Arthroscopic surgery to help restore an athlete’s range of motion: Jonathan Messing’s Story

Two years ago, University of Arizona economics student Jonathan Messing was on a summer canoe trip when a mishap occurred. “I was showing off,” he admits, “and didn’t see that there was a big rock right next to the boat.” As a result, Messing slammed into it shoulder-first and absorbed the entire shock with his left side. An avid swimmer and basketball player, he quickly sought physical therapy to recover from the physical trauma but with no lasting results.

After being referred to Dr. Pruzansky, Messing underwent a battery of range-of-motion tests and scans. He was advised that the best course of action was arthroscopic shoulder surgery—an unwelcome prospect to the busy student, but necessary given the chronic pain and weakness he was experiencing.

“I was relieved at the thought that it would end,” he recalls. During the arthroscopic procedure, Dr. Pruzansky was able arthroscopically to fix his unstable shoulder joint by reattaching his torn cartilage to the socket and simultaneously repairing SLAP and Bankart lesions. “A year after the surgery, I now have 90 percent range of motion” and full athletic use, says Messing, who will graduate this summer and hopes to be an entrepreneur in his native New York. “Before I was at 20 percent. Dr. Pruzansky has been a very good doctor!”