Flapping Pays its Toll on the Vulnerable Shoulder

So finally, what I believe most Gunners have wanted to see, Wojciech Szczesny looks like he is going to have a good run of games as Arsenal's No.1 so we can really see what he is like. This is due to injuries to our previous Number's 1's Almunia, and Fabianski.

Let me firstly make my opinions clear on the latter, Lukasz is a good shop stopper, I believe saves against Wolves and Everton have shown that. But it is clear to see he is vulnerable under the high ball, and his communication isn't the best. So where I think he is a good goalkeeper- Arsenal could do better. I think Szczesny shows all the potential to be a fantastic keeper for many years to come.


Lukasz Fabianski has been out for the last couple of weeks with what Arsene describes as "a little shoulder inflammation". But why has have his chances gone from 50:50 against West Ham- to a couple of weeks out?

My thoughts are based purely on speculation, but I am assuming that the inflammation he has, is probably swelling of one of the rotator cuff tendons- this in turn is causing shoulder impingement, commonly seen in sportsmen and women.

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. The ball of the joint is called the humeral head (top of the arm), whilst the socket is the glenoid fossa (shoulder blade). The rotator cuff consists of 4 muscles which serve to control the humeral head (ball) within the glenoid fossa (socket). So the rotator cuff basically holds the ball in the socket whilst the larger muscles around the arm move it.

Imagine wrapping 4 rubber bands around a golf ball and placing it on a tee- you would probably find space on the ball to balance it. What sounds like has happened to Lukasz, is that one of the rotator cuff muscles (elastic bands) has become inflamed, and so when he moves his arm, there is a narrowing of the space between the ball and socket, and he feels a pinching sensation - known in the medical world as shoulder impingement. The athlete with shoulder impingement complains of pain with throwing and most overhead activities-not ideal for a keep who is already vulnerable under the high ball!!!

So what is the treatment? Annoyingly it is mainly rest from the aggravating activity- which if is overhead activity- is most of goalkeeping. Following this, Nitric Oxide Donor therapy, corticosteroid injections, strengthening exercises, soft tissue release have all been indicated, but as always- I may be able to hypothesis on the injury-what the Arsenal medical team are doing is beyond me! All I know is if it is this it shouldn't keep Lukasz out of the game for too long- but whilst he is, lets hope Wojciech can impress- penalties would be fun ay?!


Want to know any other injuries? Tweet me @davidbartlett89 or leave a comment. I'm off to work with some of the Arsenal Ladies tomorrow! Keeping it Goonerish!