Evening’. So its gone from 3 sections of my shoulder needed sawing out following a MRI scan to physio, wait and see then Arthagram later but a second opinion request consultant agrees with me.

How many of us are rushed, or semi pushed into the surgery option? I remember snapping my arm clean through years ago- a break that now would be plated/screwed now apparently

Evening.

evening

Evening!

Goodnight

Evenin’ all.

G’d evening(max wall style).
No ,my knee consultant ,who reconstructed the AC ligament on my right leg was of the opinion that ultrasound ,physio &
cortesone were better treatment options for the cartilage damage/osteochondral lesion on my left leg.
i practically begged for the exploratory op…but he didn’t want to “knock me out unless he really had to”
I reallly fancied a month on sick too…;-)

Evening.

I found the opposite; consultant really reticent about going the invasive surgical route, even though my research had established (in my mind) that it would most likely lead to the best outcome for me. (And has done).

Morning?
I have a chondroma on my femur which tore my tailor muscle. It’s formed a cartilage lump near my knee and it could happen again. To remove said drama would require cutting from knee halfway up the leg and through my quad muscle to get to it the doctor made it patently clear of what the benefits and pitfalls of doing such an op were. Needless to say the drama is still there! This was a private doctor as well. He also mentioned how dissapointed some people are who have knee replacements, thinking they’ll have some new lease of life once it’s done.
It subsequently reminds me of when the fil caved the door in on my subaru with his car. I got it replaced but it never quite shut as perfectly as the one fitted by the robot in the factory…

G’Day

This was a private doctor as well.

Theres a difference in motivation between private and NHS practice. The ideal solution in the public sector is one where the sick are healed and hopefully don’t need to return. Private practice tends to prefer return customers so if the options are either cut your leg off or live with a festering bone infection requiring constant, fruitless treatment for decades their not readily going to suggest cutting your leg off.

I don’t know the specifics of your situation but in general terms I would always advocate for conservative treatment (eg physiotherapy) first and keep surgery as a last resort.

Reasons for this being:
– Surgery is invasive and as such carries inherent risks (eg infection, adverse reaction to sedatives etc)
– It isn’t always the panacea that the pt is hoping for (full return of function isn’t guaranteed and you’ll almost certainly still need to do the physio anyway)
– The old adage ‘measure twice cut once’ most likely applies here, ie once they’ve cut that bone off you can’t get it back.

Reasons why I would recommend surgery are:
– You’ve exhausted all conservative interventions (physio, pharmacological etc)
– Joint is irreversibly damaged and patient is at risk of being severely incapacitated
– Social history, ie the patient needs to have function back particularly quickly (eg patient is self employed and can’t afford to not be working)

Friend of mine tore his achilles. Was advised, and pushed, to a wait and see strategy after several 2 minute meetings. His point was that he was an active sportsman and wanted a great outcome. Doctor wanted an outcome that would be good enough.

Several months later second opinion sought. Second doctor staggered that it hadn’t been operated on. Too late to have a great outcome and the ankle is now screwed, even after surgery, with a massive foot drop. Never returned to sport and was early 30s.

Do your research. Get second opinions. Push for expensive scans. Demand what you want. Don’t back down.

Also, personally I got whacked on the wrist. Went to A&E. X-ray, inconclusive, cast for 6 weeks just to be sure.

Kept it on for 2 days. Bupa and private MRI scan through work. No fracture only a bruised bone. No cast, no muscle loss, no rehab.

Not great.

That is not my experience, perhaps you just got a bad doc.

How many of us are rushed, or semi pushed into the surgery option?

not saying this is you, but i reckon many people aren’t in a position to fully take in and understand what they’re being told in a consultation, let alone ask pertinent questions. sometimes medics forget that they are dealing with a lay-person too, as we all do when dealing with people who are not in our line of work, or to whom the topic is new. they’re often dealing with people who are scared, or still a bit shocked as well, or aren’t thinking all that clearly.

be sure to know the facts, don’t be afraid to ask questions, take someone with you if you feel it will help. don’t be afraid to ask for additional physio/other contact, and impress on them that you want to get back to being as good as you can be for your healthy lifestyle. get the steak slice on the way home, not the way in. 😉

based on my experience of two broken collar bones. despite the second break being worse, the shoulder and degree of movement is much better because i knew how to look after it properly.

good luck.

There are two disasters in medicine. The first is to kill the patient. The second is to cure them as they’ll stop needing your services / drugs.

nb without naming names one of these might not be a disaster in the case of all patients. 🙂

sometimes medics forget that they are dealing with a lay-person too,

In my experience both as a patient and as an associated professional, it’s more often the other way round, and Docs are very used to dealing with lay people. They are their primary service users, after all. In fact, again in my experience (on both sides of the fence) there is often more of an issue when it becomes obvious that the patient is not a lay person, and expects intelligent justification for decisions, and a reasonable say in treatment options that will, at the end of the day, have massive ramifications on their ongoing quality of life. That said, I’ve always received treatment that I’ve been happy with; albeit I’ve had to put a persuasive argument forward on occasion.