Shoulder dislocation is an injury to the glenohumeral joint connecting the humerus bone to the socket of the shoulder blade, called the scapula. No joint in the body allows more motion than the glenohumeral, but this also puts it at a high risk for injuries. In a shoulder dislocation, the arm bone and the shoulder blade lose contact with one another. It is fairly easy to detect the symptoms of this injury.
Step 1
Ask the patient whether he's experiencing severe pain. A minor discomfort is typically a sign of a muscle-related problem, but a shoulder dislocation causes severe pain.
Step 2
Find out whether the patient has been in an accident or injured himself otherwise. Shoulder dislocations are common after accidents in sports, for example, when the shoulder is pushed backwards. They do not occur because a person has exercised a lot and has exhausted the muscles.
Step 3
Observe what the muscles of the upper arm look like. Do they look flat? Is there a budge either at the front or back? These are typical signs of shoulder dislocation. You may also see swelling and bruising.
Step 4
Ask the patient to move her arm. If the shoulder is dislocated, lifting her arm should be very difficult and painful. On the other hand, she should be able to move her hand without much difficulty.
Step 5
Observe whether the patient has a tendency to hold his arm either inward or outward. If the arm is dislocated backward, the patient will typically hold his arm close to his body, rotated inward. If the dislocation has happened inward, he will tend to hold his arm outward.
Step 6
Ask the patient to tell you how the arm and fingers feel. Does she feel numbness or tingling in her arms or fingertips? These are common among shoulder dislocation patients. Does she experience muscle spasms? These are caused by the muscles around the joint that are forced to stretch.
Tips and Warnings
- Icing the injured shoulder can reduce the pain and lessen the swelling. Prevent a shoulder dislocation from happening in the future by stretching the muscles before practicing any sports. Wear protective pads over the shoulders when playing contact sports.
- Go to an emergency room if the shoulder is dislocated. Shoulder dislocation is easy to treat, but seeing a doctor is necessary for X-rays and an examination to see if there is any damage to the blood vessels or nerves. Once a shoulder is dislocated, it can happen more easily in the future.
