David, Camby

My first shoulder injury occurred in a high school football game and through the years arthritic pain and a lack of range of movement in my arms progressed to the point I could not raise my arms above my head.
 
My condition did limit nearly all physical activity. Golf was painful and I could not swim or throw a ball with my grandchildren.
 
My doctor told me early on in the process that I was a definite candidate for shoulder replacement but that I was too young and need to hold off on surgery until it was a last option.
 
I simply asked if I would be able to throw a ball with my grandchildren after the surgery and he replied ” Yes!”
 
After both surgeries I followed instructions for pain management. I was pleasantly surprised that the arthritic pain disappeared with the surgery and with the minimal amount of pain associated with the surgery. I was off all pain medications in less than a week.
 
Physical therapy was required and went very well. All the therapists were very professional and friendly.
 
I work in an office setting and was able to return to work within 30 days of the surgery. I improved my range of motion tremendously, was back on the golf course in slightly over 6 months and not only played pass with the grand kids but actually pitched some batting practice to them.
 
My orthopedic shoulder specialist significantly improved my quality of life.

John, Vincennes

I woke up one morning and couldn’t move my shoulder so I immediately consulted with my primary care doctor.  He sent me to an orthopedic physician near my home that diagnosed the injury as a torn rotator cuff. I returned to his office three days after his diagnosis, at which time he inserted three sutures to hold my shoulder in place. I had a follow up appointment three weeks later and everything seemed to be healing wonderfully.  Unfortunately, during the fourth week my shoulder turned beet red and I could barely move it.  My doctor recommended another procedure, which I wasn’t comfortable with so I sought a second opinion from an orthopedic shoulder specialist.  I’m so glad I made that decision.  With the help of an MRI and further examinations, my orthopedic shoulder specialist determined that my shoulder had experienced far more damage than my original doctor diagnosed. In the end I had another surgery and underwent physical therapy to restore movement and function to my shoulder. It’s been three years but so far my orthopedic shoulder specialist and I are very happy with the result. Since going through this experience I have come to realize the importance of seeking treatment from a specialist. I tell anyone I can that if they experience a shoulder injury they should have their condition treated by and orthopedic shoulder specialist.  I wouldn’t do it any other way.

Larry, Indianapolis

I tore my rotator cuff in a fall at a hardware store. I had never had any problems with my shoulder prior to this so I knew it was the fall that was causing the pain. I underwent physical therapy to reverse the damage but that wasn’t successful, so my orthopedic surgeon recommended cortisone shots. The shots helped but to be sure there wasn’t any further damage I underwent an MRI before completing my treatment. Unfortunately the MRI revealed that I had completely torn the ligaments in my shoulder.  My injury was much worse than we had thought and the only way to reverse the damage would be with surgery. It took about two years before I underwent surgery because my doctor wanted to rule out all non-surgical treatment options first.  He thought he could reverse the damage almost 100 percent without surgery but my injury was so bad that surgery was my only option. I’m a fairly active 59 year old who coaches baseball and plays golf. I was very motivated to get back to the activities I enjoyed. It took a while to fully recover from the injury and surgery.  Rehab was very painful but I did it and today my shoulder feels as good as it ever was.  I’ve had no problems and I feel like I’m back 100 percent. My recommendation to anyone that might suffer a similar injury would be to follow the direction of your orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist. It’s amazing how their work goes hand in hand and how their expertise can lead to a successful recovery.

Darrell, Indianapolis

I had a ligament tear in my rotator cuff.  Other than old age, I don’t really know what caused it because I didn’t fall or have any accidents.  It just snuck up on me.  When I first had the pain, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it and hoped it would go away in a few days.  The problem with a rotator cuff tear is that the pain doesn’t go away.  I put up with it as long as I could until I couldn’t sleep anymore from the pain.  I had to give up golf and any activity that required me to lift my left arm over my shoulder.  It was quite limiting.  At that point, I had to do something, so I visited my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dale Snead, and was faced with two options – do nothing or have surgery.  I chose surgery.  There were a couple of surprises I remember surrounding my surgery. One, I expected to have a lot of pain as a result of the surgery. Luckily, that did not occur. The other thing was that it took a lot longer to heal than I anticipated.  Two things factored into my healing time, including my age – I’m 63 – and I smoke. My arm was immobilized after surgery for four weeks.  I was unable to immediately detect any relief from my prior condition due to that and the pain medication. I started physical therapy, and I pushed myself until I had some significant discomfort, but it certainly was necessary. If I hadn’t had physical therapy, it definitely would have slowed my recovery process, and most likely, limited my range of motion. It’s been a year now, and I have my full range of motion back and almost all of my strength.  I’ve had similar problems with my right shoulder but not as bad, and it has somewhat healed over time.  My advice to anyone with a similar condition is to get an MRI and see to what degree the tear is.  Then, get an evaluation from a competent orthopedic surgeon as to what your options are. That’s what I did, and I’d do it again if Dr. Snead said I needed it on my other shoulder. 

