One of the most common questions people want to know prior to any joint replacement procedure is whether or not it will be worth it in the end. After all, no surgery can guarantee results 100 percent of the time, and joint replacement rehabilitation is a time-consuming process. Nobody wants to go through an operation and months of rehab if the results simply won’t be worth it when all is said and done.
And while you can never know for certain whether an operation will be worth it, we’re confident that for the right patient, total shoulder replacement will be worth it in the long run. We explain why in today’s blog.
Why Total Shoulder Replacement Surgery Is The Right Choice
Total shoulder surgery can be a life changing experience for the right patient, helping them regain mobility and independence in their shoulder, but who is considered an ideal patient for shoulder surgery? In most cases, patients who have the most to gain from a total shoulder replacement operation are those who are dealing with the following:
- Significant pain or discomfort
- Severe range of motion limitations
- Failed to find relief through conservative means
- Are considered healthy enough for surgery and rehabilitation
In other words shoulder replacement surgery isn’t going to be the first treatment option for anyone who visits a shoulder specialist with pain. The vast majority will be evaluated and then set up with a conservative treatment plan that will likely include a combination of rest, physical therapy, targeted strength and stability exercises, anti-inflammatory medications, and range of motion techniques. Most patients will be asked to attempt weeks of conservative treatments before a surgeon will consider a more invasive method, but again this occurs on a case-by-case basis.
If you fail to find relief from your significant shoulder discomfort through non-operative means and you’re healthy enough for surgery, odds are a total shoulder replacement or similar operation will make sense for you. We use our shoulders for so many tasks each day that a painful shoulder can significantly affect your quality of life. A replacement operation can help to greatly reduce or even eliminate this discomfort, making everyday actions like changing your clothes or taking a shower much less uncomfortable. We oftentimes take these simple maneuvers for granted and don’t realize how much shoulder discomfort is affecting our life until these simple actions are no longer easy to perform. We can help you get back to not dreading little shoulder movements with the help of a surgical operation.
One of the things we tell a lot of our patients who are trying to determine if shoulder surgery is going to be worth it is this – A year from now, if you do nothing for your shoulder, the best case is that discomfort remains steady, but in most cases it’s going to be worse. Time is going to pass like normal regardless of whether or not you pursue surgery, so why not commit to improved physical function and have a much greater likelihood of pain relief and a return to life as you once knew it? A year from now you can be worse off, or you can give yourself the best chance at making the strongest possible recovery. Don’t keep putting the decision off, because the sooner you get the surgery, the sooner you’ll be able to get back to doing some of the activities that you love that have been complicated by shoulder pain.
When you really consider what you have to gain, and you trust your shoulder replacement operation to a surgeon like Dr. Holloway, we’re confident that you’ll find that your decision to undergo shoulder replacement surgery was well worth it in the end. For more information, or to talk to Dr. Holloway’s office about a shoulder issue you’re dealing with, give our team a call today at (865) 410-8778.
