just diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis...
My pain is primarily in my shouelders with the right side being much worse. Doc gave me cortisone in both shoulders a month ago. The right side had initial improvement, but is back to being quite painful.
Im leaning towards just having the shoulder replaced and just get it over with. But I have a few questions;
1. Does physical therapy work? I've been referred to one, but not made an appt yet.
2. Is a visit to a rheumatologist worth It?
It seems since there's no magic bullet to make it better, maybe surgery is a good option.
I'm a 50 year old male in the construction business so I'm constantly using my arms.
Thanks
Hi
,
The cortisone shots do tend to wear off, but like you I would have hoped to get more than a month out of the one! Perhaps some others can weigh in here, but my experience has been that physical therapy can certainly help regain your range of motion and strengthen your muscles, but it cannot reduce the inflammation or joint damage. We have a little more info on physical therapy here if you're interested:
https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/treatment/physical-therapy-exercise/
To your second question, absolutely you should visit a Rheumatologist (if you haven't already been referred to one). Rheumatologists are specialists in autoimmune conditions and will generally be the ones to diagnose and manage your treatments. That's my two cents! Thanks for stopping by to ask, I'm sure we'll talk soon.
-Victoria, Community Moderator
I would say that a visit to a rheumatologist is a must. Even if you can handle the pain you have you want to make sure you're doing what you can to prevent the deterioration that can occur over time. That's what really gets you. A good rheumatologist can help you with that.
