Shoulder Injury - MRI Images

Better, but not what I was hoping for. New doc said I was NOT a candidate for a complete shoulder. Says I have mild arthritis which could lead to needing a new shoulder in a few years. “Maybe 10 depends on how it progresses, I can’t tell the future.” He recommended taking a wait and see approach.

I don’t think he even looked at my MRA just went off the report findings along with a quick physical exam.
I got the feeling, similar to the first doc, that they look at me as a muscular guy and label me as a “gym rat”’ that did this to himself. Both docs made comments about weight lifting and changing my lifestyle.

He said to give the cortisone a chance and to redo as needed before I even consider any surgery, which would be a “debrement(sp) and trimming of any torn tissue.” I found it odd that he didn’t recommend repairing but trimming, maybe it’s just semantics.

I’m think I really need to find a sports medicine guy. I’m really liking everything I read about the combo stem cell, PRP, HGH therapy. My real question is should or do I need to get my labrum repaired and the joint cleared, prior to the therapy or is possible the therapy will heal it?

[quote]Wishihad wrote:
Better, but not what I was hoping for. New doc said I was NOT a candidate for a complete shoulder. Says I have mild arthritis which could lead to needing a new shoulder in a few years. “Maybe 10 depends on how it progresses, I can’t tell the future.” He recommended taking a wait and see approach. I don’t think he even looked at my MRA just went off the report findings along with a quick physical exam.
I got the feeling, similar to the first doc, that they look at me as a muscular guy and label me as a “gym rat”’ that did this to himself. Both docs made comments about weight lifting and changing my lifestyle. He said to give the cortisone a chance and to redo as needed before I even consider any surgery, which would be a “debrement(sp) and trimming of any torn tissue.” I found it odd that he didn’t recommend repairing but trimming, maybe it’s just semantics.
I’m thing I really need to find a sports medicine guy and I’m really liking everything I read about the combo stem cell, PRP, HGH therapy. My real question is should or do I need to get my labrum repaired and the joint cleared, prior to the therapy or is possible the therapy heal it?[/quote]

Much better. My doctor is very supportive of powerlifting and sees nothing wrong with it. The limit is what good shoulder mechanics support, not just limiting everything “just in case”. Trimming a frayed labrum is a good idea. Basically the labrum is a suction cup made of cartilage. When you lift something heavy (like in a deadlift), This suction along with your back holds your arm on. Fraying or tearing of the labrum can progress and cause a full tear which can result in a pretty grisly dislocation. Since cartilage does not have many pain receptors, this can progress pretty far before you get an idea something is up. Yeah you will get laid up for 3 - 4 weeks but if something really is starting to tear, this means you can fix it and make a full, uneventful recovery.

In my experience, it is far better to get something repaired as soon as possible and make a full recovery. Accommodating a chronic injury causes the rest of you to get screwed up and in the case of my hip surgery, it took a few years to get the aftermath of that unscrambled once the problem was fixed. A sports med doctor can help tremendously here and tell you if your injury really will effect (or is caused by) your training or it is an unrelated change due to ageing.

So yeah, see a sports med. doc. You might want to find a really good trainer who specialized in rehabbing athletes (any professional baseball clubs around? Ask who they use). Get them to look at your shoulder mechanics and make sure they are sound. If you are getting chewed up by bad mechanics, you can fix that and possibly stop any more deterioration.

Best of Luck!

– jj

[quote]Wishihad wrote:
I don’t think he even looked at my MRA just went off the report findings along with a quick physical exam.
I got the feeling, similar to the first doc, that they look at me as a muscular guy and label me as a “gym rat”’ that did this to himself. Both docs made comments about weight lifting and changing my lifestyle.
[/quote]
I know you don’t want to hear it, but that right there sounds like a good reason to get yet another opinion.

I had a cortisone shot once and I’ve always had mixed feelings about it which were confirmed by my current ortho. I did nothing to help me. Maybe you’ll get some benefit since you have a little arthritis, but I’d be very worried that it would mask the pain and allow you to do things you probably shouldn’t be, thus hurting it more.

The word you’re looking for is debridement. Maybe when he said trimming he was referring to the debridement? I think you have to have a very minor labrum tear for them to just trim it and not repair it. They are very different procedures.

[quote]
I’m think I really need to find a sports medicine guy. I’m really liking everything I read about the combo stem cell, PRP, HGH therapy. My real question is should or do I need to get my labrum repaired and the joint cleared, prior to the therapy or is possible the therapy will heal it?[/quote]

The comment from my ortho before I had surgery was, “We could put you in a PT program, but you’re already a strong, active guy. I think a good PT could help get your shoulders retracted and fix some asymmetry, but the only way these are really going to get better is surgically.” He also commented that aside from the obvious injuries, it looked like I was taking good care of my shoulders and that the weightlifting probably helped me get through the injuries for this long. I had some muscular imbalance that I’m going to have to work through for a while, but the point is he never seemed to have an unfavorable opinion of weightlifting.

Now I had been living with the injuries for years, if you have a torn labrum it sounds like that part of it may be recent so maybe PT is worth a shot. Worst case it does nothing and you still need an operation, but maybe you get lucky and get it to a point where you’re comfortable living with it.

I’d really recommend googling the names of some of the nearest pro sports teams to you along with terms like “team doctor”, or “head physician”. Then go see one of those guys. I would be very curious to see how some of the alternative treatments work for you, though.

Do your rehab first. Even if you end up getting surgery you’re going to have to correct the biomechanics of your shoulder anyway to prevent reinjury. Plus, surgery outcomes improve when performing rehab beforehand.

It sounds like the doctor got some reports mixed up. Maybe with a seventy year old patient who needs a total shouder replacement.

[quote]nkklllll wrote:
It sounds like the doctor got some reports mixed up. Maybe with a seventy year old patient who needs a total shouder replacement.[/quote]

I think he needed to make a boat payment…

[quote]Wishihad wrote:

[quote]nkklllll wrote:
It sounds like the doctor got some reports mixed up. Maybe with a seventy year old patient who needs a total shouder replacement.[/quote]

I think he needed to make a boat payment…[/quote]

Based on the images and the write-up, he would be risking some serious malpractice. I’d like to believe it was a clerical error and not a doctor throwing the Hippocratic oath out the window/.

After all, I’ve heard of similar things happening before. Something similar has happened to me. I went in to a PT for some tendonitis treatment, and evaluation actually. The PT started asking me how long I’d had my shoulder pain. When I told them what was actually wrong, she asked what my first name was, and turns out they had two patients with the same first initial and last name. Wrong file.

Wtf? full shoulder replacement??

[quote]Akaplsaka wrote:
Wtf? full shoulder replacement??[/quote]

Yes. These are a thing