My bad shoulders--any opinions would be so appreciated

[B.o.b.b.y...]

Hi everyone,
I have been battling problems on both my shoulders for well over 20-25 years. You know the procedure, ice, Advil, ice, Advil and then more ice...Good days and then bad days. Fortunately, playing ATG allowed me to meet Naturaldoc who has been treating me in Las Vegas for the past 6 plus months. What a super professional and a nice person to boot. Dr. Jeff (D.O.) suggested that I take my MRIs and see another top doctor in town to review my situation regarding orthoscopic surgury possibilitity. Well...it's time to scope them both (one at a time of course). So on December 8th I will have orthoscopic surgury on my left shoulder to smooth the shoulder and allow the rotator cuff to move without the snapping and pain that has been part of my life. The second shoulder operation will follow "down the road" and depends on my recovery. The reason I put this thread here is for some thoughts from any of you that may have had this done. I met a man at my son's baseball game who did have the surgury and said "IT DOESN"T WORK-I STILL HAVE LOTS OF PAIN" Now for the whimp that I am with pain, this probably wasn't good for me to hear. Any comments would be very appreciated...Bobby

[sschu]

About 5 years ago I fell while fishing with my daughter and tore my rotator cuff. It was serious, "class 2" or something like that. I could not lift my left arm at all and the pain was quite bad.

The surgery can be either artroscopic (sp) or full-on, they stick a camera in a hole and look first. They left about a 4" scar on my should, but fixed it nicely. The near term recovery was terrible, 4 days on serious pain killer. The therapy takes about 3-4 months.

My shoulder is not as strong, but movement is about 90+% and it is pain free. With the arthro surgery, the pain should be less, the recovery shorter and you should be good as new. The key is to get a good PT and go there on a regular basis.

FWIIW, sschu

[FRANKMANSUETO]

Bobby, I tore a rotator cuff back in my Powerlifting days. I didn't go for surgery but did exercises to build the muscles around the area. This form of rehab worked as I have not had a problem since. When your are ready for rehab give me a call and I will go over the exercises that benefited me. I have helped people with shoulder problems by giving them the exercises I used.

Good Luck Frank

[sschu]

Oh, forgot to mention, there are Drs who will do this surgery who have limited experience, find a good orthopedic who has done 1,000+ of these. The surgery is common and finding an experienced Dr should not be difficult.

Best of luck, sschu

[NEILKAHN]

I agree emphatically with sshu. I had a complete tear of the rotator cuff. All of the orthopods I spoke to promised me that a complete tear would have to be opened and surgically repaired, except for this one shoulder stud. He does nothing but shoulders, and is known regionally, has done many pro athletes. He was able to repair mine entirely through the scope, which greatly speeds the recovery time. I am, after two years and careful rehab, starting to pitch again.

[NEILKAHN]

Incidentally, there are a ton of nerves in the shoulder, and shoulder surgery is pretty painful. You have significant reduced range of motion due to pain for several weeks to even months after. But it is worth it. Next thread we will discuss my hip replacement.

[Munich_Man]

Bobby, you may want to post this over on the regular 2005 strat board. Dr. Glenn Fleisig PhD., director of research at the American Sports Medicine Institute, is a regular player and I'm sure he could give you some good advice, since it's probably the premiere institute in the country. :D

Not sure if he's over on the ATG boards very often.

(_)ß

[Munich_Man]

Or you could go to their (American Sports Medicine Institute) website, they have a Q & A forum there as well.

http://www.asmi.org/

They could probably help you out quite a bit.

(_)ß

[Frank Bailey]

Good luck with your surgery and rehab Bobby. And you have Jonny there to run your ATG operations if you have to miss a few days of computer time.

[Cubs48]

Bobby...immediately after surgery for several weeks won't be much fun and you'll wish you never did it....then you turn the corner,see the light at the end of the tunnel and never look back....it's worth it ! :)...this from a 57 (almost 58) year old guy who had it done at age 55....good luck ! :)