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Shoulder surgery should not be delayed. The probable retraction of some damaged parts is not a joke. Your friend could have been the lucky one in the pool, but

Shoulder surgery should not be delayed. The probable retraction of some damaged parts is not a joke. Your friend could have been the lucky one in the pool, but there is also a possibility that in a few years the problem will grow and the surgery required will be much heavier and expensive. > and without surgery are back competing on the bike. My bet is that they are on painkillers for life

InitialLastName 4y ago
> My bet is that they are on painkillers for life Also, they are professional athletes at the peak of their bodies' physical fitness capacity with teams of doctors, physical therapists, and trainers looking after their health with a focus that few of us can imagine, and an overriding ethos of sacrificing their future health on the altar of present performance. In general, professional athletes' healthcare decisions should probably not be used as a gauge for healthcare decisions by people with priorities other than "maximal physical performance right this moment".
- nicenewtemp84 4y ago
  If a group of great doctors lets people crashing at 180mph ride again without surgery after a shoulder dislocation, doesnt that mean that maybe his doctor in nonametown USA might be able to learn a thing or two from them? Or are they just trying to keep their operating room billing hours maxed out? I guess we won't know for sure but I have a hunch.
  - pvaldes 4y ago
    Sure. That doctor could suggest his patients to wear kevlar reinforced biker jackets all the time.
    - nicenewtemp84 4y ago
      A kevlar jacket isn't going to help stop your shoulder from dislocating as your flail around tumbling end over end at 100mph.. which is what dislocated the shoulder in the first place.
nicenewtemp84 4y ago
Are you saying that the doctor, upon closer questioning simply flopped and gave bad medical advice to my friend when they told him that yes it's reasonable to expect to regain full shoulder straight again without surgery? Because if so maybe my friend should sue? What is this blanket statement of "shoulder surgery should not be delayed" based on?
- jjeaff 4y ago
  Doctors will often change their recommendation if patients express different priorities than the doctor initially assumed. Some people's priorities are no surgery unless absolutely necessary.
  - chii 4y ago
    > Some people's priorities are no surgery unless absolutely necessary. which is a good general rule to go by - surgery is not without dangers. The doctor's role, imho, is to firstly explain all of the available options (pros, cons, etc). Once the patient understands all of the options, the doctor can recommend one of them, and explain why the option is good. The patient needs to evaluate the other options as well, and think about whether the doctor's recommendation is sound, and what assumptions they might've made (may be unknowingly). The patient is not, and should not be, a passive party to medical treatment.
  - lynx23 4y ago
    "no surgery unless absolutely necessary" is becoming the default around here, because the number of hospital-acquired infections is skyrocketing in the last years. While there were absolutely no anecdotes before 2017, the number of people infected in the hospital in my circles has exploded since then. People are talking about it, and realising that going to the hospital has a real risk of making things even worse.
- KiwiJohnno 4y ago
  Where I grew up, with a comprehensive taxpayer funded healthcare system that works I believe standard is you are given the option of surgery after dislocating your shoulder 3 times. The thinking is a lot of people dislocate their shoulder, it pops back in with or without help and heals with no long-term damage. For a lot of patients it never happens again and surgery is not needed. However, each time you dislocate your shoulder it gets easier to dislocate and is more likely to do doing damage that won't heal. So, don't go in for shoulder surgery until you are showing a pattern of dislocating it or have other lasting damage that requires repair.

InitialLastName 4y ago

> My bet is that they are on painkillers for life Also, they are professional athletes at the peak of their bodies' physical fitness capacity with teams of doctors, physical therapists, and trainers looking after their health with a focus that few of us can imagine, and an overriding ethos of sacrificing their future health on the altar of present performance. In general, professional athletes' healthcare decisions should probably not be used as a gauge for healthcare decisions by people with priorities other than "maximal physical performance right this moment".

nicenewtemp84 4y ago
If a group of great doctors lets people crashing at 180mph ride again without surgery after a shoulder dislocation, doesnt that mean that maybe his doctor in nonametown USA might be able to learn a thing or two from them? Or are they just trying to keep their operating room billing hours maxed out? I guess we won't know for sure but I have a hunch.
- pvaldes 4y ago
  Sure. That doctor could suggest his patients to wear kevlar reinforced biker jackets all the time.
  - nicenewtemp84 4y ago
    A kevlar jacket isn't going to help stop your shoulder from dislocating as your flail around tumbling end over end at 100mph.. which is what dislocated the shoulder in the first place.

nicenewtemp84 4y ago

Are you saying that the doctor, upon closer questioning simply flopped and gave bad medical advice to my friend when they told him that yes it's reasonable to expect to regain full shoulder straight again without surgery? Because if so maybe my friend should sue? What is this blanket statement of "shoulder surgery should not be delayed" based on?

jjeaff 4y ago
Doctors will often change their recommendation if patients express different priorities than the doctor initially assumed. Some people's priorities are no surgery unless absolutely necessary.
- chii 4y ago
  > Some people's priorities are no surgery unless absolutely necessary. which is a good general rule to go by - surgery is not without dangers. The doctor's role, imho, is to firstly explain all of the available options (pros, cons, etc). Once the patient understands all of the options, the doctor can recommend one of them, and explain why the option is good. The patient needs to evaluate the other options as well, and think about whether the doctor's recommendation is sound, and what assumptions they might've made (may be unknowingly). The patient is not, and should not be, a passive party to medical treatment.
- lynx23 4y ago
  "no surgery unless absolutely necessary" is becoming the default around here, because the number of hospital-acquired infections is skyrocketing in the last years. While there were absolutely no anecdotes before 2017, the number of people infected in the hospital in my circles has exploded since then. People are talking about it, and realising that going to the hospital has a real risk of making things even worse.
KiwiJohnno 4y ago
Where I grew up, with a comprehensive taxpayer funded healthcare system that works I believe standard is you are given the option of surgery after dislocating your shoulder 3 times. The thinking is a lot of people dislocate their shoulder, it pops back in with or without help and heals with no long-term damage. For a lot of patients it never happens again and surgery is not needed. However, each time you dislocate your shoulder it gets easier to dislocate and is more likely to do doing damage that won't heal. So, don't go in for shoulder surgery until you are showing a pattern of dislocating it or have other lasting damage that requires repair.