armyguy001
03-08-2011, 06:56 PM
alittle over 4 years ago when i was stationed at ft riley, ks, i slipped on some ice and tried grabbing onto something with my left hand. i was able to stop myself from falling down completely. at the time i didn't notice anything wrong. but when i woke up the next morning i couldn't move my left arm more than a few inches. i went to sick call that morning. he was prescribed pain medication and referred to physical therapy. after about 5 months of physical therapy there was no sign of my shoulder getting better and had an mri done. when i received the results from the mri, i was told that i had a labrum tear and that i would need to have surgery. this was a slap repair.
after the surgery was completed i did another 6 months or so of physical therapy everything was good. then in late 2008 while i was deployed i started having problems again. since i was deployed there was only a few things that could be done until i got home. i was given 2 steroid shots along with different types of pain medications. all of these helped but only for a very short time.
when i returned home i was able to get an appointment set up to see the surgeon again. he did a physical exam and told me that there was something wrong. he said that it seemed like i had reinjured what he had repaired before. he also said that i would need surgery again. i told him that i had to report to ft sill, ok soon and would like to wait till i got there to have the surgery done. he agreed to it and gave me another steroid shot to help get me by till then. unfortunately that only helped for a few hours.
i was able to get an mri done before i left. once i got to ft sill, i was able to get referred to a orthopedic surgeon within a few weeks of getting there. before that appointment i had to get another mri done. at the appointment with the surgeon he said that he agreed with the doctor back at ft riley. he said that i had retorn the labrum in the area it had been repaired. a few weeks later i had surgery again. this time i had a bicep tenodesis done and my bicep tendon attached to the humerus. i also had some decompression done and other areas cleaned up from the first surgery. again i went through physical therapy and was having no improvements. my range of motion did not go much farther than 90 degrees in any direction. with help i could move my arm farther but not without severe pain.
i set up another appointment with my surgeon and told him that i was still having lots of pain. he set me up for a ct scan and an appointment to follow up with him in 2 weeks. when i went to this appointment he told me that the coracoid process was catching when i was trying to raise my arm. he also said that there were 2 other spots that looked like they were also catching. and again i had surgery for a third time. this time i had a coracoplasty done.
everything was going good until about the beginning of this year. i've started having more pain again. but this time i'm also getting a feeling like my shoulder is dislocating. if i'm out walking or just trying to do everyday things and my arm is just hanging at my side or i'm trying to pick something up i feel like my should is going to dislocate. and if i try to move my around i hear a popping sound and then i'm in lots of pain.
my question is what other options do i have for treatment?
i've been doing some research and i've found that in some cases like mine shoulder replacement would be the best form of treatment. do you think that this could be true for me or is there something else that could be done?
after the surgery was completed i did another 6 months or so of physical therapy everything was good. then in late 2008 while i was deployed i started having problems again. since i was deployed there was only a few things that could be done until i got home. i was given 2 steroid shots along with different types of pain medications. all of these helped but only for a very short time.
when i returned home i was able to get an appointment set up to see the surgeon again. he did a physical exam and told me that there was something wrong. he said that it seemed like i had reinjured what he had repaired before. he also said that i would need surgery again. i told him that i had to report to ft sill, ok soon and would like to wait till i got there to have the surgery done. he agreed to it and gave me another steroid shot to help get me by till then. unfortunately that only helped for a few hours.
i was able to get an mri done before i left. once i got to ft sill, i was able to get referred to a orthopedic surgeon within a few weeks of getting there. before that appointment i had to get another mri done. at the appointment with the surgeon he said that he agreed with the doctor back at ft riley. he said that i had retorn the labrum in the area it had been repaired. a few weeks later i had surgery again. this time i had a bicep tenodesis done and my bicep tendon attached to the humerus. i also had some decompression done and other areas cleaned up from the first surgery. again i went through physical therapy and was having no improvements. my range of motion did not go much farther than 90 degrees in any direction. with help i could move my arm farther but not without severe pain.
i set up another appointment with my surgeon and told him that i was still having lots of pain. he set me up for a ct scan and an appointment to follow up with him in 2 weeks. when i went to this appointment he told me that the coracoid process was catching when i was trying to raise my arm. he also said that there were 2 other spots that looked like they were also catching. and again i had surgery for a third time. this time i had a coracoplasty done.
everything was going good until about the beginning of this year. i've started having more pain again. but this time i'm also getting a feeling like my shoulder is dislocating. if i'm out walking or just trying to do everyday things and my arm is just hanging at my side or i'm trying to pick something up i feel like my should is going to dislocate. and if i try to move my around i hear a popping sound and then i'm in lots of pain.
my question is what other options do i have for treatment?
i've been doing some research and i've found that in some cases like mine shoulder replacement would be the best form of treatment. do you think that this could be true for me or is there something else that could be done?