Dr. Holloway and his team are incredibly effective at helping patients restore function and mobility in their shoulder joint with the help of a total shoulder replacement procedure, but at the same time, if you can take steps to improve the health of your shoulder without surgery, that’s typically the optimal route. But how can you avoid the need for a shoulder replacement, especially if you are already dealing with pain or movement restrictions? In today’s blog, we touch on some of the things you can do to reduce your likelihood of needing shoulder replacement surgery in the future.
Tips For Avoiding Shoulder Replacement
Like most medical issues, prevention is preferred to treatment, so you’ll want to take some steps to reduce your risk of needing to undergo shoulder replacement, especially if you are at an elevated risk for needing one in the future. Individuals with previous acute shoulder injuries, those who perform a lot of overhead motions or repetitive shoulder actions and those with a family history of joint replacement are all at an elevated risk for shoulder issues, as are those who are already dealing with pain, discomfort or range of motion restrictions in your joint.
Your primary care physician or a shoulder specialist can provide you with some individualized tips for reducing your risk of needing a shoulder replacement procedure, but some general techniques that can strengthen your shoulder and offer some protective benefits for the joint include:
- Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is likely one of the best things you can do for your shoulder joint in terms of helping to preserve function in the area. It is a catch-all technique that is designed to target whatever is causing problems for your shoulder, be it weakness, instability or damage to supportive ligaments and tendons in the joint. You can find some physical therapy exercises by doing a quick search online, or you can connect with a shoulder specialist or a physical therapist who can tailor a PT routine to your specific strengths and deficits.
- Stretching – Another technique that helps to restore and maintain flexibility in your shoulder joint is a stretching program. Our soft tissues and joints slowly become less mobile as a result of decades of wear and tear, so it takes a little more concentrated effort to maintain laxity in these structures. Taking five minutes a couple of times each day can help these tissues remain flexible and capable of performing all the normal actions you ask of them.
- Exercise – Exercise is another way to keep your body and your joints healthy. Exercising also helps you maintain an ideal weight, and while body weight is less impactful on your shoulders than areas like your hips or knees, you can still perform different exercises that challenge and strengthen your shoulders so they can continue to function optimally. Swimming is a wonderful form of exercise that challenges your shoulders without overly stressing them.
- Diet Improvements – Improving your diet habits can also help to provide an ideal environment for your shoulder joints. There’s nothing you can eat that will reverse years of natural aging, but adequate nutrition and hydration can provide the right environment for healthy cell function to take place. When your joints are getting enough oxygenated blood full of important vitamins and minerals, they can more easily get the nutrients they need for tissue repair and development. Make life a little easier on your joints by eating a healthy diet or taking supplements for any nutritional deficiencies you have.
- Early Intervention – Finally, one of the best ways to reduce your likelihood of needing a shoulder replacement procedure is by taking quick action when pain or discomfort develops. If you simply try to push through the discomfort and hope that it goes away on its own, the damage will only likely get worse, and at that point it becomes harder to treat. Stop a problem before it snowballs into a major issue by pursuing some proactive treatments on your own or by connecting with your primary care physician or a shoulder specialist like Dr. Holloway for personalized advice.
Similar to insurance, Dr. Holloway is here to help if you need him, but hopefully you can find ways to keep your shoulders healthy so that you don’t need to rely on a shoulder replacement procedure in order to perform common shoulder movements. Let us help you avoid the need for a total shoulder replacement. For more information, or for help with a different shoulder issue, reach out to Dr. Holloway’s office today at (865) 410-7887.
