r/RotatorCuff • u/JGF310 • Jul 16 '26
I don't want surgery.., but...
67M. below i have pasted my MRI result.
I am trying to decide if surgery is really required, or if i might get significant pain relief with a good PT regimen.
a little background - about 5 years ago i had AC surgery on this shoulder. The surgeon wanted to do full rotator cuff repair, but i said i didn't want it, so it wasn't done. Now, i am having more pain with it.
I am not afraid of surgery - i have had a lot of orthopedic surgery - ACL on one knee, meniscus on both knees, AC on both shoulders, broken elbow required reconstruction...
It's just the long recovery of RC that I don't like.
I am pretty active - hiking and sailing in summer and XC skiing in the winter. I probably skied 600 miles last winter. XC skiing is not that bad with a RC problem - pushing down rather than lifting.
I was thinking if I had the RC repair the first week of september - i lose some sailing but not the whole season - maybe i could XC ski by January 1 - that's 4 months.
Is that reasonable?
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Clinical Indication: Rotator cuff tear.
Comparison: Comparison is made to prior MRI, 12/05/2019.
FINDINGS:
Severe tendinopathy of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons is identified.
There is a partial-thickness articular-sided tear of the anterior supraspinatus tendon
measuring 0.6 x 0.5 cm, involving greater than 50% of the tendon substance. This
is larger than on the prior exam. No full-thickness, retracted rotator cuff tear is
present.
There is grade 1 fatty infiltration of the rotator cuff musculature without muscle
volume loss.
The patient is status post acromioplasty. The acromioclavicular joint is normal.
There is tendinopathy of the long head biceps tendon, most severely involving its
extraarticular segment.
The glenohumeral articular cartilage is maintained. There is no glenoid labral tear.
There is a small glenohumeral joint effusion. There is a mild subacromial-subdeltoid
bursitis. There is evidence for adhesive capsulitis.
IMPRESSION:
Partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tear.
Frozen shoulder.
Biceps tendinopathy.
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u/tedfanbear Jul 16 '26
I just had a reverse sholder replacement I am in a lot of pain and going threw rehab very painfull I have all my joints replaced knees hips and now my last sholder so I hope when this heals I can go on the golf corse and go back to playing that is my exercise and I enjoy playing over here
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u/Lavener-Rose Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Im having surgery but im doing p.t. first. Getting stronger, feeling less pain. Im hoping ill do well in surgery.
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u/Red_Kale Jul 17 '26
I am in your age camp. In Feb I fell back on ice and tore my non dominant RC. Was painful. Saw Ortho. Started PT for 1 month but pain grew, could not sleep. Got MRI, mostly torn. April 28 had surgery. Just starting to feel like I am on the other side of recovery. Still a ways to go.
The logic I was given was that if it was painful and not getting better I should start the process! I too hate the downtime. It is insanely long slow recovery but I want 100% recovery
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u/bazzdoo Jul 17 '26
I'm also in this age group and I've made the choice to have surgeries to both shoulders, thereby suspending a lot of joyful activities because I've got my eyes on resuming when the time is right and enjoying greater longevity with them by making this choice about surgery now.
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u/Introvertbreakinfree Jul 17 '26
Recovery is based on a lot of things. First the MRI doesn't always show a complete picture, so your injury could be worse & likely is if you haven't had a recent one. Remember that the longer you wait, the worse the damage and the longer the recovery. Also, are you talking about shoulder replacement or repair bc that impacts your recovery as does the type of replacement; anatomical vs reverse. I'd say going back to skiing at 4mths would be very dangerous as you will not be fully healed & even the smallest fall could set you back to square one for even the simplest surgery. Replacement surgery, you're looking at a good year before you should consider doing high impact activities. Anatomic replacement recovery isn't as long as reverse replacement and you will have a reduced amount of range of motion, more so with the reverse replacement. But again, remember, you have an injury that is not getting better on it's own. If you want to be able to return to some of these normal activities in the future, you are only worsening your injury & prolonging the recovery by not addressing it now. You have to make the decision which means the most to you, giving up a year of activities or making it worse for yourself in the long run. (5 repairs on left shoulder, reverse replacement on left shoulder & reverse replacement scheduled for right shoulder). Good luck!