Shoulder

When your shoulder hurts, you might not be able to move your arm or complete your daily tasks. At Interventional Orthopedics of Washington, Otoño Silva, MD, alleviates your shoulder pain by identifying, eliminating, and healing the cause. If you have shoulder pain, contact Interventional Orthopedics of Washington to see if your problem can be resolved non-surgically.

Shoulder Q & A

Why do I have shoulder pain?

The socket of your shoulder joint is shallow so that you can move your arm in many directions. However, the shallowness increases stress on your labrum and rotator cuff, which is made up of tendons, and muscles. It’s easy to injure your rotator cuff or injure, sprain, or strain your tendons and ligaments when you:

  • Raise your arms repeatedly
  • Throw an object, such as a ball
  • Swing an object, such as a bat
  • Are in a car accident
  • Fall on your shoulder
  • Suffer a blow or trauma to your shoulder

You can also develop shoulder pain if you have:

  • Arthritis
  • A pinched nerve
  • A fracture
  • A rotator cuff tear

Some types of shoulder pain don’t start in the shoulder but radiate downward from tense neck muscles. Dr. Silva takes the time to do a thorough physical exam and perform a diagnostic ultrasound to determine the underlying cause or causes of your shoulder pain.

What happens if I don’t treat shoulder pain?

Treating shoulder pain as soon as you feel it increases your chances of being able to heal the underlying injury. If you ignore shoulder pain, you can develop complications, such as worsening tears, osteoarthritis or “frozen shoulder,” which keeps you from moving your arm.

How does an interventional orthopedist treat shoulder pain?

Dr. Silva avoids the “band-aid” approach to pain and never attempts to mask it with long-term use of painkillers or steroid injections. Instead, he views the body as a sophisticated machine that relies on the health of its interrelated parts for optimal function.

Dr. Silva’s aim is to identify all of the factors that contribute to your pain, and then heal them with lifestyle changes, supportive therapies, and regenerative medicine.

What kinds of therapies help shoulder pain?

Dr. Silva customizes treatment based on your physiology, the types of injuries you have, and your lifestyle. Therapies or treatments that can help can include:

  • Adding to or modifying your exercise regimen
  • Acupuncture, massage or chiropractic care
  • Beneficial supplements
  • Physical therapy
  • Adopting a diet that does not promote inflammation
  • Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) can be treated without surgery using a few simples injections

He might also recommend minimally invasive regenerative therapies like:

  • Prolotherapy: injections that irritate injured tissues to stimulate healing
  • Platelet-rich plasma (PRP): injectable serum with a high concentration of platelets, which contain growth-factors that repair tissues
  • Cellular Therapy: your own cells injected into damaged tissue and bone to stimulate a healing response and regrowth

Regenerative therapies stimulate your body’s own healing capabilities to heal injured tissue and restore comfort and mobility. Dr. Silva injects all regenerative injectates (PRP, Prolotherapy, and Cellular therapy) directly into the site of injury, using ultrasound or x-ray to guide him. Rotator cuff tears can heal with cellular therapy or PRP and help you avoid surgery and a slow and painful recovery.

To address the underlying cause of your shoulder pain, contact Interventional Orthopedics of Washington at 425-326-1665 or use the “Book Appointment” button.

Shoulder Conditions We Treat

Adhesive Capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder)
Rotator Cuff Tear
Biceps Tendinopathy or Partial Tear
Labral Tear and Degeneration
Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder (GH or AC joint)
Acromioclavicular Joint Pain
Acromioclavicular Instability
Multidirectional Glenohumeral (Shoulder) Instability
Subdeltoid Bursitis
Bicipital Tendinitis
Biceps Tendon Tear
Supraspinatus Syndrome
Deltoid Syndrome
Teres Major Syndrome
Scapulocostal Syndrome
Supraspinatus Tendinitis or Tendinopathy
Infraspinatus Tendinitis or Tendinopathy
Subacromial Impingement
Pectoralis Major Tear
Suprascapular Neuritis
Snapping Scapula Syndrome
Quadrilateral Space Syndrome
Post Surgical Pain

Shoulder Areas We Treat

Rotator Cuff Tendons: Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Subscapularis, Teres Minor
Suprascapular Nerve
Glenohumeral Shoulder Joint
Injection Intra-Articular of Glenohumeral Joint
Acromioclavicular (AC) Joint, Injection and Aspiration,
Acromioclavicular (AC) Joint Capsule
Axillary Nerve
Coracoacromial/Coracoclavicular Ligaments
Superior Glenohumeral Ligament
Middle Glenohumeral Ligament
Inferior Glenohumeral Ligament
Posterior Capsule of Glenohumeral Joint
Posterior and Superior Labrum
Biceps Attachment to Labrum
Long Head Biceps Tendon
Biceps Tendon at Radial Head
Subdeltoid Bursa (Subacromial Bursa)
Humerus Bone Intraosseous

Shoulder Treatment Types Offered

Image-Guided Prolotherapy
Image-Guided PRP injections
Image-Guided Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMC) Cellular Therapy
Intra-Articular Hydrodilation (Capsular Distension) For Frozen Shoulder
Nerve Blocks for procedural comfort

*This is not a complete list. Please call our office if you’re looking for something that you don’t see.

 

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