Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Dislocated Shoulder
Your shoulder joint is made up of three bones: your collarbone, your shoulder blade, and your upper arm bone. The top of your upper arm bone is shaped like a ball. This ball fits into a cuplike socket in your shoulder blade. A shoulder dislocation is an injury that happens when the ball pops out of your socket. A dislocation may be partial, where the ball is only partially out of the socket. It can also be a full dislocation, where the ball is completely out of the socket.
Your shoulders are the most movable joints in your body. They are also the most commonly dislocated joints.
The most common causes of shoulder dislocations are:
- Sports injuries
- Accidents, including traffic accidents
- Falling on your shoulder or outstretched arm
- Seizures and electric shocks, which can cause muscle contractions that pull the arm out of place
A dislocated shoulder can happen to anyone, but they are more common in young men, who are more often involved in sports and other physical activities. Older adults, especially women, are also at higher risk because they are more likely to fall.
The symptoms of a dislocated shoulder include:
- Severe shoulder pain
- Swelling and bruising of your shoulder or upper arm
- Numbness and/or weakness in your arm, neck, hand, or fingers
- Trouble moving your arm
- Your arm seems to be out of place
- Muscle spasms in your shoulder
If you are having these symptoms, get medical treatment right away.
To make a diagnosis, your health care provider will take a medical history and examine your shoulder. Your provider may also ask you to get an x-ray to confirm the diagnosis.
The treatment for dislocated shoulder usually involves three steps:
- The first step is a closed reduction, a procedure in which your health care provider puts the ball of your upper arm back into the socket. You may first get medicine to relieve the pain and relax your shoulder muscles. Once the joint is back in place, the severe pain should end.
- The second step is wearing a sling or other device to keep your shoulder in place. You will wear it for a few days to several weeks.
- The third step is rehabilitation, once the pain and swelling have improved. You will do exercises to improve your range of motion and strengthen your muscles.
You may need surgery if you injure the tissues or nerves around the shoulder or if you get repeated dislocations.
A dislocation can make your shoulder unstable. When that happens, it takes less force to dislocate it. This means that there is a higher risk of it happening again. Your health care provider may ask you to continue doing some exercises to prevent another dislocation.
It sits within Bones, Joints and Muscles and Injuries and Wounds.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Dislocated Shoulder
129 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Does Capsuloplasty Reduce External Rotation After Coracoid Impingement?Clinique du Sport, Bordeaux Mérignac
- Sling vs. Dynamic Shoulder Stabilizer After Soft Tissue Shoulder Instability Surgery (SLIDY)Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge
- Open Versus Arthroscopic Stabilization of Shoulder Instability With Subcritical Bone Loss: The OASIS TrialUniversity of Pittsburgh
- Contralateral Resistance Training During Immobilization in Patients With Acromioclavicular Joint InjuryUniversidad Nacional Andres Bello
- Remplissage Versus Latarjet Coracoid Transfer for Recurrent Shoulder InstabilityWestern University, Canada
- Surgical Treatment of Recurrent Shoulder DislocationsNova Scotia Health Authority
Research already completed
- Modified Cunningham Technique for Anterior Shoulder DislocationAntalya Health Sciences University
- Clinical and Radiographic Assessment After Surgical Treatment of Anterior Shoulder DislocationIstituto Ortopedico Rizzoli
- Ultrasound-Guided Low-Volume Brachial Plexus Block in the Supraclavicular Region for Shoulder Reduction in the Emergency DepartmentMerian Iselin Klinik
- Intervention of Shoulder Blood Flow Restriction Training on Shoulder Joint Pain and Function of Judo AthletesYang Liu
- Ultrasound Guided Pericapsular Nerve Block Versus iv Sedation Analgesia in Reduction of Shoulder DislocationBenha University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Shoulder DislocationAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Symptoms
- Dislocated Shoulder: Symptoms and CausesMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Diagnosis and Tests
- Dislocated Shoulder: Diagnosis and TreatmentMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- Shoulder MRIRadiological Society of North America
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Shoulder DislocationNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Shoulder Dislocation. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Dislocated Shoulder, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.