12/30/2025
: Dr. Lopes wants to use her recent injury as a learning tool to share some knowledge around what a SHOULDER DISLOCATION is all about! Let's get to it!
➡️ WHAT IS A SHOULDER DISLOCATION?
▪ Shoulder dislocations happen when the bones in your shoulder joint are pushed or knocked out of their usual places.
▪ Your shoulder joint is where the round ball at the top of your upper arm bone (humerus) fits into the socket (glenoid) of your shoulder blade (scapula).
▪ A shoulder dislocation is an injury that happens when the ball and socket connection between your bones is separated.
▪ The immense force of the injury causes the stabilizing structures surrounding the joint to be stretched or torn, allowing the bone to move out of position.
▪ Anterior shoulder dislocations are more common making up over 95% of all shoulder dislocations, while posterior dislocations are rare, accounting for only 2-4%.
➡️ HOW DOES A SHOULDER DISLOCATION OCCUR?
**Any force that’s strong enough to push your shoulder joint out of place can cause a dislocation. When the arm is forcefully moved into abduction and external rotation (lifted out and turned away/back), causing the humeral head (arm bone) to pop forward out of its socket.
**The most common causes include:
▪ Falls.
▪ Car accidents.
▪ Sports injuries.
➡️ SYMPTOMS OF A SHOULDER DISLOCATION
When a dislocation occurs, it can cause stretching/damage/tear to the shoulder capsule, rotator cuff muscles, labrum, deltoid primarily. Depending on which soft tissue structures are involved in the injury, will dictate the symptoms present, which may include:
▪ Extreme pain.
▪ Weakness.
▪ Inability to move your arm.
▪ Your shoulder being visibly out of place.
▪ Swelling.
▪ Bruising or discoloration.
▪ Muscle spasms.
▪ Numbness, tingling or weakness in your arm, hand or fingers.
➡️ HOW DO YOU TREAT A SHOULDER DISLOCATION?
▪ The most important treatment for a dislocated shoulder is getting your arm back into its socket. This is called a closed reduction which is done by a Medical Doctor. If seen by a MD immediately, they might try some conservative manual methods to reduce the shoulder to physically push and pull your body on the outside to set (align) your shoulder.
▪ Or if the conservative methods don't work, like in Dr. Lopes' case, you might get sedated to help reduce the shoulder.
▪ After the shoulder is reduced, it's ideal to immobilize the shoulder with a sling/brace for 1-2 weeks. Once Dr. Lopes returned home last week, she stopped wearing the sling since the 2 week mark had just passed.
▪ Gentle movements are encouraged in the first 3 weeks, and then from weeks 4-8, more rehab can be employed to get full range and strength back. Currently Dr. Lopes is at the 3.5 week mark and has just started doing her own gentle rehab since returning back to Canada last week.
Have you experienced a shoulder dislocation before?
