You’re wanna do WHAT?
Never tell an orthopedic surgeon you want to look at alternatives to surgery. It bends them out of shape.
When I told my surgeon that I wanted to put off the rotator cuff surgery scheduled for June 9, he offered dire warnings that came up just short of my arm falling off.
Still, I’d like to look at other ways to deal with the problem: Some cortisone to break up the bone spur, physical therapy to help the muscles heal, more exercise to take off weight and maybe acupuncture.
Don’t want to make an off the cuff decision…and the pun is fully intended.
So I agree, wait! I have a torn rotator cuff. A few years back, I couldn’t sleep through the night because after a while sleeping on my side, either side, my right shoulder would start throbbing and then it would get to feeling like someone was sticking an ice pick into the joint and worming around. Bad stuff!
The ortho wanted to cut but I went to a pain management Doc (MD) who also practiced alternative modalities. He used acupuncture, intense physical therapy and diet supplements. After 12 weeks, I was sleeping through the night, my arm didn’t feel week and I didn’t have to completely lose the use of my right arm for about 6 weeks after a surgical fix!!
Good decision, you can always get cut on but once cut, you can’t go back!
See you around town Doug!
Even the word supplement, to most doctors is a bad word!
After being encouraged to tell my doctor if I took any supplements, he proceeded to tell me all the reasons why I shouldn’t take them. So now I know why they want to know about supplements, so they can talk you out of taking them. Or at least they can try.
I don’t even tell them any more, it isn’t worth the lecture that’s sure to follow, I just do what I feel is best and I’m sticking with my supplements. Of course if I was taking a prescribed med, or having surgery, then I would tell them to find out about possible inter-action. But short of that it’s my business.
And thanks to supplements and alternatives like a deep breathing exercise, I no longer need to take blood pressure meds, and sleeping pills, and deal with the side effects that go along with them. Hummmm guess that’s why they don’t like the alternatives. No side effects, and no doctors visits and no surgeries,……….LOL!!!
Oh yeah, do your own research, and try every alternative possible before you go for that surgery! I’ve found out first hand, many things can be corrected with a simple supplement, or eating the right food, or doing the right exercise. The trick is to find the right alternative, but making that effort is worth it.
A chiro is a good choice. Accupuncture can be fantastic. My dog had a spinal injury and was unable to move his hind legs. Due to age, surgery was not an option. I was dating a chiro at the time, and after much “discussion” (hahaha) he got out the needles. The dog proceeded to walk across the floor after the third needle. We just looked at each other in astonishment.
I know zip about rotator cuffs, but a fine surgeon once told me no matter how good a surgeon is, he can never put things back the way God made it to begin with.
Knowledge is power. Get more information about alternative treatments. You have nothing to lose.
Doug,
My dad was considering hip replacement; he’s 76 and worked a desk job all his life as an architect. X-rays and MRI’s showed nothing was amiss. He went to two doc’s who said they’d be glad to do the surgery. He then talked to a physical therapists who convinced him to try exercise first…now he’s lost some 15 lbs, and can’t wait to get to the gym 4 times a week to workout…and no problem with his hip.
I’m no doc, but I say try an alternative route first.
hahaha – telling an ortho that you want to look at non-surgical options is like telling a kid that he’s gotta skip Christmas… the very idea is so alien, so foreign that it just about makes their eyes pop out of their head. Plus, now he’s gotta figure out another way to make the boat payment next month.
Good luck with everything, Doug – I think you are on the right path. It may well be that you will need that visit to the OR – but it’s only smart to investigate your options.
BTW – talk to a chiropractor while you are at it. He (or she) might not be able to undo the wear and tear that’s already happened, but there may be a biomechanical/structural/postural component to your injury that IS treatable, and fixing that may well allow you to delay the surgery AND speed up your recovery afterwards – not to mention preventing a relapse down the road.
Not being from Floyd County, I don’t know if there is more than one orthopedic surgeon (or more than one “group” of orthopedic surgeons) but here where I live there are 2 groups. One of them has its own Physical Therapy facility and it’s not unusual for a surgeon to look at the X-rays and MRI images and recommend PT as a first choice instead of surgery. They don’t insist that you use their facility, they will write you a prescription that you can take to the therapist of your choice.
One thing to be on the watch for. When you have pain, the ortho types will often prescribe medications to help you with the pain. That’s one of the reasons Vioxx was so popular. I was sitting in the waiting room and watched the Merck rep come in pulling a little luggage cart loaded with boxes labeled as containing Vioxx sample packs. If you decide on surgery, even the arthroscopic variety will have some associated pain and they may push some serious narcotic type pain killers. Be very careful with those things. Your history makes you a good candidate for developing LDS (Limbaugh Dependency Syndrome).
My orthopedic actually told me that if my arm was his arm he wouldn’t do surgery when I broke it last January. And he didn’t, thankfully. After about four weeks of physical therapy (which was fantastic) I can pretty much do everything except play a round of golf… and hopefully I’m about a week and a half from doing that.
I will say this, please don’t rush anything. The body does need its time to heal which was excrutiating for somebody as impatient as me.
Good luck with the arm. I hope it works out for you. I’ll be back to follow your progress.