She believes, though, that she has made the right decision.
"I have got to think about my long-term health and in particular everything being okay for London in three years' time," added Sotherton. "I want to give myself every chance of competing at the 2012 Games.
"I will continue training to keep fit, but I am also going to speak to doctors, surgeons and specialists to look at the possibility of surgery.
"It is an injury that can be patched up, but it's more important to find a long-term solution, get myself fighting fit again and look to return to full training in the winter."
Despite Sotherton's absence, Britain's strongest gold medal hope in Berlin is still in the heptathlon, with Jessica Ennis in excellent form.
Sotherton added: "I wish the whole team well for Berlin. I wish Jess Ennis all the very best too. I know she can go out there and win the gold for the team. This weekend has also seen lots of medals being won by British athletes at the European under-23 championships, there are lots of emerging names and I hope they can go on and do well for GB in Berlin."
