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Mr Ioannis Polyzois 2018-12-13 Person 5 5 0

I had a shoulder stabilisation / SLAP repair 3 months ago. When I was trying to decide whether to have the procedure done I couldn’t find much information regarding the procedure and recovery so here’s a summary for anyone making the same decision: I had 3 dislocations of the shoulder and three subluxations across a 17 year period – all traumatic. After the final dislocation I decided something had to be done. In my initial consultation with Mr Polyzois he seemed a little sceptical as to whether surgery would be the right option (I still had a good range of movement and strength) but I was keen to improve the stability to decrease the risk of future dislocations. I had a CT and MRI/Arthroscopy scan – the Arthroscopy involves injecting a dye into the shoulder to show up in the MRI – It’s uncomfortable but not painful. With the results of the CT and MRI, Mr Polyzois identified 4 tears in the labrum and was happy to operate and effect a repair. The surgery itself was not problematic with only one night in hospital, the nerve block on the shoulder took longer than anticipated to wear off and I had numbness in my hand of a few days, however I think this benefitted me as I had very little pain after the operation and throughout my recovery. I found the hardest part was being in a sling and unable to use my primary hand for 6 weeks – be warned that you will stay in the sling and almost entirely immobilise the arm for 6 weeks including sleeping. I’m 43 and have no other health issues, I’m fit and thought I’d recover faster and be out of the sling quickly – I was wrong! Whilst being in the sling is frustrating, I do now believe that this total immobilisation allows the joint to heal and be really strong and stable, the disadvantage is that the muscle around the shoulder atrophies and the strength to drive normal movement almost disappears. Although I now have 95% of the range of movement (compared to my good arm) there’s still a fair way to go with building back to normal strength. Mr Polyzois was excellent throughout – I have found his manner and approach to be very matter of fact and to the point, but that’s the sort of manner I prefer so I think he understands his patients well and gives them what they need to know. I’m delighted with the outcome of the surgery. Although I still need to build more strength, the joint is very stable and I can comfortably stretch it and do things that would have almost certainly caused it to pop out 3 months ago!