Do I Get Shoulder Surgery or No? Not Sure What to Do Next?

Question by Michelle: Do I get shoulder surgery or no? Not sure what to do next?
l’m a senior in highschool and I hurt my shoulder 5 months ago, went to an orthopedist, and had an MRI arthrogram. The MRI came back fine. I have multi-directional instability and shoulder subluxtion, so my shoulder partially dislocates from the back, front, and down. I have loose, stretched out ligaments in my shoulder and that’s causing the slipping. I started going to physical therapy twice a week, then it was once a week, and then once every other week ever since the injury. I’m doing all the excercises at home everyday as well. I’m finished with PT now. The therapists said that I can do the exercises on my own and that my strength has really built up. The goal is to get my strength built up in my shoulder so it wouldn’t be so loose and slip out.
My orthopedist cleared me to play basketball this year since I have no pain, and to have a follow up appointment when the season’s over. If it’s still slipping after the season is over in March, he said I may need surgery. So, it’s now January and my shoulder still slips out at least 5 times a day. My shoulder slips out mainly with picking things up (my purse, a jacket, the jug of milk) and bringing my arm so it’s bent at my side.

I was wondering when should I be seeing an improvement with my shoulder slipping out?

Like I said, my strength has really built up and is great -the therapist said he was having a hard time finding challenging exercises for me. But when my shoulder slips, it looks deformed and I have to move my arm around until it pops and then I feel my shoulder slip back up into place.

If I was given the choice, do you think I should get surgery? It doesn’t cause me any pain, it’s just rather uncomfortable.
So, if you were me, would you get surgery to fix the instability or would you just ignore it since it doesn’t cause pain?

I know ultimately my orthopedic surgeon and I will make that decision. I’d just like to hear your thoughts and opinions. Thanks for the help and for reading this! I appreciate it

Best answer:

Answer by Freddie Colbs
Rub Some Bacon On It!

Answer by CAT
I know making a decision to have or not to have surgery can be hard, especially if it’s not a life or death surgery. I had to make that decision regarding my back a few years ago. Here’s my advice. Does the problem interfere with your life? Will surgery fix the problem to where your life is normal? If you can answer yes to both of those questions then surgery would be a good idea. I ended up answering yes to both and I had my back surgery, I do not regret it. Good luck.

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