I'm with you happyannie. I'm opting for PT and anything else that can work before going to surgery. I started a blog also. The Long Road to a SLAP tear recovery.

I have most pain in my bicep right now without even moving my arm or shoulder.
Let me know how the ultrasound machine helps.

I'm just going to state that you can manage the pain and strengthen your shoulder with PT, but if you have a tear, it will not heal. It must be repaired.

I had my injury over 5 years ago and was fine until last August when for no apparent reason my shoulder lost most of it's strength and felt like there was a knife blade deep inside. I was pulling myself up the mast on our sailboat (in a bosun chair) when a piece of hardware broke, luckily I was only about 20 feet up and not the full 47'. I landed on my shoulder. It was diagnosed as separated then, but once I recovered and with PT was good for almost 5 years. When the pain became unbearable I went to the ortho, he prescribed the MRI and saw the SLAP tear. First we opted for cortisone and PT which has me at a manageable pain state now.

But.. I can no longer swim, my shoulder strength continues to atrophy (even with working out), and I have a basic low level ache in the joint. I guess the worst part is that even though my shoulder does not dislocate it does not feel stable.

My bro-in-law is a PT and after looking at the MRI said that there is a point where you can do more damage by not repairing the joint, and I should do this sooner not later. I guess my point is there comes a time when you'll know you are ready. Reading this site gives me confidence and scares me at the same time with some of the hard recoveries. But more knowledge is always better.

Hope ths helps, maxi