Alan
For about twenty years, Alan experienced recurrent shoulder pain that has been treated with steroid injections and physiotherapy. Recently, the pain became severe when he did any rotatory movement, or when lifting his arm. At his assessment meeting with the consultant, he was given the option to continue having steroid injections or to have surgery. He opted to have sub-acromial decompression surgery. The operation went well and he has regained much of the movement and flexibility in his arm and shoulder.
Alan’s shoulder problem started around twenty years ago and he thinks that it might have been caused by his sports activities. He used to play lots of squash and badminton, but stopped due to his shoulder pain. At the time, he saw his GP and had steroid injections and physiotherapy, which helped controlled the pain for long periods of time. More recently, however, any kind of shoulder rotatory movement or movement that involved lifting his arms became very painful.
Alan works as a librarian and about three years ago, he was dealing with an old and heavy rolling bookcase and injured his bad shoulder. He was seen by occupational health and by his GP. At his GP surgery, he had two steroid injections: the first one helped to relieve the pain, but the second one didn’t work. Then, his GP referred him to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, an NHS hospital where he had another steroid injection which helped with the pain for a few months as well as having physiotherapy. He had an X-ray and was invited to attend the assessment clinic at the hospital. The shoulder specialists he saw explained his treatment options: to continue having up to three steroid injections per year or to go for sub-acromial decompression surgery. Alan chose to go ahead and have surgery. He says there was never any pressure on him to have surgery and everything was explained thoroughly by the consultant. He had never had an operation before or general anesthetics, so the prospect of surgery was a bit scary.
Three weeks after seeing the consultant, Alan went back to have his operation. Afterwards, the surgeon told him that the surgery had gone smoothly and that the bone spur had been removed without any problem. He says that he was well impressed by the level of care he received and by the quick and well-structured system they had in place.
After his operation and once the effects of the nerve block wore off, he gradually began to get his shoulder movement back and after a week he was already able to lift his arm. Alan went back to work three weeks after his operation and explained to his boss what he could and couldn’t do at work, and they were fine with it. Besides, he says that his work colleagues are supportive and willing to give him a hand if and when he needs it.
Alan has used the Technology Enhanced Patient Information (TEPI) site during his rehabilitation period. He found the visual format of the exercises engaging and reassuring. The physiotherapist was well pleased with his progress at his post-op follow-up appointment. He found the TEPI site most informative and in turn, he became curious about finding more information on the web about sub-acromial decompression surgery. Based on his own experience, he feels that TEPI can do with providing practical information on how to manage life at home when still under the effects of the nerve block. Things he found problematic were to do with getting out of the bath, hanging the washing up and managing the loo with just the one functioning hand.