I just spoke to my friend who told me that his wife is having problems sleeping because she is getting pain at her shoulder when she lays on it. It is really bothering her to she went to an orthopedic surgeon who like always requested an MRI and found a rotator cuff tear. But not just any rotator cuff. This is one of the biggest he has ever seen. It is so big that if not surgically repaired immediately can lead to the total use of her arm.
This is starting to smell of fear and desperation. The most logical approach for this surgeon would have been to discuss in a calm and analytical manner how rotator tears occur. That over time they might get worse. That surgery is certainly that is not an immediate option and should be thought about carefully and cautiously.
The reason he can’t speak or think like this is because that is all nonsense. Almost every rotator cuff identified by an MRI is degenerative in nature. It has developed over years and is so slow in its progression that it never ignites a pain signal. Let’s pause for a little bit of reality. An orthopedist or only handles professional baseball pitches is confused by the fact that every time one of them is in pain at the shoulder and an MRI is taken a rotator tear is identified. He decides to get MRIs of 31 professional baseball pitchers with absolutely no pain at the shoulder performing at the optimal and what would you guess they found; 87% were found to have rotator cuff tears and 90% were found to have labral tears. His conclusion was that if you want to give somebody shoulder surgery, just take an MRI.
This should be a lesson to all who think that asking a surgeon whether you need surgery seems like you are going to get an unbiased opinion. The same can be said for asking a crack dealer whether you should try crack. More than likely the answer is going to yes in both cases. As for the rotator cuff tear, the study presented shows that whether you have pain or don’t have pain at the shoulder, roughly 90% of people will be found to have a rotator cuff tear. The scam comes by the surgeon in trying to convince you that simply because the tear was found it requires surgery to repair. Clearly, it does not. You have to start thinking of rotator cuff tears like wrinkles; not the most attractive but requires no intervention. The reason is because the integrity of the skin is still in tact just as the integrity of the rotator cuff is still in tact even with the degenerative tear.
More facts to help you understand the insanity of getting a surgery for a degenerative rotator cuff tear. If you have full range of motion of the shoulder or close to full range of motion of the shoulder, the rotator cuff tear found must be degenerative and reinforces the point that it is not affecting the integrity of the shoulder joint. If you had an acute tear, you wouldn’t be able to raise your arm more than over shoulder height. If you had an acute tear you would have had to had a traumatic event occur like a fall. Almost everybody I have ever treated being diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear couldn’t remember what started their pain or when it began. By nature, if you had an acute tear, there would be blood and swelling associated with the event that led to the tear. People rarely have had this when they came for treatment of a “torn” rotator cuff tear.
Let’s be frank. The failures of surgery, all surgeries, back, hip and knee, shoulder and other orthopedic surgeries has left such as stain in people’s minds that they are extremely hesitant to get surgery. This has left openings in the operating room schedule. Orthopedists are not happy and are turning to coercion to try to get patients. Anytime an orthopedist tells you something requires surgery immediately, leave at once. Being told that you may be paralyzed if you don’t get neurological surgery when the complaint you have is pain is insanity. A heart issue, lack of bladder and bowel control, difficulty breathing; these are reasons for immediate surgery.
You have to be smarter now then ever before. You have to protect yourself. I continue to say that this is the most dangerous time to be getting care because there is no oversight and practitioners like surgeons are getting more desperate. I would suggest you use the Yass method as I will use for my friend’s wife. It is the only method able to identify all potential causes of pain. Diagnostic tests are invalid and should be abolished as the primary method of diagnosing the cause of pain. Choose the Yass method to get the right diagnosis. In more than 95% of cases the cause is muscular and can be resolved quickly and effectively through the use of targeting strength training. Remember, the system will not change for you. You will have to change the system.