Fast forward to March of this year...I finally decided that I couldn't put up with my shoulder anymore.  It wasn't that I was in a lot of pain, but I have an active job and lifestyle and I was tired of constantly thinking about my shoulder.  So I had my boss (a PT who is a shoulder expert) look at my shoulder.  At first he said it was just impingement, but then he said that there was probably a labral tear.  He thought I should have a MRI arthrogram done, so I had my team doctor (family practice guy) at my high school write me a script for the MRI. 

Had the MRI done at the beginning of April.  Injection of dye wasn't that bad; worst part was laying still for a half hour twice (had images taken with and without dye to compare).  Results didn't show a definitive tear, just a little bit of increased signal uptake along the labrum.  The team orthopedic for my high school looked at the MRI's and also didn't see anything definitive, so he agreed to take a look at my shoulder.  (He was even willing to fit me in his schedule the next morning!!!  It's great knowing doctors!!!) 

So at the appointment, the OS told me he was pretty sure that I had a labral tear (which I was already pretty sure of) since every clinical test was positive for one.  He also said that although both my shoulders are lax, my involved right one is a little more loose than the left.  He said the pain at endrange flexion and abduction was from some impingement due to the laxity.  My shoulder was fighting to find a stable position, causing some impingement at the endranges. 

He said since I had been treating it conservatively for so long, my options were limited.  He could do a diagnostic/therapeutic cortisone injection into the glenohumeral joint, we could think about surgery, or I could live with it.  Well since living with it wasn't an option, and I wasn't completely ready to commit to surgery, I decided to go with the cortisone injection.  We were using it more as a diagnostic tool than therapeutic since I'm not in constant pain.  My OS wanted to see if the local anesthetic in the injection would instantly the pain away with some of the tests and at the endranges of flexion and abduction.  Since it did take the pain away instantly, he said that there definitely was something going on inside the joint. 

The appointment ended with my OS saying to call him when I was sick of putting up with it and was ready for surgery.  He said the surgery would consist of him doing a diagnostic arthroscopy to see if I did indeed have a labral tear, repairing the tear if I had one, and possibly tightening my capsule a little bit.

I was scared to commit to surgery since I didn't have definitive proof that I actually had a tear.  But after talking it over with my boss (a PT), we decided to go ahead with surgery.  I guess I should say that this summer I am going to be starting school to become a physician assistant.  So I need to be able to use both arms and not worry about my right shoulder constantly.