[net.med] Question on swimmers shoulder.

kovish@winston.UUCP (Barrie Kovish) (08/20/85)

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I have a question on a surgical procedure. As a long time
swimmer ( >12 years) I have developed a chronic case of swimmers
shoulder. After 1.5 years of rest, physiotherapy and rotator cuff 
strengthening exercises I find my shoulder is servicable for most 
activities but NOT swimming. 3 different doctors have confirmed the
diagnosis of impingment syndrome. There seems to be three 
possible paths I can take.

       1. Quit swimming. I'd like to avoid this one if I can.

       2. Steriod injection into the affected area. This is 
	  probably the next logical choice but based on the
	  causative factors in swimmers shoulder I do not 
	  expect this to work.

       3. Resection of the coracoacromial ligament and 
	  removal of some of the acromium. 

Number 3 seems to be the best bet to allow me to swim in the future 
since it removes the cause of the impingment. The question is 
how successfull is this type of operation? Will it really allow
pain free long distance swimming? Any one out there in net land have 
any experience with this? Thanks for any experiences you can share with
me.



-- 
    Barrie Kovish
    New Media Technologies
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