Possible shoulder dislocation

[Sandycop]

I am 33 year old female, I workout 5 days a week lifting wieghts and am in very good shap. I injured my left shoulder about a month ago from a fall. I suspect it dislocated and then went back into place. I kept it in a sling for about a week. I have gotten most of my rang of motion back but my shoulder will pop and cause terrable pain then it will subside. Also when I atempt to raise my left arm to the side or reach to my back the pain will increase. The pain is mostly in the front of my shoulder and travels down my arm to the elbow. I have not been to the doctor yet and I am getting conceard that it could be something more serious.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without an evaluation, it would be difficult to tell. It is possible for you to have injured one of the ligaments, tendon or labrum/ rotator cuff; or there could have been a fracture as well. It would be best to consult an orthopedician at your earliest convenience for an evaluation. If there are any associated injuries diagnosed, these would be managed accordingly.
Hope this was helpful.

Take care!

[geminigirl1963]

You should at least get an xray of the shoulder, and a possible CT scan or MRI.  If you did dislocate the shoulder at the time of your fall, you could have also injured the ligaments and tendons and that could be what is causing the pain and popping.  You also could have a torn rotator cuff.  If that is the case, depending on the size, location, etc., it may require a surgical repair.

You can start out with your primary care physician, but more than likely they will want you to see an orthopedic doc, so to save time and money, if your insurance permits you to see "specialists" like orthopedic surgeons without a referral, I'd suggest seeing one of them - they would be the best type of doc to diagnose and treat this type of injury.

I hope you feel better!  Please let me know what you find out.