I overheard a conversation this past week that made me laugh.  It reminded me a little of the "my bike is bigger than your bike" taunts that you hear from the mouths of 5 year olds...except this was between 55+ year olds!  And, it wasn't about bikes, or toys or paychecks...it was along the lines of "well, I was hitting tennis balls at this point after my shoulder surgery!"

True, both had shoulder surgery (apple v. apple).  One had a 'clean up' done which involved shaving the frayed pieces of the rotator cuff tendons (technically a rotator cuff surgery.)  The other had a grade II tear (tears are either I, II or III) that was repaired and reattached with anchors to the bone (the type of surgery is called a mini-open.)  This surgery is also a rotator cuff surgery.  Two patients talking about their 'rotator cuff' surgeries without an objective context as to the extent of damage/work done in those surgeries usually either goes nowhere or worse, results in the person with the 'slower' progress thinking they should be doing more.  In fact, had I not heard this conversation and stepped in to explain the vast differences in their situations, I am sure the 'slower' one would have gone out and hit tennis balls that weekend!!

This isn't the first time I have found myself in this situation...far from it.  It's not only shoulder surgeries or injuries that are the problem.  Knees, backs, ankles...you name it, I've heard it!  Don't get me wrong...I think it is very beneficial for patients to share their stories and experiences and even encourage it when I can match two apples together.  However, when an apple and an orange start comparing notes...anything can happen!  Due to the uniqueness of each person's situation, we should all use these conversations to add to our own general knowledge so we might ask better questions and make better decisions about ourselves, but not to directly compare our situation to another person's.

An equally interesting situation is when I hear patients say, "my Doctor said I have the worst knee he's ever seen."  Having already spoken with the Doctor who told me that this patient had 'moderate' damage, I know there is sometimes a discrepancy between what is said and what is heard.  So, even when you have two apples, how each perceives and tells their story can make them incomparable.  

Having an objective context might mean asking your Doctor to rate your shoulder damage/surgery on a scale of 1 to 10, rather than having them say that "...your knee was pretty messed up" and you hearing "...one of the worst I've ever seen."  Ask your PT how you are progressing, relative to others with similar injuries.  Be sure to make informed decisions based on good information!