[OT medical Question] what specialist should I see, an Orthopedist? Rheumatologist?

[WHiiP]

I need more choices in order to decide . . . :booty:


And, you should have made this a poll . . . . that would have set the "poll" record for MRF . . . probably even Guness . . .

[space-time]

Grateful11 wrote:
You said, "my shoulder hurts a little bit and pain didn't go away for a while now", is it gone now, in other
words is there all the time, intermittent or just when you do certain things? I'm not Dr. but I've had very
similar pain in my shoulder.

and what did you do? what was the cause of your pain?

I feel some very mild pain when I try to put on a shirt for example, it doesn't let me move my left hand slightly backwards or all the way up. If I sit and type at the computer or when I drive, I don't feel anything. Each time I move to an extreme, it start to hurt (mild pain). I realized I cannot lift my arm all the way up. Another observation is that if I accidentally bang my left arm on a door or something, the whole arm hurts more than it's supposed to, but again the pain doesn't last long and in a few minutes it's all gone.

[Grateful11]

Yours is definitely different from mine. An Orthopedic Dr. said mine was Bursitis, I asked because I thought
maybe I had some rotator cuff problem, I was actually seeing him about my back.

[Robert M]

Space,

Go for the orthopedist and be done with it. Here's why:

Many years ago, after falling on my side, I had a terrible pain in one of my shoulders. Dull and throbbing until I tried to raise and lower my arm. Then quickly turned sharp and stabbing. I went to a general doctor who gave me pain killers, a sling and said I likely pulled a muscle. The pain worsened rather than waned and then I noticed my shoulder itself had a bump on top of it. I was at the orthopedist the next day. He evaluated the symptoms and immediately x-rayed my shoulder. Apparently, the fall managed to separate my shoulder. A couple of months of physical therapy combined with anti-inflammatories resolved the problem.

Admittedly, I've heard of dislocated shoulders but it never occurred to me you could _separate_ a shoulder. But, it definitely happens and I can tell you from experience it can be _very_ painful. Fortunately, mine was mild and healed perfectly. As is typical with joint injuries - a separated shoulder is considered a joint injury - it hurts a bit on occasion when a severe change in the weather is on its way.

So, personally, skip the general practitioner and go directly to an orthopedist. I wish I'd done that with my shoulder. The result might have been the same but at least I could have taken appropriate action from the start rather than having several days of worsening pain.

Robert

[Black]

Shoulders are extremely complicated. You're not going to diagnose a problem or determine what appropriate treatment might be by discussing it here, sorry.

(@s-t/g11)

[Black]

Robert M wrote:
Admittedly, I've heard of dislocated shoulders but it never occurred to me you could _separate_ a shoulder.

A "shoulder" is not really just one joint, but more of a system.
A dislocation is when the humerus comes out of its socket.
A separation is typically when the far end of the clavicle is torn from its attachment to the scapula.
2 different joints . . .

[Black]

RgrF wrote:
[quote=rgG]
Orthopedist first.

While orthopedists can operate on you, that doesn't mean that they will. Many times you will need physical therapy or some other non-invasive treatment.

I recently had a similar problem with my left shoulder, My primary referred me to an ortho, who, although he does joint replacements sid up front, he'd never recommend a shoulder replacement.

A cortisone shot and therapy were prescribed.

First get a primary who will have more of a sense of who's who than will the yellow pages or Google. So would you recommend the yellow pages or google as the better resource in tracking down a trustworthy PCP?

[space-time]

Black wrote:
Shoulders are extremely complicated. You're not going to diagnose a problem or determine what appropriate treatment might be by discussing it here, sorry.

(@s-t/g11)

I agree, I never even thought we were trying to diagnose the problem or find a treatment here on the forum. it was more of like small talk, I hope we didn't break any rules

[space-time]

Black wrote:
[quote=RgrF]
[quote=rgG]
Orthopedist first.

While orthopedists can operate on you, that doesn't mean that they will. Many times you will need physical therapy or some other non-invasive treatment.

I recently had a similar problem with my left shoulder, My primary referred me to an ortho, who, although he does joint replacements sid up front, he'd never recommend a shoulder replacement.

A cortisone shot and therapy were prescribed.

First get a primary who will have more of a sense of who's who than will the yellow pages or Google. So would you recommend the yellow pages or google as the better resource in tracking down a trustworthy PCP?
Yeah good point, I asked about this and the consensus was to ask another doctor, so I asked my allergist and he recommended a PCP.

The allergist was recommended by a colleague who has a son with peanut allergy and he said this allergist is top notch in our area. I looked at his profile and lots of publications, he also teaches at some medical schools so it looks like he knows his stuff.

[Robert M]

Space,

My post was just pointing out the reason I'd go to a orthopedist over a general practitioner. That at the time I didn't know about separated shoulders was a different matter entirely. Needless to say I've long since educated myself and readily recognize the complexity of the shoulder joints. This is another reason behind my suggestion to see an orthopedist.

Robert