Several years ago Zack suffered a shoulder injury while doing shoulder presses at the gym that resulted in a labral tear in his shoulder. His torn labrum resulted in him suffering recurrent shoulder dislocations with a secondary issue being a SLAP tear.
Over the years and being active playing soccer, boxing, skin boarding and rock climbing, his shoulder continued to dislocate and he suffered severe shoulder pain. He eventually got used to putting his shoulder back in place on his own, since he was not willing to stop the sports that made him feel alive.
One day he was relaxing laying down with his hands behind his head and Zack made a slight move that resulted in him dislocating his shoulder again. He thought, “Enough is enough! I can’t keep living like this.”
Zack began the search to find the right orthopedic surgeon that could fix his torn labrum shoulder, and also provide him a realistic and favorable prognosis of being able to continue playing the sports he loved. After meeting with a couple orthopedic surgeons, he was left feeling more nervous than prior to the appointments. He finally scheduled an appointment with Steven Struhl, MD an orthopedic surgeon in NYC who is a Shoulder Specialist.
“I remember being very nervous hoping that Dr. Struhl would say that everything will be fine and no surgery was needed”, explains Zack. After Dr. Struhl’s thorough examination, he shared with Zack that if he wanted to continue playing the sports he enjoys with less pain, then he would need to have shoulder dislocation surgery. Zack further explained, “Due to Dr. Struhl’s very positive outlook, his credentials, proven results, his approach that he knew that he would be able to repair my labral tear in my shoulder; it was a no brainer to have Dr. Struhl perform my shoulder surgery.”
Zack had an orthoscopic labrum repair last October, and due to the complete labral tear of his shoulder it had to be secured with 7 anchors.
Zack took his PT very seriously. PT was slow, but critical to do properly.
“Dr. Struhl exceeded my expectations. I initially thought that he was just being overly optimistic, but I am glad to say that he proved me wrong. He told me that it would take me 6 months to heal (which I was dreading), but I was able to get the green light in 4 months to do some of the things that I live for. I am now back to rock climbing and working out at the gym pain free thanks to Dr. Struhl and his staff”
