Shoulder and Elbow Injuries: What are They and How They’re Treated
The shoulder and the elbow are exquisite examples of bioengineering. The shoulder lies between the trunk of the body and the arm and is made up of two bones: the shoulder blade, or scapula in the back and the collarbone in the front. The large bone of the arm, or the humerus fits into the scapula to form a ball and socket joint. Supported by seventeen muscles, this joint allows a great deal of freedom of movement of the arm. The slender clavicle does not have much cushioning between it and the skin and is unusually vulnerable to fractures.
The elbow is the joint between the humerus of the upper arm and the radius and ulna of the forearm. Found only in primates, it lets the arm and the hand move both towards the body and away from it. Like the shoulder, the elbow has a variety of muscles to allow this function. When they work together, the shoulder and the elbow allow people to play sports, dig this or that hole, and carry objects. Besides fractures, the elbow and the shoulder are both subject to:
• Tendinitis
This is inflammation of the tendons, which are tough tissues that attach muscles to the bone. Tendinitis most often results from overuse or improper use. Examples of elbow tendonitis include lateral and medial epicondylitis. Rotator cuff injuries in the shoulder involve both the muscles and tendons in the shoulder. Tendons in the shoulder can be impinged, or trapped when a rotator cuff …