CentraState - Healthy Directions

A s a ladies' merchandising manager, it was not uncommon for Lisa Zea to frequently reach over her head. More than 14 years of working in retail required Lisa to use the same motions, day in and day out. This put repeated stress on her right shoulder, a problem that snowballed over time. "For more than a year and a half, I felt pain in my shoulder, especially at night," Lisa recalls. "I saw several doctors, who prescribed cortisone injections and physical therapy, but nothing was working." As the pain worsened, Lisa was becoming discouraged. She noticed Brielle Orthopedics had opened a location in Freehold and made an appointment with Michael Nakashian, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in all areas of hand and upper extremity surgery. Because Lisa had never experienced a fall or traumatic event, Dr. Nakashian suspected that Lisa's pain was coming from wear- and-tear of her shoulder. An MRI revealed a torn rotator cuff. "This type of injury occurs when any of the rotator cuff tendons that insert into the shoulder are torn, either from a severe injury or repetitive wearing down over time," Dr. Nakashian explains. "It's very common with that type of injury to have a lot of pain, making it difficult to sleep at night and do anything with the hand above shoulder height." Lisa could not fathom living with debilitating pain, so she decided to undergo surgery to address the problem. In October 2014, Dr. Nakashian repaired her shoulder with same-day arthroscopic surgery at CentraState. Lisa's arm was immobilized in a sling and she rested at home for six weeks, doing gentle home exercises. Once her shoulder had healed enough, she began several months of physical therapy. "Typically, patients are very happy after the first few nights because the pain at night begins to go away and the baseline level of severe pain is gone," Dr. Nakashian says. "As they get through recovery and rehab, they build up strength, return to activity, and notice no pain." Although it was a lengthy recovery process, Lisa reports that today she can do anything she wants with her right arm and shoulder, with no pain. In fact, just five months after her surgery, Lisa progressed so well that Dr. Nakashian felt comfortable giving her clearance to ski with her daughter in Utah. Lisa credits Dr. Nakashian for encouraging her to be patient with her healing. She now greets him with both arms raised straight up in the air and a huge smile on her face. "For a very long time I thought I was imagining my pain because no one could do anything for me," she says. "But Dr. Nakashian believed that I was in pain, and he was able to fix it." For more information on orthopedic services at CentraState, call 866-CENTRA7 (866-236-8727) or visit www.centrastate.com/ orthopedics. HD Lisa Zea always greets Dr. Michael Nakashian with her arms raised high after her successful shoulder surgery. Shoulder Surgery Keeps Pain Out of Reach Spring 2016 Healthy Directions 10

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