moleculo
Footballguy
It's possible. I did see two ortho Drs and did therapy twice - this wasn't just a jump into it deal. My second PT suggested my 2nd Dr, who did the surgery. She said he's the best shoulder guy in town, he is even the team Dr for the Panthers.yeah, i’m not trying to bust molecule’s hump, but the doc here sounds a bit surgery centric. i mean, if you had an mri, with or without contrast, he should know if the cuff is in need of repair. operating on a frozen shoulder is pretty unusual and drastic. my wife has had FS and got it to loosen with some US guided cortisone shots and exercise over time. i had my shoulder scoped due to my acromion scraping the cuff, causing an impingement. i didn’t need a cuff repair, i needed the acromion shaved a bit. i only say this from experience in that the rehab from a shoulder op is long and tedious. seems like he shot first and asked questions later….::i am hopeful this at least provides relief.Ah OK. Then a capsular release would mean it probably was a frozen shoulder, which still isn't performed that frequently on frozen shoulders. Big difference in that and decompression for calcification or a rotator cuff repair.Yeah, it sounds like a misdiagnosis. "Capsule release" is what was written on the PT script. In hindsight, maybe surgery wasn't necessary but the Dr said he wouldn't know exactly what was going on until he got in there.Never heard of frozen muscle, but frozen shoulder is a thing but not something that is usually operated on. It's when the shoulder freezes up from lack of use and is almost impossible to move past a certain point. Really hard to say what the doc meant by that. I'm interested to hear what that means.I think this is it. I haven't spoken with my Dr yet - followup visit is in couple weeks, but this is what's on the note to the PT.like a frozen shoulder?Had my surgery today. Doc said rotator cuff was fine, problem is bone spurs and a frozen muscle. I don't understand what that means except for a much shorter recovery.Well, it's been a good month, a little more. Therapy was as you described. I thought she was pretty good, but making little to no progress. Feels like we are going backwards. More pain (because I've been using the joint more in therapy), but any gain in range of motion is fleeting. I think part of the problem is it's been a year since the injury.Would be a little odd for carpal tunnel only in the thumb and a pretty big coincidence for it to coincide with a shoulder injury. There's not really a nerve around the rotator cuff that would only affect sensation to the thumb either.The doctor seems to think it's carpel tunnel. I don't think so because it's the same side as shoulder injury and appeared a few weeks afterwards.
I *think*, without knowing the first thing about anatomy, that the cuff injury allows my shoulder to move put of where it is supposed to be - more towards my chest - and that is putting pressure on a nerve. The PT said that is what my shoulder is doing and I've noticed if I really stretch out my pecs I feel something in the thumb.
Here's my question, that I will be asking my ortho and PT - at what point do we throw in the towel and go for surgery?
Without knowing any of the intricate details, I'd say at least a couple months of good therapy before starting to consider surgery. Not therapy where they stick you in a corner using therabands. Should be a lot of stretching and general strengthening at home, while doing things with you in the clinic that you're unable to do on your own. Recovery isn't always immediate. You're looking for improvements in different forms. Improved range of motion. Improved function. Decreased pain is nice but isn't always immediate.
PT recommended surgery may be the best choice. I have an appt with the best shoulder guy in town in a few weeks, we'll see how that goes.
On the thumb: working theory is that with the cuff being damaged, my shoulder sits forward in the socket and pinches a nerve. We did a lot of stretching & strengthening to get it back and when I focus on that, I do have improved motion.
Frozen shoulder - Symptoms and causes
www.mayoclinic.org
I think maybe my rotator cuff injury caused the bone spurs. Continued pain stopped me from using my shoulder, which caused the muscle to seize up. @flapgreen, does that make sense?
Regardless, I will be glad for this to go away and get back to full health. I was on a good workout routine before, involving lots of pushups & pullups, but haven't really exercised since (beyond walking/hiking), and I've gotten fat and doughy. Looking forward to getting back in shape.
I'm very curious why the frozen shoulder wasn't the original diagnosis.