Patient: Ryan
Physician: Kyle Galles

For the past 22 years, Ryan has been a competitive bodybuilder and powerlifter. After participating in the sport for his initial two years, Ryan experienced his first injury. He scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kyle Galles after hearing about his work with injured athletes, as Ryan was anticipating he had torn a rotator cuff that would require surgery.

Ryan was diagnosed with severe bursitis, which is inflammation in the bursa of his shoulder. The bursa is filled with fluid and decreases friction and rubbing between the muscles, tendons and skin. For this injury, Ryan was administered a shot of cortisone along with physical therapy.

“The fact that Dr. Galles actually didn’t operate on my shoulder but instead did another method gained my trust,” Ryan said. “This aspect, along with his continued and impressive credentials, made it so when I had injured my other shoulder, choosing Dr. Galles was a logical choice.”

Time passed, and due to more strenuous lifting and exercise, Ryan faced a more severe injury in his other shoulder. Initially he hoped he could avoid surgery, but after a year and a half, he decided it was time to make another appointment with Dr. Galles.

Dr. Galles diagnosed him with a rotator cuff tear along with impingement syndrome, which occurs when bones from the shoulder impinge on tendons or the bursa. At that point, surgery was a must and was scheduled shortly after the diagnosis.

“Surgery itself was actually a lot easier than I expected,” Ryan said. “It was a low stress experience.” Ryan began meeting with a physical therapist the day after surgery. In addition to physical therapy twice a week, Ryan performed daily physical therapy at home, including both exercise and stretching.

At six months post-surgery, Ryan was able to do all the activities he was doing before, specifically bench press, squats, deadlifts and pull-ups. Additionally, he has regained most of the muscle he lost during the process. While Ryan is still rebuilding strength in that shoulder, he is pain free and his range of motion is back to normal.