What You Should Do if You’re Experiencing Shoulder Pain
Causes of Shoulder Pain
If you are experiencing any pain in either of your shoulders there could be an underlying issue, however, fear not as there are many non-operative approaches you can take to help alleviate your pain. Conservative measures you and your physician can discuss that may be a part of your treatment plan include injections, oral medicine, or physical therapy.
If however, these conservative measures are not enough to release your pain there are thankfully shoulder replacement procedures that yield excellent results. Shoulder joint pain can be caused when the shoulder is severely fractured/broken or arthritis. Arthritis is any damage done to the cartilage in joints, in this case, shoulder arthritis occurs when the cartilage starts to wear down on the ball and/or socket sides of the shoulder joint. The result of this causes unwanted pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion. Fortunately, a shoulder replacement or shoulder resurfacing procedure will help remove the pain and restore your range of motion.
Shoulder Replacement Surgery Procedure Details
Typically, the shoulder ball & socket joint can wear out to the point where you have erosion of cartilage causing this bone on bone friction which could be very painful, stiff, and damaging.
The shoulder replacement or shoulder resurfacing procedure is a fairly quick procedure lasting anywhere from about 45 minutes to an hour and a half. A doctor starts by making an incision to resurface the bone socket of the joint with metal and plastic implants this directly helps to take care of the pain. Then the doctor will start to remove any bone spurs or osteophytes which help to restore your motion, strength, and overall function of the shoulder.
Surgical Types and Recovery
There are two main types of shoulder replacement surgeries: a standard shoulder replacement and a reverse shoulder replacement. The standard shoulder replacement surgical approach necessitates that the physician release one of the tendons in the front of the shoulder and once that is completed the physician is then able to repair it. The average time it takes to heal from this procedure is about six weeks which may slow down rehabilitation, making the full length of recovery time for this type of procedure about three months.
In a reverse shoulder replacement procedure that particular tendon does not come into play so there is no needed downtime for healing, making the recovery time much faster with no postoperative restrictions. You are able to move your shoulders as you wish which makes the average recovery time for this procedure about three to four weeks.
No matter the treatment plan, it is important for you to take the necessary steps to find the causes of your shoulder pain. Your dedicated physician will then be able to develop a personal treatment plan that will enable you to feel empowered to tackle your days ahead.
In the video below, Dr. Schapiro, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, explains more in-depth the process for undergoing surgery, the different types of procedures, and their recovery times.
Our Facility
Advanced Ambulatory Surgery Center is a private world-class facility prideful in providing physicians a stress-free and convenient surgery center experience and their patients access to quality and affordable outpatient surgical procedures. Our center specializes in Spine, Neurosurgery, Pain Management, and Orthopedics however is equipped to handle any type of surgery. For more information about our facility please visit our website or give us a call at, 407.332.9871.
