Shoulder issues - Your stories?

[Ian S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedd Am estimating about $4500 for a shoulder MRI and $9000 for arthroscopic surgery. Sound about right?

I suspect way off for the MRI. Here in Phoenix, the going rate is probably around $1000 or even less depending on insurance company/network. My understaniding is that stand alone MRI facilities are typically far cheaper than in a hospital.

See here for estimates: https://www.newchoicehealth.com/directory

[Dtail]

My DGF who is on Medicare Advantage has had a few MRI's, but not on her shoulder pays $44 per.

[Ian S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by molly312 I think the PT is some kind of medicare requirement.

Last year, my standard Medicare covered a shot followed by PT before an MRI WAS done. When that failed to be of any benefit, an MRI was done and showed a full thickness tear which was then repaired surgically.

[Ian S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedd Timely thread. Felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder while unloading firewood. It's been sore for about six weeks. Was referred to an orthopedic surgeon's office where they took an xray and determined that it's either a torn rotator or simply inflammation due to bursitis. Was told that only an MRI would be conclusive. For now went with an injection followed by six weeks of PT. Am in the process of picking an ACA plan for next year. I realize that everyone's situation is/was unique regarding shoulder issues. But am attempting to ball-park the medical costs should the PT prove ineffective. Am estimating about $4500 for a shoulder MRI and $9000 for arthroscopic surgery. Sound about right?

More thoughts: my experience with injections has been in the case of full thickness tear there was little or no immediate relief. Subsequent PT also gave no relief and IMHO exacerbated the problem. In contrast, with a partial tear and/or bursitis, the shot worked wonders immediately and the PT helped bring range of motion and strength back.

[MRG]

Back in 2000 I had a burning pain in my right shoulder. Middle of the scapula where the big tendons attach. Felt like a red hot piece of rebar burning my shoulder.

ER visit made it much worse when they tried to make me sit up for a chest xray, I had pain in my sternum too. Despite filling me up with opioids the pain only got much worse.

A couple days later my PCP ordered an MRI of my rotator cuff. Nothing wrong there, so he sent me back to the same ER. The doc asked why I was there? Told him my PCP said I was having a heart attack. He laughed and said you're not having a heart attack! I told him I knew that, and proceeded to tell the whole story. Later I would learn he was the ER doc who treated me on my first visit. He remembered and my story was identical.

He eventually took my arm and moved it, no pain at all. He said it that was your rotator you would hate me. I heard part of the conversation he had with my PCP. This doc was POed about the total lack of care I'd received and he let loose! Gave me a shot of demerol and a big bottle of opioids, my PCP didn't believe in them. He told the PCP since I had a history of cervical spine issues maybe an MRI of my cspine would be appropriate.

The MRI was positive, pinched nerve root at C6-C7, I received two cervical epidurals that helped immensely. Sometimes things are not what they seem.

[Marita40]

I've had self-diagnosed frozen shoulder for about a year. The pain comes and goes, and I can raise the arm pretty well, so I've been loathe to go into the doctor for it. I found a serious of exercises and self-massages in Youtube videos and those have helped. I'm hoping it is not arthritis, but I think it comes from gym overwork with bands.

[Bamaman]

I hurt my shoulder doing some mechanic work, and it bothered me for years. All of a sudden, it quit hurting so I assume the 'tear' must have healed on its own. It was even difficult rolling over in bed at night--for the pain.

Shoulder injuries are a physical therapist's most dreaded repair. The patients often will not keep up their exercise regiment as prescribed for the year many injuries take to improve. And the PT is most important.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by molly312 I think the PT is some kind of medicare requirement.

Lots of insurance companies like PT as a first step, it's cheap and does solve some peoples problem.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z3Dreamer Not looking for medical advice. Looking for your stories, if you had a similar issue. In the past I have posted similar issues and this forum has given me useful info on recovery time and problems the doctors don't tell you.

DH injured his shoulder years ago (fell roller skating with his grandson). After it annoying him for almost 20 years, he finally had surgery a few years ago. He had a rotator cuff tear and a labral tear as I recall.

Anyway, his recovery was uneventful. They sent in people to do PT in our house for a week or so and then I drove him to PT for several weeks. He was not allowed to drive for 6 weeks. He is right handed and it was his right shoulder.

He had no problems in recovery and was very glad he did the surgery. He wished he had done it sooner. He didn't have a huge amount of pain over the years. But he had to restrict what he did because of lack of range of motion and certain things would hurt so he avoided.

