Put your head on my shoulder…ow.  Sound familiar? I want to take you on a journey of the shoulder and see what is inside and what can go wrong. First we will have to look at the anatomy to better understand what is happening with the bones, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. First we can see the scapula or wing blade is a wide broad bone with a lot of space for muscle attachments. The ball and socket itself is a shallow cup that is not...

Here’s the setting. Masters competition, clean and jerk with a  toe to bar ladder (sound familiar), 50 year old male lifts a barbell for a clean and jerk and feels a searing rip in his arm and has to drop the bar. He cannot lift his arm away from his side and is in agony, maybe had a little “bursitis in past” but nothing bad enough to stop him. Second scenario is 40ish year old 930 class filled with bunch of overachievers and...

Shoulder surgery does not mean you have to lose everything you have worked so hard for. Some people are rightly concerned about injuring their repaired shoulders after surgery. These people make a surgeon feel better. Some people think the repair is healed right from day one and want to test it; these people frighten me despite my efforts at counseling. I think there is a compromise that can be achieved without losing your all important wind...