Mark Rainey
Contributor

Thank you for making an effort.

Jim in Massachusetts

My last on this, since I'm imposing.

My first brush with this kind of frustration was a lifetime ago when I worked in a Trauma center. We had a gifted neuro surgeon from Colombia there.

He always seemed sad. "They come to me, to repair the preventable. They're angry after they survive and can't have their lives back."

I brought him chocolate, every Thursday. It might have been the only time anyone showed him consideration without asking for a donation afterwards.

I've seen first hand the frustrations you Medical professionals face - my wife is a Radiation oncologist.

The influence of advertising directly to the Rubes was first felt in your arena and has spread everywhere except in car sales.

For some inexplicable reason, the same people who buy lottery tickets as a religious practice, accept undercoating and window etching as necessary new car expenses and blithely purchase Cellphone protection plans can't be bothered to follow medical directions until they're in stitches.



Consider your audience, you're not wrong.

Some of us are slow to recognize the pursuits which break us down, rather than enhance our lives.

When multiple specialists determined that my crippling pain was real (I was investigating Makoplasty, it was so bad), but no remedies beyond direct steroid injections were available, I shelved the racket and hung up my skates. Those were hard days and the OP is likely lamenting them, too.

Gone are the ice baths, multiple compresses and excruciating PT. My NSAid bar tab is down, too.

I was in exactly the same position as the OP, before reaching your conclusion - but nobody listens to the
inexorable tolling of our shared mortality until they must.

*****

That said: if we're to assist someone who is desperate enough to ask complete strangers- online - for help, available, reversible and tolerable treatment should be considered and caveats offered alongside.
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I think it's terrific when actual experts bring in definitive guidance to forums. The problem is losing focus on the OP.

The Mayo clinic isn't behind a paywall or asking for "shipping costs" for a trial sample of snake oil.

If you'll excuse the pun, I have "first hand" experience with arm pain and how difficult daily living becomes when one can't manipulate a car key (when cars still had keys), turn a doorknob or open a jar.

If the OP is in that situation, they're in a bad way.

My sympathies are with them and would suggest that a gentle approach leading to your conclusion may be more helpful.

Sometimes the first stage of managing a crisis is to forget about the squirrel in the kitchen and find the fire extinguisher.
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