Shoulder Pain & Injury Care in Boynton Beach

Common Shoulder Symptoms

Shoulder pain often shows up when you reach overhead, reach behind your back or lie on the affected side. The pattern of pain and stiffness helps point to the cause.

• Pain on the outside of the upper arm when lifting the arm or at night: common with shoulder impingement or rotator cuff tendonitis.
• Weakness lifting the arm, often after a fall or years of wear: may be a rotator cuff tear.
• Gradually increasing stiffness where the arm will not move far even when someone else lifts it: typical of frozen shoulder.
• A feeling that the shoulder slips out of place, or a deep catching pain: may point to instability or a labral tear.
• Aching and grinding with loss of motion over time: may be shoulder arthritis.

Shoulder pain with chest pressure, shortness of breath or sweating can be a sign of a heart problem. Call 911. After a fall, a deformed shoulder or an arm you cannot move also needs the emergency room.

How we diagnose shoulder pain

At Personalized Orthopedics of the Palm Beaches, your physician checks your range of motion, strength and specific movements that stress each part of the shoulder. X-ray, MRI and diagnostic ultrasound are on site. Ultrasound is especially useful in the shoulder because it shows the rotator cuff tendons while you move your arm and can guide injections to the exact spot.

Non-surgical care first

Most shoulder pain, including impingement, tendonitis, many partial rotator cuff tears and frozen shoulder, is treated without surgery first. Your plan may include:

• Physical therapy in our office to restore motion and strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder blade muscles.
• Cortisone injections, often guided by ultrasound.
• PRP (platelet-rich plasma, prepared from your own blood). Evidence is still developing, results vary, and insurance usually does not cover it.
• Shockwave or MLS laser therapy for some tendon problems. Coverage varies by plan, so ask our team.

Frozen shoulder can take many months to settle, and the timeline varies. Therapy and injections are aimed at easing pain and keeping motion while it runs its course.

When surgery makes sense

Surgery is considered for a full-thickness rotator cuff tear in an active person, a tear that follows an injury, repeated dislocations, or pain and weakness that do not improve with a fair trial of non-surgical care. Most shoulder surgery our surgeons perform is done arthroscopically, through small incisions with a camera. Procedures include rotator cuff repair, labral repair and stabilization, and biceps tendon repair. Dr. Tucker also performs total and reverse shoulder replacement for advanced arthritis.

Physical therapy after surgery is an important part of recovery and can be done in our office, with your therapist and surgeon working from the same chart.

Your shoulder care team

Dr. Joseph Chalal and Dr. Matthew Wolfson are fellowship-trained sports medicine surgeons who perform arthroscopic shoulder surgery, including rotator cuff repair and instability procedures. Dr. Jeffrey Press treats shoulder injuries and arthritis and repairs biceps tendons. Dr. Alexandra Adelman provides non-operative care and ultrasound-guided injections for impingement and frozen shoulder.