If you have been diagnosed with shoulder osteoarthritis, your orthopaedic surgeon will set out the treatment options that are available to you. These will depend on a range of factors, including the severity of your condition, your general state of health and your age. As a general rule, the least invasive treatments will always be…
If you are scheduled to undergo surgery in 2022, we recommend taking proactive measures now to optimise your health before your procedure. We call this process ‘prehabilitation’ and while it may be less familiar than rehabilitation (which is the recovery process after surgery), it is no less important.
Shoulder arthritis of the main ball and socket joint, also known as the glenohumeral joint, results in pain and stiffness in the shoulder. This pain is provoked by a loss of cartilage which normally allows the bones to move smoothly over one another and prevents rubbing.
As the most mobile joint in the body, able to move freely in many different directions, the shoulder is particularly prone to dislocation.
The exact causes of frozen shoulder are not fully understood although certain factors appear to increase your risk of developing the condition. Also called adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder is characterised by pain and stiffness in the shoulder that worsens over time. It is due to the capsule around your shoulder joint (the connective tissues surrounding…
If you are experiencing pain centring on the bony bump on the inside of your elbow, you may have a condition called golfer’s elbow. Sometimes the pain also spreads into the forearm. Although golfer’s elbow is less well-known and less common than tennis elbow, both are forms of tendinopathy and can be debilitating.
Tennis elbow – also called lateral epicondylitis – affects the tendons in your elbow. It is a painful condition that can develop when the tendons become overworked, often due to making repetitive arm and wrist movements. Tennis elbow is one of the most common causes of persistent elbow pain, affecting around 1-3% of the population.…
The AC joint is located at the top of your shoulder where the collarbone and shoulder blade meet. It is vulnerable to injury during certain types of high impact sports or as the result of a heavy fall into the shoulder. The AC joint may also develop overuse injuries and over time this may lead…
Your acromioclavicular (AC) joint is at the top of your shoulder where your collarbone and acromion part of the shoulder blade meet. If you have AC joint arthritis, the top of your shoulder might feel painful and you may have problems reaching your arm across your body. There are different types of AC joint arthritis…
Calcific tendonitis is a build-up of calcium deposits in a tendon. It can occur anywhere in the body but the condition commonly develops in the rotator cuff, which is the group of tendons that connect important shoulder muscles from your shoulder blade to your upper arm. When there is a build-up of calcium in this…
Your biceps muscle runs along the front of your upper arm, from your shoulder to your elbow. The upper part of this muscle is attached to your shoulder by two tendons (the proximal biceps tendons): the long head of the biceps connects the muscle to the top of the shoulder socket (the glenoid) while the…
Your biceps muscle is located at the front of your upper arm. When the muscle contracts it pulls the forearm up and rotates it outwards. Tendons attach the biceps muscle to the shoulder blade (scapula) and the radius bone of the forearm. There are two proximal biceps tendons, of which the long head of biceps…
A frozen shoulder is a painful and debilitating condition that can last for several years. The causes are not always fully understood but the condition – also caused adhesive capsulitis – is the result of thickening of the capsule of connective tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint. As it thickens it becomes tight which restricts…
Of all the joints in the human body, the shoulder joint is the most mobile. To facilitate the full range of movements made by your shoulder, it is supported by a network of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is a condition caused by the capsule of connective tissue that surrounds the shoulder…
Certain nerves are particularly prone to becoming compressed due to the way the surrounding bones are structured. The ulnar nerve is one of these. It runs over one of the elbow bones very close to the surface of the skin. People often refer to this area as “the funny bone” because of the strange sensation…
The ulnar nerve carries sensation from the ring finger and little finger, and part of the palm and the back of the hand. It travels down inside of the arm to the hand and is used to control certain movements of the fingers and wrist.
If you have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome you may or may not require medical treatment. Sometimes the condition improves quickly on its own, however for some people it can cause persistent symptoms or permanent loss of feeling or strength in the hand and it’s important to receive proper medical treatment.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a debilitating condition that occurs when the median nerve becomes compressed or squeezed as it passes through the carpal tunnel in your wrist.
If you are scheduled to undergo shoulder or elbow surgery, one of the things we recommend is to find out as much as you can about the procedure you’re having so you feel well-informed, which can help to alleviate anxiety and avoid stress. You may be wondering what type of anaesthetic you will be given…
If you are due to undergo orthopaedic surgery on your shoulder or elbow, your surgeon may suggest an arthroscopic procedure. But what is arthroscopy and how will you benefit as a patient? Here are some of the things you need to know…
This is the time of year when many of us would normally be heading off to enjoy our two weeks of Winter sunshine on the ski slopes. Unfortunately, the impact of Covid means that skiing is off the agenda this year for most of us but as we begin our slow return to normality hopefully…
If you suffer from arthritis, you may experience an increase in the severity of your symptoms during the winter. Although experts aren’t completely sure why, it’s certainly true that colder weather leads to an increase in joint pain and stiffness for many people. It is believed that barometric pressure may play a role – the…
As orthopaedic surgeons we encourage our patients to take an active role in managing and treating their condition.