Now, he doesn't have pain at all and he can do a lot of things he couldn't do before. He can't raise that arm as high as the other arm but that was an issue even before surgery. The bottom line is that the surgery really did improve things in a major way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by molly312 I think the PT is some kind of medicare requirement.

I don't think DH did PT before he had surgery. He did have an MRI first. Maybe it depends on what is shown by the MRI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 I've had self-diagnosed frozen shoulder for about a year. The pain comes and goes, and I can raise the arm pretty well, so I've been loathe to go into the doctor for it. I found a serious of exercises and self-massages in Youtube videos and those have helped.

A number of years ago I had a frozen shoulder. My son had ran into my shoulder while I was sitting in a chair. It didn't break anything at the time, but it kept hurting more and more. Finally, I went to a doctor and started doing PT. While doing PT my shoulder got more and more frozen and finally was completely frozen.

Eventually I had "surgery." I put that in quotes because no cutting was involved. Basically I was under anesthesia and they rotated my shoulder to break the adhesions. Then for a week or so, I sat in a chair 8 hours a day while a machine moved my shoulder so the adhesions would not reform.

Then I went to PT where I regularly cried due to the extreme pain. I can honestly say that experience was the most painful one I have ever been through. I had a knee surgery (tibial transfer) that many people find to be painful during recovery. It was nothing compared to the shoulder.

Before I had the surgery for the shoulder I read so much about it as many people had experiences like mine. They said that frozen shoulders will eventually go away in a couple of years. So the procedure I had only tries to speed that up and the pain isn't worth it. But, I like to be proactive and I didn't think it would be that bad. Well, it was so awful.

As I was finally finishing up my PT on that shoulder (my left), my right shoulder for some unknown reason started freezing. It never became completely frozen but was mostly frozen. I decided to just wait that one out and eventually it got better.

[2soon2tell]

I have had 3 total shoulder replacements and 2 rotator cuff repairs all on the right shoulder. I am very familiar with shoulder pain. Shoulder discomfort was a quality of life issue for me. When I had done all of the PT and reached the max benefit and could not take the pain anymore I then had replacement surgery. Not a lot of fun and in my case complications occurred resulting in two additional revision replacement surgeries.

I've been battling shoulder issues since I was 25 when I suffered a massive tear of the rotator cuff while serving Uncle Sam. I've also experienced left shoulder issues due to overuse. I was told the shoulder is the most difficult joint to rehab and it can take a long time to recover after surgery. That was my experience.

Good luck

[John Galt III]

Had frozen shoulder twice in last 20 years. Both times used phys therapy only, to fix them. No surgery needed. I remember getting an MRI done, in a hospital, and the out of pocket cost was nothing, or minimal. Currently debating whether or not to seek medical help for a nagging chronic numbness/soreness/burning/tingling little disaster in my upper left back, only on the left side, next to the spine. It only flares up if I use the area. Then it' s sore the next day. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse over the 7 years I've had it. Currently thinking I'll just leave it alone and see how it goes.

[ocean view]

My shoulder pain issues started about 18 months ago with the left shoulder freezing up just about a year ago. I had no traumatic injury to peg as the root cause, as others have shared. All I can blame is a lifetime of side sleeping on that left side. After xrays and eventually an MRI I was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis, moderate arthritis of the shoulder and adhesive capsilitis (frozen shoulder). When the pain first began I thought it was muscular and began modifying my weight lifting routine (all 18 lbs), but headed for the doc when the stabbing pains began as I reached for a box of cereal. Cortisone shot #1 in the rotator cuff took away the shooting pain, but the constant burning pain remained. Shot #2 6 weeks later also in the rotator cuff took away all pain, hallalulah!...for no more than 48 hours, then I was back to constant pain. My daily activities were seriously impacted. Basically all I could do was sit in one spot the couch or lay flat on my back (no longer a side sleeper) and try to distract myself from the pain. I watched a lot of Netflix, surfed the news & ER.org and gained some weight. Alleve was/is my best friend. At this point I pushed for an MRI which gave the diagnosis noted above and the doc gave me shot #3 in my shoulder, not the rotator cuff. #3 actually brought some LT relief. Don't ask me how those two regions are different, but the results were night & day. Also apparently, 3 shots is the most they will give; I was on my own to manage my pain when the effects wore off after 8 weeks. Now at least I could sit at the dinner table, walk short distances, leave the house, but I still had to be careful about how I moved, because one wrong move and the pain would inflame for the next 10-12 days. PT was bad, just made the pain worse. Accupuncture was hit and miss, and I think most relief was more likely attributable to not over-doing it, than the needles. CBD creams were ok. I wish I'd gotten the CBD oils. Now I'm in the "thawing" phase of this thing; range of motion is starting to return, pain is decreasing, but not so much that I can lay off the Alleve. I can finally drive again after 9 months of limited to no driving. Thank god I'm retired as there's no way I could have worked. The doc says that by May 2019 I should have nearly 95% range of motion return.

