Shoulder instability tends to occur in three groups of people:
- Prior Shoulder Dislocators
Patients who have sustained a prior shoulder dislocation often develop chronic instability. In these patients, the ligaments that support the shoulder are torn when the dislocation occurs. If these ligaments heal too loosely, then the shoulder will be prone to repeat dislocation and episodes of instability. When younger patients (less than about 35 years old) sustain a traumatic dislocation, shoulder instability will follow in about 80% of patients. - Young Athletes
Athletes who compete in sports that involve overhead activities may have a loose shoulder or multidirectional instability (MDI). These athletes, such as volleyball players, swimmers, and baseball pitchers, stretch out the shoulder capsule and ligaments, and may develop chronic shoulder instability. While they may not completely dislocate the joint, the apprehension, or feeling of being about to dislocate, may prevent their ability to play these sports. - "Double-Jointed" Patients
Patients with some connective tissue disorders may have loose shoulder joints. In patients who have a condition that causes joint laxity, or double-jointedness, their joints may be too loose throughout their body. This can lead to shoulder instability and even dislocations.
What is the treatment of shoulder instability?
Treatment of shoulder instability depends on several factors, and almost always begins with physical therapy and rehab. If patients complain of a feeling that their shoulder is loose or about to dislocate, physical therapy with specific strengthening exercises will often help maintain the shoulder in proper position. Shoulder strengthening is most likely to help the second group of patients--athletes with multi-directional shoulder instability. Other treatments sometimes used to treat shoulder instability include cortisone injections and anti-inflammatory medications.
Will I need surgery for shoulder instability?
If therapy fails, there are surgical options that can be considered. Depending on the cause of the instability, the surgical treatments may be quite different.
If the cause of the shoulder instability is a loose shoulder joint capsule, then a procedure to tighten the capsule of the shoulder may be considered. This can be done with an arthroscope in a procedure called a thermal capsular shrinkage. In this surgery, a heated probe shrinks the shoulder capsule to tighten the tissue. The more standard method of this procedure is called an open capsular shift. In this surgery, the shoulder joint is opened through a larger incision, and the capsule is tightened with sutures. The advantage of the open capsular shift is that the results are more predictable. The advantage of the arthroscopic procedure is that the recovery is faster and the incision is smaller. Sometimes a particular problem is better suited to one procedure or the other, discuss this with your doctor.
If the problem is due to a tearing of the ligaments around the shoulder, called the labrum, then a procedure called a Bankart repair can be performed to fix this ligament. A Bankart repair can also be done either through an incision or an arthroscope. Again, the results of the open procedure are more predictable (more patients get better), but the arthroscopic procedure does not leave as large an incision.
