The labrum of the shoulder is a bumper of cartilage that surrounds the socket similar to the bumper around a pool table. This labrum stabilizes the ball into the socket. When torn it is painful and may cause clicking or popping, and deep seated pain in the shoulder. This may also cause the shoulder to feel loose.Injury to the labrum generally involves overhand use whether in the setting of acute injury or repetitive use of the shoulder. Lifting or jerking injuries to the shoulder are also common causes for a torn labrum.

There are two common types of Labral Tear:

1) SLAP

This is an acronym that stands for Superior Labrum Anterior Posterior. Generally this means that the cartilage bumper around the socket has torn in the upper portion of the socket. This is seen commonly with throwing injuries, lifting injuries, and injuries that cause a downward jerking motion to the shoulder.

2) Bankart Tear

This is a tear of the bumper of cartilage at the front of the socket and is usually caused by a shoulder joint dislocation or partial dislocation. Patients will have pain and a feeling of instability or looseness to the shoulder. Some patients may even have repeated episodes of a dislocating shoulder.

Both of the above may initially be treated with physical therapy and many patients will improve with this treatment alone. For patients who do not improve Arthroscopic Repair of the torn labrum is the preferred method of treatment. This is an outpatient procedure and recovery and rehabilitation will take 3-5 months.