Christy, Indianapolis

In December I fell and suffered a complete transverse fracture (a break straight across the bone) to my left upper arm.  I’ve never broken any bones before and I played high school and college volley ball, so this was a new experience for me. The bone never broke through the skin but my arm was completely out of commission. I could shrug my shoulders but my arm wouldn’t move. It was the eeriest feeling.

Typically with this kind of fracture doctors do not recommend surgery as the first course of treatment, as was the case with my doctor.  He wanted to give my arm time to heal on its own, so my arm was placed in a brace and a sling, and I was given a bone stimulator to help the healing processes.  This portion of the recovery was very difficult. I needed assistance with virtually everything and I was under extreme pain. About five months after my injury I began physical therapy. This was a great asset to my recovery. I regained full range of motion in my shoulder and elbow, and my orthopedic hand specialist was extremely impressed with the amount of strength I regained in my arm.  In August I was given a full release to return to work without any restrictions.  I still have some pain when I try to twist or reach with my left arm, and I still haven’t recovered complete strength. My doctor believes it will take about five more months to fully recover – one year after the fracture took place. My main advice to someone that has suffered from a similar injury would be rest! You need to give you body time to heal because if you don’t you will only increase the amount of damage and its impact on your overall recovery.

Taylor, Carmel

The first time I dislocated my shoulder was at rugby camp.  I used the school trainer to rehab my shoulder for a month or two, and then started training for football. After a few football practices I noticed that my shoulder began to slip slightly out of the socket, which my doctor referred to as subluxation. This knocked me out of football for a few weeks and I had to wear a Sully brace to stabilize my shoulder. I have asthma and the brace made it a little difficult to breathe. About a week after the end of football season I consulted an orthopedic surgeon. I wanted to have the surgery as soon as possible because I knew that my recovery would take about six months, which would be right at the start of pre-season football training. I did have other options rather than surgery, such as rehab and the use of a brace for a year but there was no guarantee this would be a successful long-term remedy.  I’m  a really active guy and I felt like my shoulder was significantly holding me back. I wanted to be able to play football and enjoy my senior year with my buddies. I felt that I didn’t have time to spare so I had surgery.  My rehab and physical therapy was humbling to say the least because I had to rehab with one pound weights in order to regain my strength.  As an athlete, my recovery went rather quickly and ahead of schedule. In the end I made a full recovery in about six months. I got through my senior year without any issues and I’m actually able to play college football.  I would recommend surgery for anyone in my situation. It’s impossible to play to your full capabilities if you are wearing a brace or dealing with a nagging injury. Today I feel like new!

Wendy, Shelbyville

About a year and a half ago I had shoulder surgery to repair a labral tear. However, the following fall I fell and I noticed that the symptoms began to return. I was unable to use or raise my right arm. This is my dominant arm, so it made it almost impossible to do everyday activities. I decided that I just couldn’t live without the full use of my arm, so I made an appointment with an orthopedic shoulder specialist for testing. The testing and physical evaluation confirmed that in order to regain full range of motion I would need to have a second surgery on my shoulder.  During the surgery my doctor removed scar tissue and repaired some additional damage.  Due to the type of injury my surgeon had to cut my bicep muscle, which is very common.  My doctor told me that if I wasn’t careful scar tissue can build up around the tendon, so I had to pay extra attention to my bicep during recovery.  Today I’ve regained full range of motion in my shoulder.  I’m no longer suffering from pain and I’m back to performing normal everyday activities.  It’s great to have my arm back!

Jane, Fountaintown

I went through physical therapy a few times to help treat pain in one of my shoulders. However, I continued to use the injured shoulder to perform day to day activities.  The pain was escalated by  performing certain overhead activities, such as manually opening my garage door or swimming. Even with physical therapy the pain progressed and intensified to the point that I had difficulty sleeping. At that point I realized surgery was my only option to gain relief from the pain. In November of 2008 my orthopedic surgeon performed rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder, and I began post-op physical therapy exercises. I am very happy I had the surgery and my doctor is pleased with my recovery progress. If I had a chance to offer one piece of advice to others it would be to listen to your body.  If certain activities are painful to perform, avoid them. It may only increase the damage and pain.

