by LIZ BONIS & MEGAN BURGASSER, WKRC | Click here to read the full article.

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A recent report showed delaying a much needed medical procedure could lead to additional health concerns.

So, when is it time to reconsider?

For those who put off surgery, even if they’re in serious pain, a word of caution came from those who perform the procedures.

Researchers with the National Institutes of Health looked at surgeries when they were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They found out some of those who delayed treatment led to poor physical health, increased anxiety, decreased social interaction, the ability to work and overall quality of life.

Dr. Brandon Kohrs weighed in on delaying a procedure versus not delaying it. He specializes in elbow and shoulder surgery.

“It’s becoming more and more common for individuals who have debilitating shoulder pain, bad arthritis, bad rotator cuff tears that aren’t fixable, and it’s actually been pretty remarkable at improving the quality of life, function, motion, pain relief for a lot of patients in our population,” said Kohrs, an OrthoCincy orthopedic surgeon.

He said that should be the real decision maker when it came to a procedure that’s been put off.

Kohrs recommended when it might be time to consider surgery as the next step.

“When you get to the point that it’s influencing your daily quality of life, that’s when you should look at doing something else. When non-operative treatments aren’t effective anymore, which is what we typically always start with, that’s something that should at least be considered, and you do have some people who put it off because of the fear of surgery, the fear of recovery. I think the majority of patients are happy they did it and wish they would have done it sooner,” said Kohrs.