Shoulder surgery. Really need help here. Where do we find good shoulder surgeons?

[Dversity]

Hi,

 

My brother badly damaged his shoulder about 7 years ago, and he has been in surgery 5 times here i Norway, and he is still in ALOT of pain. The first two surgeries probably just made the situaion worse. Now all the "best" hospitals here in Norway say there's nothing more that can be done surgically. I know that all the pro norwegian athletes are sent to another country if they have to do something surgically, because there probably arent any proper surgeons that specialize in 1 area. 

 

So the next thing to do here(I think?) is to find a surgeon who really specializes in the shoulder area outside of Norway. Now the question is how do I know which country we should visit? I've been googling my ass off, and I still don't know shit. Money wont be a issue, we will go all in if thats what it takes. 

 

Where do I go from here? Most of the stuff I find on google are pointing me towards US. 

 

I(we) genuinly need real help. He cant be living with the pain he is in now. 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Dversity]

Maybe there is another forum that you guys know of, where I possibly could get help? All we need are some pointers, so we know where to look. We might just take a plane very soon to a good surgeon, just so they can evaluate the situation. 

[Guest]

Man, I don't have a suggestion but I really admire you doing this for your brother.

 

Your brother is lucky to have a sibling like you. 

 

I hope you find something/someone soon.

[Zusafek]

3 hours ago, Dversity said:

Maybe there is another forum that you guys know of, where I possibly could get help? All we need are some pointers, so we know where to look. We might just take a plane very soon to a good surgeon, just so they can evaluate the situation. 

I have had multiple shoulder surgeries due to sports and work related injuries. To be blunt and to the point, the pain will never fully go away. I live in pain everyday but you will eventually know your limits to help reduce the amount of pain. Just so you know before my last surgery on January 23 2017, I was an 8/10 on the pain scale. Since then I sit at around a 4/10 on the scale. 

 

Shoulders are one of the worst things to injure besides your neck or back. Both of which I have had surgeries on also.  

[Dversity]

11 hours ago, Netivity said:

Man, I don't have a suggestion but I really admire you doing this for your brother.

 

Your brother is lucky to have a sibling like you. 

 

I hope you find something/someone soon.

Thank you. 

 

9 hours ago, Zusafek said:

I have had multiple shoulder surgeries due to sports and work related injuries. To be blunt and to the point, the pain will never fully go away. I live in pain everyday but you will eventually know your limits to help reduce the amount of pain. Just so you know before my last surgery on January 23 2017, I was an 8/10 on the pain scale. Since then I sit at around a 4/10 on the scale. 

 

Shoulders are one of the worst things to injure besides your neck or back. Both of which I have had surgeries on also.  

Thank you. Was shoulder replacement ever considered? I've read about many shoulder replacement results, and most of them have had the pain reduced to 1/10 or in some cases the pain goes entirely away. I really want to believe that a proper shoulder surgeon can ease the pain by quite alot. 

 

Atleast I want to go and see someone who specializes in shoulders, and get his opinion on the situation. If I just knew who to see, I'd buy us a plane ticket asap. 

[Zusafek]

3 hours ago, Dversity said:

Thank you. 

 

Thank you. Was shoulder replacement ever considered? I've read about many shoulder replacement results, and most of them have had the pain reduced to 1/10 or in some cases the pain goes entirely away. I really want to believe that a proper shoulder surgeon can ease the pain by quite alot. 

 

Atleast I want to go and see someone who specializes in shoulders, and get his opinion on the situation. If I just knew who to see, I'd buy us a plane ticket asap. 

My right shoulder was replaced. That's what took my pain down to a 4/10. And that was done by a shoulder specialist. Most of the pain is from what's called ghost pain. Even though it has been replaced, I can still feel the original bone even though it's gone. It's part mental part physical. Trust me when I say it sucks. 

[3 Lions]

@Dversity

 

There's a place in Barcelona where Man City players are sent to for examinations and surgeries, don't know what the place is called.  

Edited September 3, 2018 by LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo

[Dversity]

On 9/3/2018 at 6:26 AM, Zusafek said:

I have had multiple shoulder surgeries due to sports and work related injuries. To be blunt and to the point, the pain will never fully go away. I live in pain everyday but you will eventually know your limits to help reduce the amount of pain. Just so you know before my last surgery on January 23 2017, I was an 8/10 on the pain scale. Since then I sit at around a 4/10 on the scale. 

 

Shoulders are one of the worst things to injure besides your neck or back. Both of which I have had surgeries on also.  

Hey again. So right now we dont know what we can do. It can go up to 3-4 days without him getting any sleep and thats terrible. 

