SHOULDER INSTABILITY

And it's happened again. The shoulder is dislocated. In an unstable shoulder, the humeral head moves beyond the socket. This can cause pain and a feeling of instability.

Then one shoulder is unstable.

The shoulder's great freedom of movement makes it more susceptible to instability than other joints.

Because of its relatively small bony joint, the shoulder is heavily dependent on its active (muscles/tendons) and passive (labrum, ligaments, capsule) stabilizers.

The glenoid labrum, which surrounds the bony socket, contributes to increasing the contact area and thus to the stability between the two joint partners.

In addition, the glenohumeral ligaments play a significant role in joint stability. Of course, the bone also influences stability.

Shoulder instability occurs when one of these structures is so disturbed that the humeral head protrudes temporarily or continuously beyond the glenoid cavity.

If a sports accident or a fall results in a force that levers the humeral head out of the socket beyond the capacity of the active and passive stabilizers, the shoulder will dislocate.

You can do this even if your shoulder is unstable.

If shoulder instability is present, it can often be successfully improved through muscle training or physiotherapy.

Muscle groups are trained depending on the direction of instability, which have a positive influence on joint guidance.

Through active physiotherapy and muscle building, structural damage to the shoulder can be partially compensated.

In cases of larger bone defects, capsular labral tears, or long-standing injuries, conservative treatments have limitations. In these cases, it is worthwhile to discuss the findings with a shoulder specialist.

For functional shoulder instability, conservative therapy is the most important treatment option. A so-called shoulder pacemaker can also be used, which stimulates the muscle as in a cardiac condition. However, long-term results for this procedure are not yet available.