Dislocated Shoulder Injury

Dislocated Shoulder Injury

A dislocated shoulder is a common shoulder injury in contact sports such as rugby and martial arts. A dislocated shoulder is characterised by severe shoulder pain and hospital treatment is required to restore normal shoulder anatomy.

Active physical therapy rehabilitation is usually started after two to three weeks immobilisation in a sling. The goals of physiotherapy treatment for a dislocated shoulder are to restore shoulder stability by strengthening the Rotator Cuff muscles, before increasing shoulder range of movement.

Common dislocated shoulder symptoms:

• The most obvious symptom is shoulder pain.
• Loss of shoulder movement.
• Holding the arm protectively against the chest.
• The normal rounded appearance of the shoulder will be replaced by a more squared-off edge.