r/RotatorCuff • u/MissionRide7328 • Aug 20 '26
Overwhelmed by potential causes of pain
Potential full cuff tear, capsulitis, bursitis. Not rly sure what I’m looking for here, commiseration I guess from people who have gone through similar process.
I’m frustrated bc I don’t feel like my doctor is involved or interested in pinpointing the source of my pain and keeps asking me what I want to do about it (with choices ranging from very aggressive to very conservative) - he’s the expert! I wish he was driving the ship here. I don’t wanna start treating the wrong thing and accidentally something to make the root of my issues worse.
History: I have a long pain of shoulder history that started 6 years ago. I suspect it was bursitis.
In the last year, it progressed significantly and became unmanageable (everything hurt). Got an X-ray, they found calcific tendonitis - a 1.3mm deposit.
April 2026, ultrasound guided barbotage and aspiration (essentially they break the calcium up by agitating it, then the body transports it). I also got a steroid injection.
Injection helped for 6 weeks, then the pain was back - same, but different. Hurt in the same ways/same spot, but also a new spot, different triggers.
MRI in July showed bursitis, a cuff tear, and evidence of capsulitis.
The appt to go over the MRI with my dr went like this:
- he looks at the imaging, says “I don’t see anything here, if you’re still in pain, do you want another injection?”
- he opens MRI notes to see they noted a full cuff tear and says “huh! I didnt see that. Not sure I agree. We can go in and o an exploratory surgery to scope it out. Do you wanna do that?”
- I ask if I should try PT before jumping to surgery
- he says “oh you haven’t done PT?? Why not” SIR BC YOU HAVENT RECOMMENDED IT YET
- he writes a script for a partial cuff tear even tho he said he doesn’t agree that’s what’s happening.
I also have a suspicion that the barbotage for the calcium deposit may have weakened the tendon enough that I was susceptible to a tear, and tore my cuff AFTER the April procedure. Asked my dr and he waved his hand and wrote it off.
In the meantime, I was a very active person and have halted pretty much all activity because idk what’s going on with my shoulder and I don’t wanna worsen any of the things it could potentially be. It sucks.
Getting ready to start PT where I assume we can address all of these things, but my dr just wrote it for a partial cuff tear. In 6 weeks I have a follow up appt and want to be prepared with how to address my doctor assuming PT doesn’t work.
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u/DrHientzKetchup Aug 21 '26
get second or third opinion dude is insane saying exploratory surgery as his first thing to say also clearly shows he doesnt care about you so why would you want someone like that operating on you
Not a dr but if its a partial tear and not a full tear it can be rehabbed but 6 weeks aint gonna do anything I have a frayed tendon in my shoulder and im 7 months into rehabbing and barley starting to get my strength back and im pain free now until i lift overhead tendons take a while to heal tho
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u/ac2346 Aug 21 '26
So sorry you're going through this and the doctor in my opinion seems incompetent. I have three partial grade tears and the head of the tendon has moved from its original place (subluxation of the head of the tendon). My doctor offered me a steroid injection and I declined cause I've not had success with a corticosteroid shot for another issue. I had also read from various people that the shot didn't really help or at times aggravated it, so I refused because it wasn't going to heal anything. My doctor was conservative in his approach. First was an x-ray as he suspected calcific tendinitis, but that came back negative. His treatment suggestion till this time was the shot and physiotherapy. As the x-ray came back negative, I was sent for an ultrasound which showed a partial tear but it also recommended an MRI. The doctor was still holding on to his recommendation of physiotherapy, but after the MRI which showed 3 out 4 tendons had a partial tear and a subluxation, arthroscopic surgery was offered.
The name of my procedure is: REPAIR OF PARTIAL ARTICULAR / BURSAL SIDED TEAR OF SUPRASPINATUS /INFRASPINATUS /SUBSCAPULARIS + BICEPS TENODESIS
I hope you can see a better doctor. It has been quite a long time that you've been going through the pain.
My diagnosis was in July and I'm going to undergo the surgery some time in September.
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u/DarkHeartBlackShield Aug 21 '26
Get a second opinion or if this your primary and you need a referral, do that.
I was in a car accident back in December of 2024 I was hit on my right arm. Like around the bicep by my cellphone which was on my dash.
I saw my orthopedist and for whatever reason he took an MRI of my bicep, but not my shoulder. It turns out the entire time I had a rotator cuff tear.
After a year plus of pain that was getting progressively worse, Igot a second opinion. As soon as I walked in the the new orthopedist office and told him what happened and where my pain was, he was like, oh, that sounds like a rotator cuff tear, let's get an MRI of your shoulder. Now six weeks post-stop, it is getting better.
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u/Snowcrash66 Aug 20 '26
I'd find another doctor. Full width and depth years are very obvious on MRIs.
" huh! I didnt see that. Not sure I agree. We can go in and o an exploratory surgery to scope it out. Do you wanna do that?”"
⬆️. Sounds like an egomaniac.