I find it interesting that so many of us share the same symptoms and similar diagnosis, yet the treatment plans vary quite widely. I'm thrilled to be on the downhill side of this without surgery. Now I'm working on regaining strength in the surrounding muscles and increasing my range of motion. I'm also working hard to keep my "good" shoulder moving as I have some aches and pains due to overuse.

to the OP - good luck with your recovery

[Sanstar]

Same for me, Marita40. Except my frozen shoulder was the result of a fall with bruising to upper arm. Took more than a year of range of motion exercises to tolerance (which very gradually increased) along with massage to resolve. No doctors, no injections, no PT.

[Philliefan33]

I’ve had frozen shoulder twice. The first was my right shoulder, first injured during Hurricane Sandy cleanup. Felt a little pinch while loading part a a downed tree into the pickup, by December I couldn’t raise my arm to shoulder level.

Went to the doctor, he prescribed PT. After six weeks of PT I had better mobility, but it took a year to get almost full range of motion.

Just about the time the right shoulder felt healed, the left one froze for no known reason. This time I self-diagnosed and started seeing a massage therapist who specialized in sports injuries. I had a couple of massages, then realized that doing yoga as best I could was helping just as much. So that’s what I did. Better mobility in a month, but took a year to feel almost normal.

So in my case, two different treatments had the same effect, but time was the real healer.

It’s been over three years and I’m still trying to regain the strength and flexibility that I lost in my upper body.

[ChiliPepr]

I saw this video of a chiropractor fixing a frozen shoulder with a hammer and chisel... looks like fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3wdnYW8NM

[Chuckanut]

One of my first lessons in older age fitness was taught to me by my left shoulder. While lifting a few weights I somehow twisted a bit and hurt the shoulder. I could not lift my arm above my ear for several months. It took three months to heal but it did. No meds, doctors or treatment. It also knocked out my exercise program for that time. Now I am more careful.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliefan33 I’ve had frozen shoulder twice. The first was my right shoulder, first injured during Hurricane Sandy cleanup. Felt a little pinch while loading part a a downed tree into the pickup, by December I couldn’t raise my arm to shoulder level. Went to the doctor, he prescribed PT. After six weeks of PT I had better mobility, but it took a year to get almost full range of motion. Just about the time the right shoulder felt healed, the left one froze for no known reason.

As I mentioned I had my "good" shoulder freeze for no apparent reason as the other one healed. I remember researching this at the time and this is apparently common. Go figure....

[Z3Dreamer]

Thanks for your responses. Your comments agree with what I read online. Each case calls for a different treatment plan based on severity, age, future activities and the like. In my case, my right arm has full range of motion. It is just that it is tough raising my arm laterally with any weight. I believe that is due to my torn supraspinatus.

The other symptom is that sometimes when I twist my right arm to reach down and tie a shoe in front or scratch my lower back, I feel a twang then sharp pain. Then I have to stretch that arm until the nerve is no longer screaming at me. I suspect that this is the tear and subluxation of the bicep tendon.

[Richard4444]

About 12 years ago I had severely limited movement of my left arm due to rotator cuff: couldn't reach into back pocket, etc. Went to othopod who took diagnostics and told me that I had a partial rotator cuff tear that required surgery. Went home, googled 'rotator cuff,' and then found the $19.95 rubber bands / elastics which I used profusely along with ice. After a few weeks, it hasn't bothered me at all to this day. I do realize there is a difference between a partial tear and a complete tear for which surgery seems necessary.
And I still do preventative exercises with the elastics as part of my present routine.

Rich

[Bir48die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedd Timely thread. Felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder while unloading firewood. It's been sore for about six weeks. Was referred to an orthopedic surgeon's office where they took an xray and determined that it's either a torn rotator or simply inflammation due to bursitis. Was told that only an MRI would be conclusive. For now went with an injection followed by six weeks of PT. Am in the process of picking an ACA plan for next year. I realize that everyone's situation is/was unique regarding shoulder issues. But am attempting to ball-park the medical costs should the PT prove ineffective. Am estimating about $4500 for a shoulder MRI and $9000 for arthroscopic surgery. Sound about right?

MRI is under $1,500. I think closer to $1,200.

My surgery was closer to $20,000 by the time you pay the anesthesiologist and the room. Could have been $15,000. More than I thought.