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I'm 68 years old and am having pain in my left shoulder that I'm assuming to be rotator cuff related. I've heard such horror stories about surgery to repair rotator cuff tears that I'm very hesitant to even consider it. Has anyone had any positive results for this condition with just physical therapy? I know I'd have to see someone in orthopedics to get a prescription for PT, but I'm wondering if this might be a good option for me.
I'm 68 years old and am having pain in my left shoulder that I'm assuming to be rotator cuff related. I've heard such horror stories about surgery to repair rotator cuff tears that I'm very hesitant to even consider it. Has anyone had any positive results for this condition with just physical therapy? I know I'd have to see someone in orthopedics to get a prescription for PT, but I'm wondering if this might be a good option for me.
About ten years ago I was leaping over my garden fence and fell onto the hard concrete. The pain was excruciating and it turned out I had torn my rotor cuff.
The hospital did some sort of tests (MRI?) and determined that it wasn't torn badly enough to require surgery. So I think it would depend upon how badly it was torn. It's been a long time so I can barely even remember the PT treatment but one exercise consisted of holding a broomstick with both hands and the good arm pushed the injured arm, upwards. I wouldn't have been able to life the injured arm on its own but pushing it, helped to fix it. It hurt a little bit but, combined with a few other exercises, it worked.
What I was left with was some residual pain if I moved my arm in a certain way. My husband said it was something about "the capsule" ????? and he did something that fixed it 100%.
I would say that, yes, if your injury isn't too bad, you can definitely fix that rotor cuff tear without surgery. But you should probably see your doctor first and get some diagnostic images. Then the physical therapist will have something to go on. They give you the exercises and you do them at home.
I'm 68 years old and am having pain in my left shoulder that I'm assuming to be rotator cuff related. I've heard such horror stories about surgery to repair rotator cuff tears that I'm very hesitant to even consider it. Has anyone had any positive results for this condition with just physical therapy? I know I'd have to see someone in orthopedics to get a prescription for PT, but I'm wondering if this might be a good option for me.
I had a torn but not detached rotator cuff from doing a new yoga position wrong. I was 64/65
First orthopedist went conservative in treatment for too long (a year) with physical therapy and cortisone shots. Plus drugs for pain. The best I could attain would be pain relief and limited movement AND he seemed to think that was good enough for my age retired etc. surgery is a risk and it does take time to heal but...
I got a new doctor who went more aggressive in treatment and after surgery recovery I am pain free and have pretty good range of motion. My physical therapy with post surgery was good. He got that I live alone with no family I must do for myself. I needed to go in and get it done and take the risk. I am glad
The machine with circulating cold was a godsend. Big ice packs on both sides got me through it. I now have a nearly decently functioning shoulder and can carry lift and do for myself.
Recommendation is to get a diagnosis go with short term conservative treatment just in case, but don't drag it out. Do surgery sooner rather than later and continue to work out safely with a trainer or on your own if you are wise about what your body can take. Good luck
I'm 68 years old and am having pain in my left shoulder that I'm assuming to be rotator cuff related. I've heard such horror stories about surgery to repair rotator cuff tears that I'm very hesitant to even consider it. Has anyone had any positive results for this condition with just physical therapy? I know I'd have to see someone in orthopedics to get a prescription for PT, but I'm wondering if this might be a good option for me.
Hi Katz. The first thing to do is to make an appointment with a doctor and get a diagnosis. It might just be a strain or inflammation of the joint capsule which doesn't require any surgery at all.
Don't be like me. I'm 63 years old now, but back when I was 58 or 59 I seriously damaged my right shoulder trying to work up to being able to do a front lever gymnastics movement. I worked though pain associated with overuse and ended up with an injury that took over 3 1/2 years to heal. As a result of the injury from trying to do that move, one night I stepped off of a curb I didn't know was there and came down hard enough with my foot to cause something to tear with searing pain in the already damaged shoulder. I had very limited range of motion and couldn't even raise my right arm out to the side even to shoulder level. I self treated and did my own physical therapy and have almost all of my range of motion back, maybe 99.5 percent of it. I still have some pain from time to time, but have mostly returned to normal.
