Hello. I'm Dr. Dongkyu Lee, an orthopedic specialist. Some patients don't receive proper diagnosis or treatment simply because of their age. When I listen to the stories of my elderly patients, I often hear things like:
"I went to a local clinic for shoulder pain, and they only took an X-ray and just gave me medication saying it was inflammation." "They only took an X-ray, said there was inflammation, gave me an injection and told me to do physical therapy." "They did an ultrasound and found a tendon tear, but said because of my age, I should just take medication and get injections."
And so on. Why don't they diagnose properly? Why don't they provide proper treatment? Today's case involves an 83-year-old patient. The patient went to a local clinic for shoulder pain and was told it was inflammation. They would get injections when it hurt, feel better for a while, then the pain would return... and they'd get another injection. This went on for 3 years. Eventually, the injections stopped working, the pain kept worsening, range of motion became limited, daily activities became impossible, and nights were sleepless from pain. The patient came to me begging to be treated. We proceeded with diagnostic tests.
Although the patient was 83 years old, they had the will to be treated, were in good overall health, and surgical treatment was performed.
Age is just a number. In this patient's case, the rotator cuff was healthy enough that the suture held firmly.
Age is merely one factor to consider in diagnosis and treatment. Advanced age should not be a reason to give up on diagnosis or be negligent about it. Advanced age should not be a reason to forgo or abandon treatment.
Not only surgical treatment, but also non-surgical approaches and proper injection therapy can heal shoulder conditions.