If you’re used to working out, sustaining any kind of injury can be very frustrating. Here at Thames Shoulder and Elbow, we treat many different types of shoulder injuries and one of the questions we’re asked most often is “how soon can I get back to the gym?” We understand the desire to maintain your…
Shoulder dislocations are normally caused by a traumatic injury, such as a fall from a height, tripping and landing heavily onto the shoulder, or by a hard blow, such as a high-speed collision. When the shoulder dislocates the upper arm bone (humerus) pops out of the socket in your shoulder joint, often causing extensive damage…
A dislocated shoulder is a very painful injury that occurs when your upper arm bone pops out of the socket in your shoulder joint. Because the shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body it is particularly susceptible to dislocation and there is a risk of repeated dislocations if the joint becomes unstable.
In 2019, the head of medicine for English rugby called on managers of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to consider making significant changes to the professional game to address a big jump in the severity of injuries on the pitch.
Rugby is a fun, fast-paced sport that is as exciting to play as it is to watch. But, the price of competing in such a high impact contact sport is that rugby players are at particularly high risk of injury. In fact, rugby has the highest risk of injury per player per hour of any…
In the second of our blogs to mark National Arthritis Awareness Month, we are exploring the range of treatments available for people with elbow arthritis. This type of arthritis is one of the less common forms and you can find more information about the causes and what symptoms to look out for in our blog…
To mark Arthritis Awareness Month, we are looking at the causes of one of the less common forms of arthritis – elbow arthritis. Although elbow pain is a common problem it is rarely caused by arthritis and is more normally due to soft tissue problems, such as tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, or the result…
Your shoulder is the most mobile joint in your body. It is made up of a ball and socket joint called the glenohumeral joint which is surrounded by a fibrous sleeve called the capsule.
Shoulder osteoarthritis is a painful condition which can affect any of the joints making up the shoulder girdle. Eventually it results in the wearing away of the cartilage in the joint.
Rotator cuff injuries are extremely common. Nearly three quarters (roughly 70%) of all visits to the doctor by UK patient with shoulder pain are due to rotator cuff problems. Your rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons around your shoulder joint. Their role is to stabilise the shoulder and keep the ball at…
Your collarbone connects the shoulder blade to the upper part of your breastbone. The medical name for this bone is the clavicle. At the outer end it makes a joint known as the acromioclavicular (AC) joint. The bone acts as protection to the nerves and blood vessels below as they transit from the neck to…
Golf is the fifth largest participant sport in England, according to England Golf’s biannual club membership report, last published in 2018. The report stated that more than two million people are playing golf at least twice a month. The average number of members per golf club has risen to 484 compared to 460 in 2016.…
An estimated one million people in the UK play golf. The combined appeal of a skilled and competitive sport played in the open air makes it easy to see why golf is a favourite pastime for many. However, golf can place a significant strain on your arms, shoulders, wrists and back, and golfing injuries can…
If you have joint pain your doctor may recommend having an injection of steroid (also called corticosteroid or cortisone) mixed with local anaesthetic, to relieve the discomfort and reduce inflammation. Steroid injections are given by doctors directly into the affected muscle or joint. They normally take a few days to start working and the effect…
As the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning in early March, an Italian doctor, Dr Daniele Macchine from Bergamo, said: “There are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopaedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us…”
This is a question we often get asked, along with “How quickly can I get back to the gym after elbow surgery?” We understand what motivates patients to ask, particularly those with active lifestyles who are eager to continue training.
Tennis is one of our favourite summer sports and it’s not hard to see why. The fast-paced, exciting game, played on grass, clay or other hard courts, requires physical fitness and great hand-eye co-ordination. Players need to be fast and have good technique and physical endurance to run, position, swing and hit the ball throughout…
It can sometimes be hard to convince patients that rehabilitation after shoulder or elbow injury is a critical part of their treatment. However, without it you can be left with stiffness, loss of movement or weakness, which may become permanent.
Tennis is synonymous with summer for many of us. It is a high impact, fast-paced sport that is fun to play and great for fitness. Along with golf, it is one of the first sports to be permitted following the virus pandemic lockdown. For this reason, right now many people will be taking up the…
Stiffness in your elbow – sometimes called a contracture – means that you have lost some of the motion in the joint. This loss of ability to fully bend or straighten your arm could have a number of different causes. If you injure your elbow you may develop tightness in the soft tissues (muscles, tendonsand…
The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. The top of the arm bone, which is shaped like a ball, fits inside the socket in the shoulder blade and is held in place by tendons and ligaments, which form a capsule around the joint to help to support its movement. The rotator cuff is a…
Thames Shoulder and Elbow is an upper limb orthopaedic practice focused of delivering the highest level of orthopaedic care. As our name would suggest, we are specialists in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for elbow and shoulder conditions, which also encompasses the upper arm, forearm and wrist. Led by orthopaedic consultant Mr Edward Ibrahim, Thames…
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