osteoarthritis of the shoulder is characterized by the destruction of the protective cartilage in the joint, resulting in painful and restricted motion. Arthritis does not affect the shoulder joint as often as it does large weight-bearing joints, such as the hip and knee. With the shoulder, there is usually a history of injury or trauma to the shoulder or previous surgery.

Shoulder Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis of the shoulder is characterized by the destruction of the protective cartilage in the joint with painful and restricted motion. Arthritis does not affect the shoulder joint as often as it does large weight-bearing joints, such as the hip and knee. There is usually a history of trauma to the shoulder or previous surgery. While plain x-rays can confirm the presence of osteoarthritis in the shoulder, the most common unseen culprit to the development of arthritis is chronic ligamentous laxity.

Is There a Place for Arthroscopy?
Arthroscopy is useful to repair complete ligament and tendon tears and also to shave bone like under the acromion when a person has an impingement syndrome in the shoulder when it doesn’t heal completely with Prolotherapy. The number of arthroscopies ever recommended at Caring Medical can probably be counted on one's hands. The number of arthroscopies that have been prevented is in the hundreds.

Rotator Cuff Tendonitis / Impingement Syndrome
Rotator cuff tendonitis occurs when the small muscles of the Rotator Cuff, the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis, become strained causing weakness of these structures and subsequent tendonitis. While the deltoid muscle is the big and strong muscle of the shoulder, as seen on many well-built athletes, the small and relatively weak rotator cuff muscles perform key functions.

Rotator Cuff and Shoulder Pain
The most common cause of chronic shoulder pain is not shoulder instability but supraspinatus tendon weakness, also known as rotator cuff tendonitis. If full range of movement in the shoulder is compromised, the supraspinatus tendon works harder to provide the motion support needed. This tendon eventually weakens and laxity develops. A supraspinatus tendon problem is manifested by pain with abduction and external rotation of the shoulder, especially when reaching for things above shoulder level, or pain in the shoulder after sleeping due to compression of the supraspinatus tendon.

SUPRASPINATOUS TENDINOSIS
I commonly see an MRI report that a patient brings in that is showing tendinosis. Tendons are what attach muscles to bones and are involved in the movement of joints. Tendinosis means a degenerated tendon(s). For someone who has tendinosis of a rotator cuff tendon, such as the supraspinatous tendon, or other tendons such as the Achilles tendon, the questions to ask are these...

Shoulder Dislocation
Shoulder dislocation occurs when a patient falls on an outstretched hand or when an anterior force to the shoulder occurs when the shoulder is abducted and externally rotated. This is the position of the shoulder when, for example, a person is waving to someone. Very few people dislocate their shoulder for the first time without having a significant force or injury.

Shoulder Separations
The acromioclavicular joint (the AC joint), is made up of the lateral end of the clavicle (the collarbone), and a bony shelf from the scapula, called the acromion process. This joint is held together by a capsule and a number of important ligaments which also attach to the coracoid process, a small bone projecting from the scapula just below the AC joint. The most common means of injury to the AC joint is a direct blow downward on the top, or point, of the shoulder.

SLAP Lesions and Prolotherapy
It is common for patients to walk into Caring Medical and say that their orthopedist told them that surgery was their only option. Patients are commonly told that surgery in the only option for such conditions as Meniscal Injury, advanced Osteoarthritis, labral tears of the hip and shoulder, and especially if they have a SLAP lesion.

SNAPPING SCAPULA SYNDROME
Snapping scapula syndrome, also known as scapulocostal syndrome or scapulothoracic syndrome, is characterized by a grating, grinding, popping or snapping sensation of the scapula onto the back side of the ribs or thoracic area of the spine. The condition can be quite painful and is extremely irritating. The normal treatments of NSAIDS, cortisone, trigger point injections, physiotherapy, chiropractic care, and surgery often lead to suboptimal results. In my experience, Prolotherapy is the best chance a person has for a cure of this condition.