How do you deal with the pain? My brother can't handle being on strong medication all the time either, its so addictive he says. The withdrawal he goes through everytime he doesnt take them is very hard on him.

 

I have also spent alot of time reading about shoulder replacements results. It seems that about 50% of the patients have been success, nearly eliminating the pain entirely. 50% is not good enough, he doesnt want to go through yet another surgery that MIGHT help. Even 5% of the results have been bad, making the pain even worse, and thats scary. 

 

 

[RasmusDC]

with 7 surgeries in, it might be too late..

 

but sports medical staff are the best at this, here in Denmark, we do use our insurance in such issues, since public health care is good, but when talking about injuries like this, it is more, to get you on, than to make you perfect, have a friend after a open arm injuri, no have a "titanium" part in his arm and a new joint, since they did not set i correct, when screwing it together..

 

i would go to a private hospital, in germany, with a focus on sports medicine and pay for a scan, and a consult, it could be worth the money. 

 

and then just get an estimate, on what is needed...... Germany seems to deliver a really high quality on this.

[Dversity]

11 minutes ago, RasmusDC said:

with 7 surgeries in, it might be too late..

 

but sports medical staff are the best at this, here in Denmark, we do use our insurance in such issues, since public health care is good, but when talking about injuries like this, it is more, to get you on, than to make you perfect, have a friend after a open arm injuri, no have a "titanium" part in his arm and a new joint, since they did not set i correct, when screwing it together..

 

i would go to a private hospital, in germany, with a focus on sports medicine and pay for a scan, and a consult, it could be worth the money. 

 

and then just get an estimate, on what is needed...... Germany seems to deliver a really high quality on this.

Yeah I guess its too late to fix it entirely, and I think he is fine with that, but the pain is too much. How do I start to look for the right hospital in Germany? 

 

Thanks for answering!

 

[RasmusDC]

5 minutes ago, Dversity said:

Yeah I guess its too late to fix it entirely, and I think he is fine with that, but the pain is too much. How do I start to look for the right hospital in Germany? 

 

Thanks for answering!

 

i think the best you can do is to start looking at facilities tied up with "football clubs" and high level sports areas.. normally these have been vetted by professionals.

 

Then begin to look into people talking about injuries, and the experience they had with it... the internet is a great place to start..

 

Don´t just look at web pages... 

 

i also know that Schweiz has a few places, that are used professional...

[Lady Fitzgerald]

9 hours ago, RasmusDC said:

i think the best you can do is to start looking at facilities tied up with "football clubs" and high level sports areas.. normally these have been vetted by professionals.

 

Then begin to look into people talking about injuries, and the experience they had with it... the internet is a great place to start..

 

Don´t just look at web pages... 

 

i also know that Schweiz has a few places, that are used professional...

Facilities that cater to the sporting world aren't always the best. I went to one that is the one many of the local sports tema used for my second bout with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (frozen shoulder) and they were making it worse. it got better when I stopped going there (I also suspct they were milking my insurance).

 

The best place for recommendations are you local doctors and freinds who have used certain specialists. Internet recommendations for anyting are usually a scam paid for by the doctors/companies they recommend.

[Canada EH]

Ask people who have had surgery like that, word gets around.

[RasmusDC]

i still stand by it, i have multiple examples of friends, and coworkers who have had serious injuries, or their kids have, and had surgeons pulled from sports areas to do the surgery or at Best non surgery.

 

like my Project director, who tore his achilles, and he is 60+  years old, without surgery he is 100% okay without ANY issues, but he had to follow a LOT of rules, to ensure this.

 

his son also totally botched his knee in a football (soccer) injury, and had a danish professional sports surgeon do the operation, it did cost 40.000dkkr, but insurance paid half and he has NO issues.

 

of course, hearing what people have experienced is the best, but shopping around, and maybe using the possibility of a second opinion or third, is a good thing, but 7 surgeries in, it might not be better

[Canada EH]

I would find out where the best hospital is for that type of surgery, and go there. Doctors know where the best hospitals are for certain things.

[Dversity]

On 11/19/2018 at 7:34 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Facilities that cater to the sporting world aren't always the best. I went to one that is the one many of the local sports tema used for my second bout with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (frozen shoulder) and they were making it worse. it got better when I stopped going there (I also suspct they were milking my insurance).

 

The best place for recommendations are you local doctors and freinds who have used certain specialists. Internet recommendations for anyting are usually a scam paid for by the doctors/companies they recommend.

Thats what I'm afraid of. Visiting docs who really arent that experienced and pay them shitloads of money to make it worse. 

 

Local norwegian doctors are not allowed to recommend any patient to seek help outside of Norway. I just dont know how to find the "correct" place to go and ask them their opinion.