Shoulder Pain

Is Nonsurgical Treatment for Rotator Cuff Tears a Long-Term Solution?

In today’s modern world, if you’re middle-aged and feel a sudden stabbing pain in your shoulder and then it continues to ache, you get an MRI. If that shoulder study shows a big enough rotator cuff tear, you’re quickly spirited off to surgery. However, what would happen if you never had the surgery? Would it…read more

Weak Neck Muscles Can Cause Shoulder Trap Pain When Lifting

I have a way of knowing when my neck nerves are ramped up and my neck stabilizers are off line. My left upper trapezius muscle gets tight. This is a super common thing and most patients believe it has something to do with the actual muscle. So they stretch it and stretch it, only for…read more

Shoulder Labrum Surgery No Better Than a Sham Procedure

Yikes, this has been a terrible decade for elective orthopedic surgery. For years studies have come out and pummeled the world’s most common elective surgeries, such as knee “cleanups” and meniscus procedures showing that neither can beat the outcome of a sham or fake surgery. This last year has also been awful as recent research demonstrated…read more

Can We Treat Severe Shoulder Arthritis Through an Injection?

Orthopedic surgeons have taught us that our bodies are just machines, like your car engine, and that when a part breaks down, it needs to be replaced. So they can’t conceptualize how a severely arthritic shoulder joint with no cartilage and huge bone spurs could be treated without replacing the shoulder. However, that’s not what…read more

Shoulder Surgery Complications Caused by Acromioplasty

Shoulder decompression surgery, otherwise known as an acromioplasty, involves removing part the acromioclavicular (AC) joint structures and ligaments from the shoulder and is usually done in conjunction with a rotator cuff repair. The rational is that the bones and ligaments are impinging (pressing) upon the rotator cuff, so the surgeon performs an acromioplasty (cutting the…read more

A Shoulder Stem Cell Procedure 6 Year Follow-up

One of the benefits of being the first physician in the U.S. to use stem cell injections to help orthopedic patients is that every once in a while, an old patient will come back. While we track everyone in a registry, it’s not the same as a patient sitting in front of you telling you…read more

Shoulder Replacement Recovery: Rotator Cuff Damage the Unwelcome Surprise

Way back when, at the turn of the century, the concept of the free lunch was introduced. It was offered by pubs owned by beer companies as a way to entice workers to buy more beer over their lunch hour. It included lots of salty items that went well with beer, prompting the proverbial retort…read more

Decreasing Shoulder Instability Recovery Time with Stress Ultrasound

Shoulder instability recovery time is a big deal because procedures to stabilize the shoulder typically cause major life disruption. What if there was a better way? What if by accurately measuring the amount of instability using ultrasound and then using your own platelets or stem cells we were able to help stabilize the shoulder without…read more