When the shoulder hurts, it is very painful and uncomfortable.

It feels very different from discomfort in the arms or legs. The closer it is to the head or torso, the harder it is to endure.

If you watch health programs on the internet or cable TV, the dominant opinion regarding shoulder treatment is that surgery should be avoided.

They often present various unique and specialized methods one by one, claiming that doing just this will cure the condition. There are also many positive reviews from patients who have actually received treatment. Is this true?

Today, I will accurately explain the methods and significance of non-surgical treatment for shoulder conditions.

The conditions we will cover today are frozen shoulder, impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tear, and calcific tendinitis.

If I were to discuss the overall details and precise treatment methods for each of these diseases, there would be much to say even for just one; however, if we are discussing only non-surgical treatment, it is actually quite simple.

This is because, although it may sound very complex in words, the treatment itself is simple.

Before discussing each disease, I will explain the principles of non-surgical shoulder treatment. There are two main issues with the shoulder: pain and function.

However, pain accounts for over 95% of most shoulder problems.

In fact, functional issues are rare; they only apply in very severe cases. This is because functional problems are typically limited to cases of frozen shoulder where the arm stiffens due to extreme severity, cases where the rotator cuff is completely ruptured preventing the arm from being raised at all, or, rarely, cases of habitual dislocation.

Therefore, it should be considered that managing pain alone resolves 95% of shoulder treatment.

This is because, unless the condition reaches an extreme, functional problems do not become apparent if the shoulder is used carefully.

For this reason, most non-surgical treatments actually focus solely on pain management.

Up to this point, there is no problem. However, claiming that the disease itself recovers and regenerates simply by managing pain is a lie and not true. This is where the problem lies.

It is only right to acknowledge what is possible and what is not.

Let me explain using various diseases as examples. Rotator Cuff Tear

If you have a rotator cuff tear, the pain is not caused by the tendon itself rupturing, but by inflammation and swelling outside the tendon, as well as arthritis within the joint itself. In fact, in cases where there is little inflammation, there are many instances where there is no pain at all, even if the tendon is completely ruptured and the arm cannot be raised. Most patients who come in with a rotator cuff tear due to pain have a partial tear, and the tear itself is not the cause of the pain. The inability of a patient with a partial tear to lift their arm is purely due to pain; once the pain subsides, they can lift their arm using the remaining tendons, and there are no functional issues at the moment.

Therefore, while a complete tear requires surgery for functional reasons, for a partial tear, non-surgical pain treatment may be the answer, provided there is no risk of the tendon tearing further. Treatment involves injections, medication, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, manual therapy, and hot compresses. The pain usually improves. Up to this point, there are no problems and everything is fine. The problem arises after that. The rotator cuff consists of tendons. If a patient worried that their torn tendon might rupture further is told the truth—that their tendon could tear again—they will try to find another hospital capable of performing surgery. Therefore, once the pain is resolved, even if the doctor deceives them by claiming that their rotator cuff has regenerated and healed to some extent, the patient has no way of knowing the truth and believes it wholeheartedly because their symptoms have improved.

The lie is so blatant that the patient cannot even suspect anything.

There is another reason why this is possible. Unless you are extremely unlucky, a rotator cuff tear can prevent a complete rupture for several years, even if one-third or half of the shoulder is torn, as long as you take care of your shoulder and are careful. As long as a complete rupture does not occur, the shoulder may not show any abnormalities unless excessive force is applied; in some cases, even when using it heavily.

However, if this continues for too long, the muscles attached to the torn tendon weaken and atrophy, and the tendon in the severed area thins out, surgery may become difficult later on. Even if surgery becomes possible, there are many cases where it tears again.

This is the truth. SLAP Lesion

A SLAP lesion of the shoulder is a tear in the part where the ligament surrounding the shoulder joint attaches to the bone.

If the tear is minor, there are naturally no functional problems.

In most case...