Edited by Dr. Corrado Bait - Specialist in Orthopedics and Traumatology
Cycling, horse riding, basketball, skiing, volleyball not to mention contact sports such as rugby or American football. All activities that endanger the shoulder, one of the most "at risk" joints when it comes to physical activity.
The reasons are obvious: it is a complex part of the body, a mechanism made up of as many as 25 different joints. Which, especially in sports that require the intense use of the upper limbs, is often subject to major traumas.
For athletes, the most frequent injuries to this delicate joint are certainly subluxation and dislocation. If the subluxation does not require special interventions, the dislocation is instead a trauma that should not be underestimated.
We speak of dislocation when two joint heads permanently lose contact, while subluxation is only a temporary loss of contact.
The reasons for these injuries are to be found in the actual trauma, but also in one's hereditary baggage.
The loss of contact between joint heads determines the so-called picture of joint instability, to which both sports injuries and a genetic component of excessive elasticity of the joint tissues contribute. In the presence of these elements, it is easy to incur new dislocations.
The most at risk are young people, especially those in the 20-30 age bracket. This is why it is important to strengthen the muscles well, with specific exercises to be done in the gym, so as to avoid not only trauma to the joint, but above all future recurrences.
How to intervene?
Typically, after an x-ray is taken to rule out fractures, the dislocation is reduced and a brace is applied to protect the joint.
If the problem is not resolved, it is necessary to undergo surgery.
The intervention to reduce the dislocation can take place under arthroscopy (shoulder arthroscopy), through small incisions that allow the instruments, with the guidance of a camera, to repair the tissues. After relapses or in the presence of major injuries, which also affect the "bone, we proceed instead to" open sky ", with an" incision of 8-10 cm.
After the operation, the shoulder is immobilized with a brace for about a month, at the end of which a rehabilitation period assisted by a physiotherapist begins. In principle, sports activities can be resumed 3-4 months after the operation. .
Dr. Corrado Bait
Responsible Help
Operative Unit of Orthopedics and Sports Traumatology
Humanitas Research Hospital
Rozzano (MI)
www.corradobait.com - [email protected]
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