Hi Luke,

Thanks for your reply. I suspect the nature of my original surgery (open) would have contributed to the current situation. I guess the problem with surgery is that every time they go in, they create more scar tissue and more chance for adhesions and other issues.

My new surgeon (who performed the last scope) suggested we try another 3 months of manual therapy before considering open surgery to:
-remove the remaining screw (this couldn't be removed arthriscopically)
-potentially fix a device to smooth over a divit/dent in the humeral head that might lead to arthritis later in life
-potentially look at splicing a tendon (can't remember which one) to allow more ER, but this obviously has more risk.

I'm interested in your comments around the placement of the screw and the movement of the humeral head. Are you saying that weak rotator cuff control could be causing the humeral head to sit forward (or not be pulled backwards in line with the joint surface when rotating), therefore potentially interfering with the screw? What about the original surgeon saying that the screw is buried in the cartilage? The new surgeon didn't want to rule out that the screw might be playing a part, but seemed pretty non-committal about it's role.

I'll get my physio to try as you suggest and relocate the posterior head of the humerus (which I assume means basically pushing it to the back of the joint surface and then trying to rotate).

Cheers,


Adam