“Is surgery a must for my mother's severe shoulder pain?”
My mother has been suffering from a severe pain in her shoulders for the last several months. In spite of the physiotherapy there seems to be no relief and the pain is only increasing. Is surgery the only way to treat her shoulder pain?
9 Answers
I was taught that if you operate for pain you will only get more pain. Your mother needs a diagnosis first, what is causing her pain? She needs a good history and physical and either an MRI or CT scan depending on what your doctor suspects then you can go from there.
Consult Functional Medicine and start Acupuncture with Moxibustion. If this is a complete tear, yes, she will need Surgery.
If your alternative treatments did not work, yes, surgery will fix her problem.
A question better for an orthopedic surgeon. My specialty is general Surgery.
Your mother’s shoulder pain likely needs to be further investigated with an MRI as well as by an orthopedic surgeon. They could tell you the options at that point but there are other options besides surgery. One is platelet rich plasma (PRP) and another is stem cell therapy. Both are injections and when combined with continued physiotherapy the out omes can be quite favorable. I would make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon or sports medicine doctor to discuss her options. I hope this helps. Take care,
Matthew Johnson, MD
Matthew Johnson, MD
Has she tried injections? There are injections with corticosteroid, with Glucosamine and with platelet-rich plasma to name a few. She will need to consider her age and, more importantly, her co-morbidities, before contemplating surgery.
That question is not possible to answer without knowing what the pain is from. Is it from a torn rotator cuff, severe arthritis, prior fracture or tendinitis?
I am not sure that surgery is the answer to the problem. I would say you need to go to a good Neurologist before you think about surgery. I would be the last one to tell you to have surgery. Most of the times, there are things you can do to fix the problem without surgery. Do not give up, you will be OK.
Please consult an orthopedist who will examine her and get appropriate studies like X-ray and MRI.
