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I’ve been dealing with persistent pain in my right shoulder for months, and my doctor mentioned the possibility of a rotator cuff tear after an MRI. The idea of surgery is pretty daunting, but I’m also worried that just resting it isn’t going to fix the underlying problem. Has anyone else faced this decision between trying more conservative treatments or moving forward with an operation?

I went through something similar last year. MRI suggested there was a structural issue in the shoulder. I threw myself into PT, kept up the home exercises, and avoided heavy lifting for weeks. Some weeks were better, other days the ache lingered. I kept postponing surgery because the recovery sounded rough and I wanted to see if rehab would fix it. It helped a bit at times, but the underlying pain would come back after overdoing it.

I tracked sleep disruption and how far I could reach overhead before the pain woke me. After a few months we tried a corticosteroid injection, which helped for a while, then I did a more formal strengthening program. It bought time, but the pain persisted during big chores. I still avoid the stuff that triggers it, and that’s how I measure progress these days.

I talked to a surgeon and heard about long rehab windows and the chance of re-tearing. That made me pause. Still, I kept two paths in mind: conservative care and a fallback plan if things worsened. It felt like a fork I didn’t want to walk alone.

Has anyone else found that the problem shifted after a few months of rehab, making surgery seem less necessary?

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