Understanding Frozen Shoulder, Rotator Cuff Tears, and Shoulder Arthritis from a Surgeon Who Treats It All Shoulder pain affects millions of people, but no two cases are exactly alike. In this video presentation, Dr. Matthew DiPaola—an orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder and elbow care—explains why personalized treatment matters and walks through three common shoulder conditions … Read more
Shoulder replacement is an excellent operation for many people with shoulder arthritis. Our Buffalo, NY based team is actively researching ways to make it better. Last week I was honored to accept the Charles Neer award from the American Shoulder and Elbow Society on behalf of our team at University at Buffalo/ UBMD Orthopedics and … Read more
The other day a patient asked me if he should exercise his shoulder before getting a shoulder replacement. A little background, the patient is about 60 years old and is an avid weight lifter. I was a little confused by the question so I asked him to clarify.
He thought that if he increased his shoulder and chest strength before surgery, this would make it easier for him to recover and for me to do the surgery.
Most people think that you need an MRI to “see” everything that is going on in your shoulder. But it’s simply not true. And there are a few ways that you can be fooled by this line of reasoning.
1. You fail to put findings in context
I can show you MRI reports of normal shoulders that will scare the daylights out of you. These are full page documents that describe in great detail, essentially normal findings in medical lingo. Unfortunately as a layperson and even many medical professionals who are unfamiliar with the problem, most of this language will sound scary and can be misinterpreted.
I saw a patient in the office recently whose x-rays were a testament to two important points about shoulder arthritis:
Below is a typical case of severe arthritis in the ball and socket portion of the shoulder joint.
Arthritis is actually relatively uncommon in this joint. But when it occurs it tends to show a distinct pattern. The hallmark of arthritis at the ball and socket shoulder joint is joint space narrowing bone spurs at the bottom of the ball portion of the joint.