Can I Get An Implant For My Deltoid Muscle Atrophy From Prior Shoulder Damage?

Q: Dr. Eppley, My nerve was damaged in my shoulder and killed my front deltoid muscles. I would like to get this to match my other shoulder.

A:Thank you for your inquiry and sending your picture. What you have is a classic example of deltoid muscle atrophy due to a motor nerve injury. It appears based on this one picture that only two of the heads of the deltoid muscle or involved (anterior and central)  and that the posterior deltoid muscle head may have been spared. This is why you referred to it as the ‘front’ deltoid muscle.

That being said an implant would be the only way to restore as much as possible the volume from the lost muscle. Such implants can be designed several ways but the most common method, given your geographic separation, is by having you take measurements of its length and width from which I can make the computer design for the implant.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon