Shoulder Instability
Usually, shoulder instability happens in athletes and young people. The shoulder becomes unstable when ligaments and muscles that hold it together get stretched beyond their typical limits. Since shoulders often tighten or stiffen with age, this health problem can be a part of one’s development and growth. As for athletes, specific motions used, for example, in pitching or tackling, may cause shoulder instability. Since such movements put significant force on the shoulders, over time, they stretch ligaments. This health issue causes pain that may manifest itself gradually or quickly. Also, a person may have a weakness in the arm or a feeling of a loose shoulder. Treatment includes surgery, physical therapy, and rest.
Shoulder Separation
The clavicle is held to the acromion by ligaments, and when they tear, sprain, or shoulder separation may happen and cause severe pain. In this situation, the clavicle is pushed out of its place, and a bump may be formed at the top of the shoulder. Often, shoulder separation happens during a fall when a person outstretches his or her arm or hand to stop the fall.
Frozen Shoulder
This extreme shoulder stiffness may happen at any age, and its causes are not fully understood. This problem is faced by people with diabetes, Parkinson’s, thyroid, and heart diseases. Besides, it may occur if the shoulder has been immobile for an extended period of time or when a minor shoulder injury heals with scar tissue, which has an effect on how the joint moves. The main symptom is that a person is not able to move the shoulder painlessly in any direction.
Strains or Overuse
A suddenly increased activity may place significant stress on the shoulders and result in a loss of flexibility. For middle-aged people, it is a common issue, and it primarily concerns those who go out now and then for an intense sports outing instead of exercising regularly. Strains or overuse are inconvenient and painful and may be treated with stretching exercises, NSAIDs, and rest.
Common Injuries of the Forearm, Elbow, Wrist, and Fingers
Forearm. Radial Tunnel Syndrome
Radial tunnel syndrome includes a set of certain symptoms like fatigue or aching and dull pain at the forearm’s top. The syndrome occurs because of the pressure on the radial nerve, usually when people straighten their fingers or wrists, and if the nerve is pinched anywhere along its length, it causes great pain. Radial tunnel syndrome can also cause weakness and fatigue in the muscles of the forearm and wrist.
Elbow. Ulnar Neuritis.
When the elbow is bent, the ulnar nerve stretches around the bony bump, which is at the end of the humerus. The ulnar nerve is stretched repeatedly in throwing athletes, and it may slip out of its place and cause painful snapping that results in nerve irritation, which is called ulnar neuritis. People who have this disease suffer numbness, tingling, and pain that resembles an electric shock, which starts at the inner elbow and runs along the nerve into the forearm.
Wrist. Sprain.
Ligaments connect various bones in the wrist, and a sprain is a partial ligament injury. It varies from mild stretches to tears and may be caused by a sudden twisting motion or a fall, which makes the wrist bend into an abnormal position or backward. In the wrist, there is a number of ligaments that can be sprained, and two of them, for instance, are the scapholunate ligament and the triangular fibrocartilage complex, TFCC, on the outside of the wrist. Usually, a sprained wrist is painful, bruised, and swollen.
Fingers. Dislocations of the PIP Joint.
One of the most common injuries to fingers is an injury to the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint, which is above the knuckle. It occurs when the finger is either hyperextended or forced into flexion. Besides, a trauma may dislodge the bones in the middle joint of a finger. The patient’s joint becomes rather bruised, swollen, and painful and does not move at all or properly.