Hello, I am trying to decide about surgery in my right supraspinatus tendon. I torn it 3 weeks ago playing volleyball in the beach.  I have read lots of information about this on the web and apparently, the concensus runs in the sense that if 50% or more of the tendon is torn, then surgery is indicated. What I would like to know is how to size the tear in my MRI scans.  I see the full thickness tear in 2 out of 4 images of the humerus head.  As far as I understand, each image is separated from the next by a distance of 2 mm (sorry I live in Mexico and don't know the equivalent to English system). This would mean, according to my understanding, that 4 mm of the tendon width is torn and 4 mm is intact. I have severe pain at night and important limitation in ROM because of pain and also weakness.

I have asked two doctors.  One told me to leave it as it is an cope with the limitations.  The other has adviced me strongly to have surgery asap. THe first doctor warned me that if I asked this same question to 1000 doctors, then 500 of them would recommend surgery and 500 would recomend "conservative" treatment.  I already have a sample of 2 doctors and don't want to go on until I enquire the whole 1000.  I would really like to learn how to size the tear from the image so I can take my own decision according to the guidelines I have read. 

Thank you,

Victor

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