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I've been having problems with my left shoulder for about 6 months. Back in October my family doc sent me to an orthopedic doc, who x-rayed my shoulder and gave me a cortisone shot. Now on the xrays he said there were no bone spurs.

I go back after six weeks and the shot had helped for a while, but I couldn't raise my arm straight out from my side and it hurt a lot to try. Well, he sends me to three weeks of physical therapy.  This improved my range of motion back to almost normal, but I still had some pain. The doc says since I'm doing so good we would wait and see if it flared up again.  Then he asked me if I could live with it like it was without doing anything about it. I thought that was kind odd.

The guy probably didn't spend 15 minutes with me in all three visits combined, so I decided to see another doc and a friend at work recommended the guy that fixed her shoulder a few years ago. She had a bone spur which was compressing an artery and a torn rotator cuff.

I go to see this guy and I carried the xrays the first guy took. Well he throws them up there and right away says, you got big ol' bone spur (remember what the other guy told me).  Then he took some more xrays at some funny angles so he could see it better and he took the time to show me exactly what the problem was.  Then he recommended an MRI to check for damage to my rotator cuff.

I went back with my wife on Wed. and he said I had a partial tear on the cuff, but the thickness was enough that all he should have to do is clean up the part that is frayed and they will remove the bone spur. There are three classes of spur on the acroniom, 1,2,&3 with each progressively worse. Well he said mine was like a 3+.

I'm going on March 20, to get the surgery and the doc says I should be out of work for a week and fully back to normal in 6 months.  The bad news is I have to start PT about two days after surgery, ouch!

Not as scary as I though at first, my friend told me she was out of work for 6 weeks. When I told the doc this, he said that was because she had a rotator cuff repair done.

I hate doctors who don't know what they're doing.


If you have  the flash plug-in you can see what they're going to do to me.


http://www.midsouthorthopedics.com/shoulderimpinge.htm

Wow, that sucks.  But congrats for not taking the first doctor at his word and seeking a second opinion.  You should probably explain what happened to your primary care physician so she doesn't refer anyone else to that incompetent doc. 

My wife just went back to work after being off for about 3 months from having the same surgery. Sure they may tell you it's minor surgery but they're not the ones being cut open now are they. The big thing is after the surgery is to keep the rehab appointments. That, more than anything will help heal it up faster.

Oh Trek, I am sorry. All the bes to you.
My biggest problem after surgerty is sleeping sitting up or on my back.   I am a side lseeper by nature. 

Best of luck man!
-Ed

I had a problem with my shoulder, months of pain, numbness, unable to sit, got 3 different and vague diagnosis (internist, neurologist, orthopedist)the last of whom wanted to cut me open.  I opted for physical therapy before making any choice, and recieved what I think was an accurate, 4th, diagnosis from the PT: Suprascapular nerve entrapment.  I think you got a good one with that 2nd doctor, but let the experience the 1st time inform all of your choices. 

The physical therapy is what helped me, but the shoulder has never been 100%. 

Best to you Trekgeezer.   :thumbup:

Best of luck with the surgery.  The physio for shoulders can be tough (alright: often downright hellish) but DO it - it makes all the difference for the degree of recovery.

 :smile:

All good wishes for the surgery, Trek!   :smile:

Good luck with the surgery, TG. Any cutting on that many layers of muscle scares me a bit; may you have a quick recovery.


I deal with this sort of thing relatively often (I do massage) and have had a pretty good success rate in helping at least lessen the numbness and pain (that success rate goes right through the roof if the client actually comes back for some follow-up sessions). You might look into finding a massage therapist (not the day spa type, but one who does a more medical/therapeutic massage) to get some more work done. Keep in mind that the massage industry is about 90% kooks, but there are good people in the business who can genuinely help with issues like this. Usually talking to the person for about five minutes is enough to tell which is which.

Sorry to hear this,Trek....hospitals and doctors are creepy and scary. Hospitals are almost as creepy as jails. Brrrr.....!

Good luck man!  :thumbup:

Good luck mate!  :thumbup:

Never had surgery before expect one I was real young because I was born with detached retinas. I was so yound I don't remember a thing.

Best of luck to you Trek  :thumbup: