Has surgeon recommended capsular release too early?
Posted , 15 users are following.
Hi - I am new to the goup & hope I can get some advice here 
. I injured my shoulder in Jan this year when I slipped in the garden. It immediately felt a little painful but I naively thought it would heal itself. I continuted to have a slight pain in my upper arm then in mid April the pain started to get worse & I noticed that I was losing movement in that arm. Then went to see a physio for 4 weeks & he identified it as an FS. Through my health insurance I went to see a surgeon about 2 weeks ago (he seems to be quite well qualified, specialises in shoulders & teaches surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in London). I am still in the "freezing" stage as I am still getting a lot of pain. He says my FS is "severe" due to amount of movement lost. He thinks injections would not work (did not say why) & recommended a capsular release. He reckons he has a 1 - 2% failure rate with this, and that if the shoulder went stiff afterwards he would do MUA (which I do not want - it sounds painful!). I am concerned that his attitude seems very "gung-ho". I have read that this procuedure is usually done in the "frozen" stage. Has anyone had experience of capsular release in the freezing stage? I am really unsure of whether or not to go ahead with this surgery and cannot seem to get some solid advice from anywhere. Thanks in advance for any help / advice.
1 like, 64 replies
frozen_stiff lindajt96
Posted
Lindaj,
?You do not have a frozen shoulder. You could have a traumatic arthritis,or an immobilizational arthritis. A frozen shoulder is a specific condition which has a history of arriving without trauma or coming from the neck or any other 40 causes attributed to it. It's history is that with time it will resolve. The treatment for the afforementioned causes is different from that of FS. I suspecthat initially you should have had an injection. I speak with some authority from several traumatic shoulder injuries. i can't believe that a therapist with years of training would not know about diagnosing shoulders. I spoke to an orthopaedist recentlyand he said that people like the diagnosis of frozen shoulder.
lindajt96 frozen_stiff
Posted
Hi - thanks, that is quite interesting, and quite worrying. As I said the surgeon that I saw was quite "gung-ho". No scan / x-ray - just diagnosis on the spot & capsular release tabled. I think it is definitely time for a 2nd opinion.
annie1963 lindajt96
Posted
I doubt without being your doctor anyone can say with authority that "you do not have frozen shoulder"! My Orthopedic Specialist told me that No one REALLY knows what causes it, they just have THEORIES. He said that Frozen shoulder isn't 'glamorous enough' for anyone to do any in depth research into, so there are many theories and many different OPINIONS. It is painful, no matter what it's called! I hope you get relief. I have had some limited relief with PT and two injections so far.
annie1963 lindajt96
Posted
I doubt without being your doctor anyone can say with authority that "you do not have frozen shoulder"! My Orthopedic Specialist told me that No one REALLY knows what causes it, they just have THEORIES. He said that Frozen shoulder isn't 'glamorous enough' for anyone to do any in depth research into, so there are many theories and many different OPINIONS. It is painful, no matter what it's called! I hope you get relief. I have had some limited relief with PT and two injections so far.
annie1963 lindajt96
Posted
I doubt without being your doctor anyone can say with authority that "you do not have frozen shoulder". My Orthopedic Specialist told me that No one REALLY knows what causes it, they just have THEORIES. He said that Frozen shoulder isn't 'glamorous enough' for anyone to do any in depth research into, so there are many theories and many different OPINIONS. It is painful, no matter what it's called! I hope you get relief. I have had some limited relief with PT and two injections so far.
frozen_stiff annie1963
Posted
annie1963 frozen_stiff
Posted
karenus frozen_stiff
Posted
madiniah33615 lindajt96
Posted
lindajt96 madiniah33615
Posted
Hi - the surgeon told me that they cut through the ligaments "like opening a zip" he said
frozen_stiff lindajt96
Posted
Linda, remember a tv program called "kids say the darnedest things"'
well they seem to have been superseeded by surgeons.
grahame87245 lindajt96
Posted
Crikey you are getting so much conflicting advice. I can't recommend a website without it being deleted. However the guy that sorted out my shoulder is called Richard sinnerton. He has a brilliant website
I had a plain xray then saw him privately. Cost about 150 just to get definitive answer. I urge you to look him up.
lindajt96
Posted
UPDATE - well, a lot can change in a few weeks. After posting, within a week I saw a new consultant (Mark Falworth) & liked him a lot (he also works at the Noational Orthopaedic hospital at Stanmore so thought that must mean he knows his stuff). He recommended an MRI scan (had that the next day) then arthroscopic capsular release (3 days later!). He said that my shoulder was so badly frozen that if I left it to run the natural course he felt I would end up with a premanently stiff shoulder so I decided that the surgery was the only way forward. The op itself went very smoothly & afterwards I was not in a huge amount of pain. I am now nearly 2 weeks after the op & it is a different scenario. I saw the physio the day after the op & then have had 2 physio appointments since. I am religiously doing the exercises 3 times a day, but my shoulder is really now again very painful. Movement is definitely better, but still have quite a way to go. What I am disappointed with, is that the surgeon had said that post surgery I should see the pain drop, but since starting the physio the pain has increased and at the moment I am in as much pain as I ever was with the FS so am despairing somewhat
.
Can I ask what other people's pain levels were like after the surgery?
madiniah33615 lindajt96
Posted
alison41082 lindajt96
Posted
Oh I'm so sorry that terrible! I'm still suffering through the pt and at home dr said we will talk surgery once there is no improvement for a period of time! Now I might just decide to never do surgery! Although not sure how long I can just live like this):
Keep us updates!
lindajt96 alison41082
Posted
Hi Alison - the overriding opinion on here seems to be that in the freezing stage of FS physio is of no benefit & can possible do some damage. If I was you I would seriously question the doctor about making you do the physio. Hope that things improve for you.
lindajt96 madiniah33615
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alison41082 lindajt96
Posted
Ya I talked to my pt last week and told the they were stretching to much it was taking me 6 days to recover when they over stretched it! I'm just doing light pt! So I will see if that helps with pain at least! I'm am going on a big trip that was planned before I got this! Super nervous about that! I am going on a habitat build in oct to armenia for 2 weeks😳. Praying for some improvement before then but since I will only be at 5 months it's not likely!