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Labral Tear

Make Shoulder or Hip Pain Something of the Past

Piercing pain in your hip or shoulder could be something far worse than just a sprain. In many cases, the pain may be the result of a labral tear.

At Source Healthcare, our team of highly qualified Santa Monica interventional specialists has helped hundreds of patients experience relief from pain, inflammation, and distress caused by labral tears. We can help you too.

Contact us to schedule a check-up.

What is a Labral Tear?

The shoulder and hip are both ball and socket joints. The ball is held in the socket with the help of a thick band of connective tissue and cartilage called the labrum. This tissue gives the ball joint mobility to move freely inside the socket joint. It holds the ball joint in place and prevents dislocations and injuries to the shoulder and the hip. If this labrum tissue tears, the injury is called a labral tear.

Labral tears mostly happen in the hip joint, although in some cases they occur in the shoulder joints as well. The labrum cushions the joints against friction, but when there is a labral tear, the joints rub against each other, causing pain and wear-and-tear.

Labral tears can be extremely painful and cause your joints to disintegrate. At Source Healthcare, we have the expertise and technology needed to heal a torn labrum. Visit us for treatment.

Glenoid Labral Tear

If you have pain in your shoulder, you may have a torn labrum. That’s the thick band of tissue that goes around your shoulder socket. It helps make the socket deeper. It cushions the bone of your upper arm and keeps it from slipping.

Causes for a Labral Tear

Labral tears can occur due to the following reasons:

  • Excessive physical strain and repetitive motions – especially activities like running, playing golf or tennis, etc.
  • Body structural issues – in some people, the ball and socket joints don’t fit correctly, (or, in the case of the hip, the femoral head doesn’t fit properly in the hip joint, causing friction when the person moves).
  • Medical conditions – conditions like hip dysplasia and arthritis can weaken your tissues and lead to the tear.
  • Injury – accidents or a sporting injury can tear the labrum and cause acute pain.
  • Weight – if a person is overweight or obese, their hip experiences intense stress. This strain can wear out the acetabular labrum over time and cause it to tear.
  • Gender – women are more prone to labral tears because of the body’s unique shape which puts more weight on the hips and because of events like pregnancy, which can weaken the labrum.

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Signs to Look Out for When You Suspect a Labral Tear

  • Stiffness or locking of the hip or shoulder joints.
  • When you move, pain radiates down to your buttocks and legs in case of acetabular labral tear or pain that radiates down the arm in case of shoulder labral tear.
  • Clicking or snapping sound from your hips or shoulders when you move them.
  • Weakness in the affected area.
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How Does Source Healthcare Diagnose & Treat Labral Tears?

If you’ve been experiencing these symptoms in your hip, our doctors will start the examination by asking you to move your hips and legs at certain angles. They may ask you to do a few simple exercises to check your hip mobility as well.

Next, an MRI is scheduled to get a better perspective of your hip joints and connective tissues. If more information is needed, our doctors may perform a minimally invasive technique called arthroscopy and use a tiny camera to look at your hip in real-time.

If a labral tear is diagnosed, our experts will determine the severity of the condition and develop a personalized treatment plan for you. We will start you with anti-inflammatory medications and steroid injections to ease the pain and swelling. At Source Healthcare, we specialize in stem cell therapy as well, where we use your stem cells to heal damaged tissues and joints. We can use stem cell therapy to heal labral tears.

If none of these treatments yield the desired results, we may prescribe surgery. Here, we either repair, reconstruct, or debride the torn labral tissue. We combine these treatments with intensive physical therapy to help you get back to shape and back to your daily life.

We follow a similar technique for diagnosis and treatment of shoulder labral tears. Contact us for more information.

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