AC joint arthrosis with subacromial spur

by Lee
(Canada)

AC joint spur


Received MRI results and told I have to waith 3 months to see the surgeon.

1. Will the spur have to be removed?

2. There is a full thickness tearing of the supraspinatus tendon. Will this heal on its own?




Hello Lee,
Well, that gives you three months to see if you can rehabilitate this shoulder without surgery.

The AC joint in the shoulder is very prone to arthritis, second only to the thumb. So there's nothing unusual in that spur. It's a question of how large it is, how much it restricts the motion of the AC joint, and what affect it has on the supraspinatus tendon.

Do a little test: raise first your good arm to about 30* in front of you, turn your arm inwards so the thumb points downwards. Now raise your arm to 90* about ten times.

Repeat now with the naughty arm. Can you do it? Is it painful? Does the arm tire much more quickly?

I'm assuming you have pain in the shoulder and restricted range of motion. Can you raise your arm above your head? Forwards and sideways? Can you reach behind you to your bra strap?

As you can see there are many ifs, buts, and maybes.

To be quite honest I can't answer your question without an examination. But it ALWASY makes sense to try the conservative approach, before resorting to surgery.

Two suggestions: start our "Frozen shoulder exercises" - plug the term into the Search this site function at Chiropractic Help. Do them faithfully for a month. If it's improving, keep doing them. If not, start looking (now) for a sports oriented chiropractor, preferably one with a FICS qualification. Contact your local chiropractic association for a name.

I hope this has contributed.

Dr b

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