Shoulder Pain

[Connie2448]

My brother is 65 years old. He has been walking with braces and crutches for 60 years when he contracted polio at age 5.  He has enjoyed a very productive life and is not one to stay down.    He is now suffering from horrific shoulder pain because of the perpetual use of crutches...it has worn away everything in his shoulders and it is now bone to bone. Because of his heart condition and the medication he is taking, he cannot take too much pain medication so he is now on cortisone shots.  He gets some relief but can only have the shots occasionally then has to wait several weeks before having another shot.  It is during that time that the pain is very substantial.  He has looked into shoulder replacement surgery but the dr. said because of how he has to use his arms to get up from a chair or bed, the replacement would not work for him.  We live in a small town in Florida and I'm not sure how much the medical profession here knows.  So I am trying to find alternatives for him if possible.  Do you have any recommendations?  Thank you.

[sandee1818]

I am sorry to hear your brother is going thru so much pain. You have gotten some great advise though. Do not settle for the local doctor's opinion. Try the Mayo clinic or even Shands. There may be opportunities for him such as clinical trials or new procedures that could help. The injections are not good for him as a main source of pain control. There has to be a medication or procedures that will help him. My PM doctor and several I know do not even do the injections as they say they cause more harm than good.
Call and get him an appointment at Mayo or one of the Orthopedist at Shands.
I wish him the best of luck!
Keep us updated on how he's doing and if you have any questions we will do our best to answer them:)

[geminigirl1963]

I'm sorry to hear that your brother is having so many problems.  I can relate to shoulder problems as I had a shoulder replacement done a little over a year ago.  I personally did very well right after the surgery, but have been having increasing problems with pain and limited range of motion in the past couple of months so will be returning to the surgeon who did the surgery to see what he has to say.  I, too, did not have much relief with the cortisone shots (I also had bone on bone arthritis as well as a rotator cuff injury).

Have you looked into taking your brother to the Mayo Clinic?  They have a location in Jacksonville, FL (don't know how close that is to you).  You can request an appointment by calling them (904/953-0853), sending them an email through their website (www.mayoclinic.org), asking your doctor to contact them for you (may be a requirement depending on your insurance) or writing them via snail mail at:  Central Appointment Office, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, jacksonville, FL 32224.  I've never been to the Mayo Clinic myself, but have heard wonderful things about them.  I do know that it sometimes takes a while to get an appointment with them, so if this is something that may interest you and/or your brother, I would suggest contacting them at your earliest convenience to get the ball rolling.

Best of luck and please keep us posted on how you both are doing.