SHOULDER PAIN/Rotator cuff question

Hi Friends!,

This is not for me as ice had and healed from TMS mind body symptoms long ago.

I have a question to ask anyone who had shoudler pain before and I would truly appreciate any feedback!

This is actually for my mother who is 73 years old. She doesnt beleive in tms but beleive every word the doctor says.

I dont get involved. But lately she has been nervous and anxious a bit. Last year... her cat of 18 years died. Also her brother in law had past away at 76 years old. She cares deeply about her kids...(me being one of them) =)
and her cats as well.

Let me just say after she retired from her job taking buses to train stations and working in NYC neraly all her life...she started getting pains. Esp around her knees. She got surgery for knee replacement...year later the other one as well. She goes every single time to the doctor to get everything checked out. At her age....im guessing she should. Blood work is always fine. she walks everyday, takes her vitamins. But again as of lately she has had shoulder pain...taking tylenol on a everyday basis. 3 months ago it went to her thumb in her right hand. It hurt her for days so she went to get a xray. they told her everyhting was fine just a little inflammaton. I told her the same and tried to explain the mind body for years to her now. To make the long story short, she had a MRI for that shoulder pain and from what im reading,...they found a tear NO actuate fracture Enthesopathy at the greater tuberosity (whatever that means)
and at the rotator cuff a Large full thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon.

Ive read enough dr john sarno's books and though i never payed any attention to the shoulder or rotator cuff , i always beleive this was mindbody TMS as well.

Is this a NORMAL ABNORMALITY?? She is scared of surgery but she is also doesnt like the pain. And as we all know, MRIS and XRAYS sometimes can put FEAR into the patient.

So again, I ask if anyone has information as if this could be TMS , please let me know.

My brother in law had the same shoulder pain got surgery and is still in pain.


Thank you very much!!

 

1. On rotator cuff. A friend of mine, 70 years old, had a rotator cuff tear a few months ago. She does not want to do surgery, so she spent about 2 months with the physical therapist and is now pain-free, with full range of motion. From her physical therapist, the muscle itself would not repair itself completely, especially at her age, but physical therapy helps other muscles to take over the function. I find it credible that a muscle can get torn, but muscles eventually develop scar tissue, and the pain should calm down. If it doesn't, it becomes TMS. Now, from the same source, surgery has only a modest success rate and carries a higher risk of muscle tear later. I would use that as an argument against surgery. Get armed with numbers, this may work better.

2. On TMS. I would be careful telling your mom head-on about TMS. If she thinks it is quack science, you are not helping your cause. I would take a slightly different approach. I would convince her to look into mindbody modalities like yoga or Qi Gong that, in her mind, may pass as a healthy form of exercise. This will give her some interesting things to learn, distract her from the pills, and could do wonders in calming down her anxieties, while at the same time helping greatly in reducing inflammation in the joints. Then slowly you may be able to convince her that distracting her mind with something useful reduces pain.

 

Thanks so much. I will work at that.