I'm fortunate that I was able to recover without having surgery or even going to a doctor to have it looked it. But I was an idiot. So do have your shoulder looked at. It might just be something minor.
I'm 68 years old and am having pain in my left shoulder that I'm assuming to be rotator cuff related. I've heard such horror stories about surgery to repair rotator cuff tears that I'm very hesitant to even consider it. Has anyone had any positive results for this condition with just physical therapy? I know I'd have to see someone in orthopedics to get a prescription for PT, but I'm wondering if this might be a good option for me.
Your general practitioner (internal medicine doc) can give you a prescription for PT. Talk to him/her and say you would like to try that route first.
Here's another cause of pain in the shoulder, bursitis. I had this on my left shoulder and yoga exercises have strengthened the supporting structure and now I don't have that pain.
Thank you all for your input. I hadn't even considered the possibility that I might have bursitis, nezlie.
Here's the weird thing. Three years ago, I had a hip replacement. The first night after the surgery, I was so drugged up that I didn't feel a thing. On the second night, though, I woke up in the middle of the night with my right shoulder hurting so bad. I was sleeping on my back, but on an incline in the hospital bed. I sat up more, and reached over and held my right shoulder with my left hand. The pain was so bad I just sat there are rocked back and forth. Just then, the nurse came in and asked me what was wrong. I told her how bad my shoulder was hurting. It's all pretty foggy, and I can't remember whether it was her or the day nurse the following morning, but one of them told me it might have happened when they stretched out my arm to put an IV or whatever in during surgery.
Nobody seemed all that concerned, though, and I was still on a lot of pain meds for my hip. After I was discharged and went home, I had a home health nurse who stopped by every few days and two different physical therapists. I told all of them that my shoulder hurt just about as bad as my hip. It was only my hip that mattered to anyone, though. They all seemed mildly curious about my shoulder, but that's not what they were there for. When I went in to see my doctor for my first follow-up exam, I told him too. I got the same reaction.
Over time, the pain gradually subsided and would even go away temporarily. It would always come back, though. And for about a month now, it's been really annoying. I wouldn't call it debilitating or anything like that, but it's bad enough to be a constant bother. Does the nurse's explanation in the hospital (that it happened during surgery) make sense to anybody else?
In this video, this man demonstrates the stretching and strengthening exercises that his physical therapist has him on. He's had a lot of views on his video. I found that with me, the position of my arm when sleeping, if not right, will cause achiness the next morning.
I (the OP) saw an orthopedic surgeon today about my shoulder. Turns out it's not the rotator cuff after all, but he did see something in the x-ray that he said looks "unusual." The way he described it, it sounded kind of like a bone spur, although he didn't use those words. He said it will probably require surgery -- to "clean the area up" -- but said it would be orthoscopic and should end up being a fairly quick recovery. He told me that he wanted me to have an MRI arthrogram on Friday so that he could see some detail that the x-ray was not able to really pick up on. He said that I should plan on a couple of hours for the procedure and could drive myself home.
When I got home from seeing him, I read online that the MRI arthrogram procedure is "extremely painful" and that the local anesthetic that is used only helps to some degree. Now I'm more afraid of the diagnostic procedure than I am about the possible surgery. Have any of you ever had an MRI arthrogram (on any joint, but especially on the shoulder)? How was it?
When I got home from seeing him, I read online that the MRI arthrogram procedure is "extremely painful" and that the local anesthetic that is used only helps to some degree. Now I'm more afraid of the diagnostic procedure than I am about the possible surgery. Have any of you ever had an MRI arthrogram (on any joint, but especially on the shoulder)? How was it?
My arthrogram (left shoulder) was very long and unpleasant but not extremely painful. More like a nagging, dull ache. This was in the 1980s and maybe today the procedure has been shortened. I don't know.
My arthrogram (left shoulder) was very long and unpleasant but not extremely painful. More like a nagging, dull ache. This was in the 1980s and maybe today the procedure has been shortened. I don't know.
Most procedures do improve over the years, so that's actually reassuring. They told me to plan on an hour and forty-five minutes. I can handle a nagging, dull ache for that long. After all, I've gone through two pregnancies and deliveries.
Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it.
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