46F, 5’7 170lbs. No other health conditions
I’ve been experiencing increasing shoulder pain and reduced mobility on my dominant side for a few months. I don’t do any repetitive motions in work, exercise or sports, and initial online searches said tears could just happen at my age from aging wear & tear.
I had an MRI (without contrast) that was interpreted as showing multiple tears including a partial superior labral tear. I had my appt with an orthopedic doctor today to discuss results and next steps, and he felt very confident that there were no tears and that I have frozen shoulder instead. This is obviously good news but I’m just feeling a little unsure about him saying that the radiologist that reviewed my mri could just be wrong, and that it was common to interpret the images as tears without a physical exam like I had today.
It’s true I don’t have any popping, grinding, cracking or sensations of instability that are described for tears, just pain and limited range of motion. I’m willing to trust the doctor’s judgment based on his extensive experience, and he seemed very confident.
But importantly he didn’t actually view the images himself just the written findings. I think they were having trouble getting the images up on the screen today. I was given a cortisone shot and will start PT for the frozen shoulder tomorrow.
I’m writing here to ask about how common it is to have tears described in an MRI but not be correct. I think tears should either be visible or marked inconclusive if not, but that’s just me as a layman.
If anyone has any experience with this discrepancy I’d love to hear from you, thanks in advance.