Shoulder & Elbow Care

Find the best possible care for the joints in your upper arm at Torrance Memorial Lundquist Orthopedic Institute. You’ll benefit from surgeons who specialize in shoulder and elbow conditions, including injuries resulting from sports, work, or everyday activities. Meet with us to determine the right treatment approach for your symptoms, goals and lifestyle.

Conditions Treated

Trust your orthopedic specialist for skilled nonsurgical or surgical care of almost any problem affecting your upper arm.

Shoulder Injuries

Frozen shoulder – Joint stiffness and pain that happen when your body makes thick collagen instead of flexible tissue
Labrum tear – Soft-tissue injury that can lead to shoulder instability (looseness and dislocations)
Rotator cuff tear – Damage to tendons that control the shoulder’s movement
Shoulder arthritis – Breakdown of soft tissue covering the ends of bones that meet in your joint
Shoulder dislocation – Blow, fall, or another impact that forces the ball out of your joint’s socket
Shoulder fracture – Broken bone
Shoulder impingement (swimmer’s shoulder) – Pain due to a shoulder bone rubbing against soft tissue when you raise your arm

Elbow Injuries

Cubital tunnel syndrome – Numbness or tingling in the hands due to a pinched ulnar nerve near the elbow
Elbow fracture – Broken bone
Golfer’s elbow – Pain in your inner elbow or forearm because of too many forceful wrist and finger movements
Olecranon bursitis – Inflammation in a fluid-filled sac at the tip of the elbow
Tennis elbow – Pain in your inner elbow or forearm due to repeated stress on muscles used to straighten and raise your hand and wrist
Ulnar collateral ligament tear – Injury to a ligament that supports your elbow

Conservative, Nonsurgical Treatments

Many shoulder and elbow injuries don’t need surgery. Your symptoms may improve with:

Physical therapy exercises that help you regain motion and rebuild strength
Biologics, natural substances that support your body’s healing process
Viscosupplementation, a procedure that injects a gel-like lubricant called hyaluronic acid into your joint to help it move more smoothly and comfortably
Steroid injections that can relieve pain and inflammation for up to several months

Sports Medicine

Shoulder and elbow injuries are common in certain sports, but they don’t have to keep you from your favorite athletic activities for long. Ask Torrance Memorial’s sports medicine specialists for specialized care that can help you return to competition as safely and quickly as possible.

Surgery for Shoulders & Elbows

If you need surgery, you’ll be in the good hands of orthopedic surgeons skilled in the latest treatments and techniques. Ask about:

Acromioclavicular (AC) joint separation repair – Fixes torn ligaments and puts the clavicle (collarbone) back in place
Bankart repair or SLAP repair – Treats a tear in the labrum (cartilage lining your shoulder’s socket)
Biceps tenodesis – Repairs an injured tendon in your upper arm
Capsular plication – Uses radiofrequency energy to make shoulder tissue contract, which tightens a loose joint
Distal clavicle excision – Removes the end of the collarbone to treat the pain of arthritis or shoulder impingement
Glenohumeral debridement – Removes damaged tissue from your shoulder
Joint replacement – Includes both traditional and reverse shoulder replacement, which swaps the position of the ball and socket to let you raise your arms higher after a severe rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff repair – Includes the option of allograft augmentation, which adds donated tissue to the torn tendon to stimulate healing and support new tissue growth
Shoulder impingement surgery – Makes more space in your joint to relieve painful pressure
Tommy John surgery – Repairs a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow by replacing it with a tendon from elsewhere in the body

Minimally Invasive Surgery (Arthroscopy)

In many cases, Torrance Memorial surgeons perform shoulder and elbow surgery with an arthroscope—a thin tube with a light and camera. It shows the inside of your body on a large monitor, so the surgeon doesn’t need to make a large incision to see and treat your joint. This less invasive approach reduces pain, scarring, and recovery time, so you can return to your everyday life sooner.