Shoulder SLAP Tear

Symptoms of a SLAP tear may include:

• Popping, clicking, or catching in the shoulder.
• Pain when you move your arm over your head or throw a ball.
• The feeling that your shoulder is weak or not stable.
• Aching pain. You may have a hard time describing this pain. Or you may not be able to show your doctor exactly where it is.

A shoulder SLAP tear is when the labrum frays or tears because of an injury. You may get a SLAP tear if you:

• Fall on your outstretched arm.
• Fall on your shoulder.
• Brace yourself with your outstretched arm in a car accident.
• Lift heavy objects repeatedly or too suddenly.
• Do a lot of overhead activities, such as throwing a baseball.

This injury was first identified in the 1980s in athletes, like baseball players, whose sport requires them to do a lot of overhead throwing.

Many people with SLAP tears also have other shoulder injuries, such as a tear in the rotator cuff.

A SLAP tear can be hard to identify, because there are so many other things that can cause shoulder pain and because SLAP tears are not common. Ways to diagnose a SLAP tear include:

• A series of tests in which your doctor moves your shoulder joint around to see which movements are causing your pain.
• MRI. A special dye is injected into your shoulder before you have an MRI scan. When a dye is used, the test is called an MRI arthrogram.
• Arthroscopic surgery. This is the only sure way to know whether you have a SLAP tear. Your doctor will make small cuts, called incisions, in your shoulder. Then the doctor can look at the inside of your joint by inserting a tiny camera attached to a thin tube. The doctor may be able to repair the tear at the same time.

The first step is to see if pain medicine and rehabilitation (rehab) can help.

If over-the-counter medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) doesn't control your pain, your doctor may give you a prescription medicine.

Rehab includes doing a home exercise program, stretching, and avoiding activities that cause pain. If this doesn't help, your doctor may want you to go to a physical therapist.