Rotator Cuff Injury

[alophysio]

Hi - are you sure she is seeing a physio? 12-16 months MORE is unreasonable UNLESS she has "frozen shoulder".

Otherwise there is another diagnosis that has been missed.

It sounds like the physio and physician are guessing because MRI has not been mentioned by you. As physio.irl mentions, it is best to get an MRI to see what is going on in there.

To give you an idea, i expect my patients to get better in 3-5 treatments over the course of 6 weeks. If i can't make a change in that time, then there is something there i don't know about (needs further scans etc) or it is something i can't help - it needs surgery. There are of course conditions which are clearly outlined which need more time than that but if it is really a muscular issue, it will respond in that time. I have a personal aim of helping first visit patients achieve 70% improvement after the first treatment.

All that is just to say that i would almost never recommend someone come to see me for 12-16 months to get better...

Good luck!

Get MRI and another opinion from a surgeon or another physio...

[sharileedahl]

I don't know what the situation in other countries is but the waiting lists for orthopedic specialists / surgeons is lengthy at best in Canada (varies from province to province). That may be the reason that your mother-in-law's doctor is delaying a referral. If the doc feels it is a partial tear, the doc knows that many surgeons will choose not to do surgery anyway (also depends on her age and other factors specific to her). Unfortunately for your mother-in-law, she is up for a lengthy rehab process. 12-18 months? That sounds excessive but sorry "alophysio", I wouldn't expect 6 weeks to do the trick. That being said, if I were the therapist, if the treatment took weeks or months, I wouldn't necessarily be seeing them that whole time. There is a lot that a physiotherapist can offer, there is some that time can offer, and a huge amount that can be offered by the client being compliant with their home program (i.e. definitely NOT a quick fix).