Pain in the neck, head and shoulders caused by the sudden sideways, forward or backward motion of the head is called whiplash. This sudden jerking motion can cause damage to the muscles and ligaments that support the spine and head. Whiplash is often the result of an auto accident or collision. While the majority of people are able to recover within a few weeks or months, others develop chronic pain.

The clavicle is a bone that connects the torso to the upper extremity and is also known in layman’s terms as the collarbone. The bone does not have a tolerance for deformity very much, typically under significant stress it will just break. The most common way to break the clavicle is either falling on an outstretched arm or sustaining a direct blow.

Opiate pain relievers are a significant factor in overdose deaths and now exceed fatalities from cocaine and heroin combined. In 2008, approximately 15,000 fatalities occurred from prescription drug overdoses. This is 3 times the amount from 10 years ago.

The SLAP lesion is a shoulder injury that stands for Superior Labral Anterior Posterior. It represents an injury to the labrum in the shoulder joint, which is a cartilaginous structure that provides enhanced stability to the joint. Without this structure, the patient’s shoulder would be significantly unstable similar to an analogy of a golf ball on a tee. There are 4 types of SLAP tears, which involve labral tears/fraying in conjunction with either a stable biceps tendon or bicepts tendon tearing. If the labrum and biceps are unattached/torn, they can be surgically reattached with suture anchors.

There are different types of pain affecting the people in America. One type is pain that is attributable to a specific injury. This may include pain from a broken bone, arthritis and a specific joint, or a joint dislocation such as when the shoulder pops out of place. From a sheer numbers stand point, more Americans are dealing with pain than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes put together.