When your shoulder can't support arm movement or you struggle with agonizing shoulder pain, it may be time to consider a shoulder replacement. At Samimi Orthopedic Group, Babak Samimi, MD, and David Eldringhoff, MD, have years of experience performing total, partial, and reverse shoulder replacement surgery. Your surgery restores mobility and eases the pain, allowing you to return to your favorite activities. To learn if shoulder replacement can help you, call one of the Los Angeles area offices in Brentwood, West Covina, or Sherman Oaks, California, or schedule an appointment online today.
You may need shoulder replacement surgery, also called shoulder arthroplasty, if you have shoulder weakness, chronic pain, and limited movement despite standard medical treatment.
Osteoarthritis is the top reason people need a new shoulder joint. As the disease progressively breaks down cartilage and causes extensive joint damage, you eventually reach an advanced stage where you need to replace the joint to ease your pain and restore mobility.
A severe shoulder fracture may require a joint replacement. You may also need to consider shoulder replacement surgery to treat rheumatoid arthritis, rotator cuff tear arthropathy, avascular necrosis, or failed shoulder surgery.
The conditions responsible for your shoulder pain and degeneration cause symptoms such as:
These symptoms tend to slowly worsen as the injured tissues fail to heal.
Your Samimi Orthopedic Group provider recommends the best type of replacement surgery based on your diagnosis and the health of the tissues in the joint. They have years of experience performing three types of shoulder replacements:
A total replacement restores your shoulder to its normal state. Your provider removes all the damaged tissues, replaces the rounded top of your upper arm bone with a metal piece, and covers the socket with a plastic liner. They then secure the prosthetic arm bone into the new socket.
In this surgery, your provider keeps the original socket and replaces the upper arm bone with a prosthetic metal ball.
Your rotator cuff normally holds the arm in the shoulder joint, stabilizes the joint, and supports the shoulder's range of motion. When these muscles are too damaged to hold your arm, your provider recommends a reverse total shoulder replacement.
During this procedure, your provider implants a metal ball into the original shoulder socket; then, they turn the upper arm into the new socket. Reversing your anatomy allows your deltoid muscles to move your arm instead of the rotator cuff.
To learn if you qualify for shoulder replacement surgery, call Samimi Orthopedic Group or book an appointment online today.
