Best Treatment Options for Shoulder Instability

Shoulder instability is often caused due to a sudden injury or when you force your shoulders to do some heavy or extra work for prolonged periods of time. Your Orthopaedic Doctor may diagnose you with shoulder instability through an MRI scan which will point that the “upper arm bone have been misaligned/subluxated with the shoulder socket”. Such a condition can limit your range of motion and, if left untreated, it can increase your chances of shoulder arthritis.

Not one size fits all and here are some of the best treatment options currently available for orthopaedic conditions such as Shoulder Instability:

• Non-Surgical Treatments – Shoulder discomfort and shoulder pain that are caused due to shoulder instability maybe treated with non-surgical methods as the first line of treatment. Here, your Orthopaedic Doctor will recommend certain activity modifications such as changes in lifestyle. To relieve pain and swelling, your doctor will also prescribe certain anti-inflammatory and non-steroidal drugs such as aspirin and  ibuprofen, cold compresses as well as strengthening the shoulder muscles through physiotherapy. Most patients usually regain a functional shoulder within 6-8 weeks of proper care and treatment. However, if your pain doesn’t go away within 30 days of conventional care, you might need a Shoulder Surgery.
• Surgical Treatments – If your Orthopaedic Surgeon identifies a ‘Bankart’ lesion or a ‘Capsular Shift’, you might need a Shoulder Surgery.

• Capsular Shift Repair – This kind of Surgery is done when the connective tissue that surrounds the shoulder joints has simply become too large in size. As a result, it becomes important to make the joints ‘tighter’ through a simple surgery by restructuring the loose hanging flaps and connecting them to the joint capsule. The sutured tuck heals with time and the tighter joint capsule brings more stability to the shoulder joint.
• Bankart Repair – If some traumatic injury in the past has caused the shoulder instability and if you are less than 35 years of age and the injury hasn’t healed within 1-2 months, then you may require a Bankart Repair Surgery. Bankart Repair is done through Arthroscopy wherein incisions lesser than 1/4th of an inch are made to insert an arthroscope so as to get the damaged tissue or bone spurs removed. The ligaments are then directly attached to the bone around the socket to bring stability and restore lost range of motion. In this type of surgery, sutures and anchors are used to join the bone to the ligament.

Both Capsular Shift and Bankart injuries can be done arthroscopically and the method ensures minimal invasion and minimal pain. In older patients (more than 35 years of age) there are more chances of getting a Rotator Cuff Injury and Rotator Cuff surgical options through arthroscopy, is once again the best method to address such  painful conditions. However, if the damaged area of your shoulder need making a larger incision, then your surgeon may recommend an open surgery by direct visualization.

After a Shoulder Surgery, your shoulder may be immobilized temporarily and rehabilitation exercises will help in faster restoration of full range of motion. Post-Surgery Rehabilitation also plays an important role in minimizing scarring, while the ligaments are healing at a rapid pace.