Hi MrPhysio+,

Thanks for your insights. Yes considering that laundry list of breaks, I had essentially no complaints other than the shoulder after about 6 - 8 weeks.

The three hydrodilations I had were all very different experiences. The first I had at RMH and it was done with a local anaesthetic, then die, and then (saline?) fluid. The doctor/radiologist who applied it was relatively new to the technique, and missed the capsual a couple of times and so had to reposition, all in all taking about 40 minutes. They got about 35ml in total; the feeling of internal pressure was pretty intense and diminished over the next few hours. The second was at Melbourne Radiology Clinic and used essentially the same technique, but with a little less fuss and similar outcome. The third was done at Victoria House Medical Imaging; I believe the doctor that helped develop the technique in Victoria was the one who treated me (Frank?). This one was a little different - no anaesthetic, no die, and over in about 10 minutes!

In all cases they were able to get 30 - 35 ml in, in one of them I seem to remember a build-up of pressure and then a 'pop' sensation followed by the loss of that pressure. All three provided no gains in ER and minimal gains gains elsewhere.I think in my case they haven't been effective in the way the surgeon had hoped.

Nobody has mentioned labral tears to me, and I couldn't read the operative notes to see if this was part of the original accident (I really wish surgeons would type their notes!). Even if there is a labral tear, I doubt I've got to worry too much about stability the way this shoulder is going...It's interesting to note that the remaining screw is very close to the edge of the joint surface. When I asked my original surgeon about this, he told me it was embedded in the cartilage (so I guess the labrum?).

In terms of my symptoms during the session, there is definitely some protective reactions going on there - I have to make a point of relaxing and letting the physio take the arm through it's motion (pain tolerance is fairly good though). While it's painful during the session, the pain almost non-existant about 15 minutes after.