What is a Shoulder Labral Tear?
The labrum is a soft fibrous tissue that deepens the socket of the shoulder to allow the ball to sit deeper in the socket. The labrum is often torn over time after repetitive overhead activities, such as throwing, lifting, and labor work.
Mechanism of Injury:
This condition commonly occurs with repetitive overhead activities. A labral tear can happen in throwing athletes, heavy weight lifters, or anyone that engages in overhead lifting. There are many different types of labral tears that can occur from chronic overuse injuries to acute dislocations of the shoulder.
Symptoms and Diagnosis:
Labral tears can lead to pain in the shoulder with overhead activities and with certain motions of the shoulder. This can also cause popping or clicking in the shoulder, loss of strength, night pain, decreased strength, decreased motion and dislocations of the shoulder joint. A proper physical examination is recommended by a trained professional. The exam will illicit pain and possibly instability with certain maneuvers. X-ray imaging is an important aspect of the evaluation. This will not show a labral tear but can help diagnose other issues in the shoulder. Advanced imaging, an MRI with or without a joint injection, can be recommended with continuing symptoms to help determine the full extent of the problem.
Treatment:
Rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy (PT) often solve many of the issues of this condition. PT will work on the mechanics of the shoulder and increasing the strength of the muscles surrounding the shoulder. Cortisone injections are sometimes recommended to help with the discomfort. Lastly, arthroscopic surgery can be considered if symptoms persist despite conservative management.
For more information, please consider the following link that was produced by the AAOS.
https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases–conditions/shoulder-joint-tear-glenoid-labrum-tear