Shoulder Injuries

Surgery for Big Rotator Cuff Tears Has High Retear Rates…

Rotator Cuff tears can be tricky. I think to best understand them, you need to ask your self why they happen in the first place. While some result from trauma, the vast majority of rotator cuff tears happen from simple wear and tear as we age.  Why would the most important group of muscles in the shoulder…read more

The Dirty Little Secret of Rotator Cuff Surgery

You’re middle aged or older and you do something like reaching out too fast, or lifting, or maybe just bracing yourself to prevent a fall and you tear your shoulder rotator cuff. Surgery seems to be the definitive treatment, but recent research on the efficacy of rotator cuff surgery has a dirty little secret that should…read more

Shoulder Surgery Bone Spur Removal Causes Problems

I commonly see patients with chronic shoulder pain who have undergone a shoulder surgery bone spur removal to “open up” the shoulder. Known as distal clavicular resection, it’s one of the most commonly performed shoulder surgeries with rotator cuff repair. New research now shows that the surgery doesn’t help and leads to more shoulder instability…read more

Shoulder Impingement: Are You getting Trapped by Your Trap?

Should you be looking for a shoulder surgery alternative? For the last several decades, many of the patients who have been told that they have shoulder impingement have had surgery to “release” the shoulder. In many ways it’s this phenomenon which led to our current hip impingement surgery craze. So what is shoulder impingement? The…read more

Shoulder Range of Motion is not Fully Restored by Rotator Cuff Surgery

A physician discusses new research showing that patients don't recover full strength, stability, or range of motion after a shoulder rotator cuff repair surgery performed for a shoulder rotator cuff tear.