Recovery after shoulder injuries in tennis players

Shoulder injuries are a common problem in junior and professional tennis players. The major symptoms are pain and instability and the sports medicine physician has to pay attention to the fact that these players can be affected and send them to a lower level of competition. The history of symptoms and the clinical examination are the major points of interest when you work with these players. You have to evaluate always the scapular-thoracic, subacromial and glenohumeral joints and special attention is given to minor instability in junior players, even if the initial complaint is pain over the superior aspect of the rotator cuff. The treatment range from clinical (together or not with an adequate physical therapy program) to surgical procedures, in order to restore the complete function of the shoulder girdle for tennis practice. We present in this paper our experience on the rehabilitation for the most common injuries regularly seen in competitive tennis players.