Esther, Center Point

I’ve worked in factories all my life, lifting heavy objects and conducting a lot of repetitive activities.  Later in life, I began to suffer from osteoarthritis which caused the movement of my shoulder joints to be extremely painful.  It got to the point where I was barely able to use my arm and I was dropping objects all the time. Finally I went and saw an orthopedic surgeon, who presented me with three options.  I could suffer with the pain, I could manage the pain with medication or I could undergo surgery.  I had been using pain medications for some time and no longer wanted to use them.  So, I opted for surgery.  My recovery was no walk in the park but I was shocked that I was able to go home after only one day in the hospital.  The first few days after surgery I had to take a minor pain medication and wear a harness to stabilize my shoulder, but today I’m using my arm and lifting objects I wouldn’t even think of lifting before the surgery.  As for physical therapy, my doctor required visits every few weeks, in addition to exercises that I would perform at home.  After my final therapy session, my doctor scheduled a six month follow up appointment so that he could take a final x-ray and make sure everything was healing correctly. Things are great!  I’ve had several surgeries throughout my life but I’ve never had surgery as easy and painless as this.  I feel like a different person.

Alan, Carmel 

I had a nagging pain in my left shoulder that was preventing me from doing the hobbies and activities I enjoyed.  After being evaluated by a number of physicians, Dr. Sallay finally determined that the pain was being caused by a bone spur, which was rubbing up against a ligament in my shoulder.  The only way to alleviate the pain was through surgery.  Luckily my recovery from surgery was not all that demanding due to my age and quality of health. During recovery I was told that I could have tolerated the pain for several more years without experiencing additional health problems, but in the end my recovery would have taken longer and been far more challenging. I’m glad I chose to act immediately, rather than wait it out.

Megan, Hobart

Being a gymnast, I began experiencing pain in my right shoulder during my senior year in high school.  Once I entered college gymnastics, the pain occurred more frequently and I noticed that my shoulder would slightly dislocate during practice and competition.  After speaking with an orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that the best course of action to alleviate the pain was surgery. Unfortunately, during surgery it was established that the damage was more severe than anticipated.  In the end, my physician treated me for several labral tears and bone spurs in my right shoulder. The first month after surgery I was required to wear a brace to hold my shoulder in place and was forbidden to move my right arm.  As the swelling went down, I began moving my arm more frequently. After the brace was removed, I began daily physical rehabilitation. Today I have full range of motion and full strength.  I didn’t give up and I followed all of my physician’s instructions – I believe that this is truly what made my surgery a success.  

Nancy, Indianapolis 
 
I’m an active 65 year old, and I use tennis as my main form of weekly exercise.  Unfortunately, several months ago my shoulder began to hurt.  I thought it would heal on its own, but as I continued to play it progressively got worse. At first my orthopedic surgeon thought I had a torn rotator cuff, but the MRI did not show any damage.  To alleviate the pain, physical therapy was really the only course of action.  As I’ve experienced with other situations, physical therapy can truly help to heal an injury and reduce pain. I’ve been undergoing therapy for about a month and my therapist believes that there is a 70 percent chance physical therapy will heal my injury. I’m happy about these odds.  However, while surgery may not be an option today, it may be required down the road if I continue playing tennis – and I most certainly will!  

Phil, Fairbanks 
 
I had significant damage to my left shoulder.  Arthritis, scar tissue from a previous injury and bad genes all contributed to my severe shoulder pain.  Slight movements or any additional weight were unbearable. I couldn’t open or close a car door, shake hands or even raise my left hand to drink a cup of coffee. The damage was so severe that my orthopedic surgeon presented me with four options.  I could do nothing, and continue to live with the pain. Or I could try drug therapy, surgery or physical therapy.  The damage was so extensive that physical therapy presented the best odds for reversing the injuries. The first two to three months of therapy were very challenging and painful.  I still have a lot of progress to make, but physical therapy was a much better choice than choosing to do nothing. I know that if I listen to my physician and perform the recommended exercises, progress will happen.

Christina, Avon

I work in the medical field and my job places a great deal of stress on my shoulders.  Over a period of time, I noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to perform necessary tasks at my usual level.  At one point the pain and decreased range of motion became so severe that I had to take a leave of absence. Initially my physician recommended physical therapy. But when that only made the pain worse, surgery became my only option. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate how difficult my recovery would be.  After surgery, I was required to go through heavy physical therapy.  It was difficult and very painful – but in the end very much worth it! I don’t have full range of motion back yet, but I’ve noticed a huge difference and know that I’m heading in the right direction. My only regret is that I should have sought medical treatment sooner. My advice to others would be if you notice a decrease in range of motion, cramping, loss of sleep due to pain, and difficulty doing routine activities, seek medical advice immediately. I wish I had.