 Hi, I'm Dr. Sushal Shantakumar, I'm a consultant orthopedic surgeon in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, who specializes in shoulder surgeries and shoulder injuries. So today, I'll talk about a common topic which every sports person has. What are the common shoulder injuries which we encounter in sports? So let me tell you briefly about the shoulder. So the upper half of the human body is evolved for dexterity and flexibility rather than strength. In contrast, the lower half gives strength and endurance. So what happens is in virtually all sports, the shoulders are disproportionately called upon to perform feats of strength and endurance, which in turn lead to injuries. So the shoulder is a ball and socket type of joint. It is lined by a thin layer of cartilage or what we call labrum, which is vulnerable to injury most of the time. So most of the injuries involve the connective tissues, the capsule, the ligaments around the shoulder rather than frank broken bones or broken muscle tears. Those kind of injuries are far more common. So what are the most common type of major sports injuries? First we have the dislocations. A dislocation is the partial or complete separation of two bones, the ball and the socket. The victim or the patient will classically hear a pop when the shoulder moves out of the joint and then another pop when it comes back. The best case scenario, you will be able to reduce the shoulder joint on the field or on the court. In worst case, you might have to be admitted to a hospital and reduced under sedation or anesthesia. Repeated dislocations will worsen the joint causing damage to the socket and it makes recurrence much more likely causing long term damage to the labrum and cartilage. We also have something known as separated shoulder. This is different from frank dislocation. Here the clavicle or the collarbone separates from the shoulder. So this is graded into multiple levels and may even require surgery can be treated with simple rehabilitation. Then we have rotator cuff injuries and rotator cuff tears. Rotator cuff is made up of several tendons, together they provide remarkable mobility to the shoulder joint. Any sport that requires repetitive overhand motion presents a danger to the rotator cuff. Athletes which are particularly vulnerable to rotator cuff injuries include swimming, bad mitten, volleyball. So typically what happens is when you present with a rotator cuff injury the character is with pain, weakness in the shoulder and reduced range of motion. Next we have the labral injuries or what is commonly known as slap tears. So a slap tear tends to develop over a period of time from repetitive overhand motion such as throwing a baseball, playing tennis or volleyball, again similar to rotator cuff. It may also occur from direct impact to the shoulder such as it might be caused by falling onto the ground or somebody might be tackled when you are playing football. Typically what are the common symptoms we encounter? There might be a loss of power in your shoulder, a feeling of looseness in the shoulder, almost as if the shoulder is going to slip out. There might be pain which accompanies overhand moments such as throwing a baseball, smashing a bad mitten shuttle. Also there might be accompanying sounds like clicking and grinding or popping in the shoulder. So this was Dr. Sushal giving you a brief overview of how to take care of your shoulder when you play sports. For more queries you can reach out to me, I am a consultant shoulder surgeon in Manipal Hospitals. We will be happy to help you in any which way. Thank you very much.