Rotator Cuff surgery...anyone here gone through it?

[Mandelon]

I'm reading this thread with more interest now, as the past few weeks my left shoulder now has a few positions that are excruciating. Dammit. LOL

It seems to be getting better, as I am learning what motions are painful. I move with a slow deliberate speed now. Once in a while I will accidently raise the arm straight out or a similar action and damn, it feels like being stabbed with a hot dagger. I wince and howl.

I started MSM, chondroitin, collagen and Glucosamine supplements and doing different gym exercises. I cut back physical work too. Hopefully I can get it back to normal without this surgery. You guys just scare me! LOL

 

[Tamalewagon]

I'm reading this thread with more interest now, as the past few weeks my left shoulder now has a few positions that are excruciating. Dammit. LOL

It seems to be getting better, as I am learning what motions are painful. I move with a slow deliberate speed now. Once in a while I will accidently raise the arm straight out or a similar action and damn, it feels like being stabbed with a hot dagger. I wince and howl.

I started MSM, chondroitin, collagen and Glucosamine supplements and doing different gym exercises. I cut back physical work too. Hopefully I can get it back to normal without this surgery. You guys just scare me! LOL

Seriously Rich, do everything you can to avoid the surgery. Take the steroid shots, try the stem cell option etc. The surgery should be the last resort unless you have a severe tear. I had a pretty severe tear and had to undergo the surgery. The recovery has been steadily progressing with a setback here and there. It is a long recovery (up to a year). I am in PT and still cannot lift 20lbs objects above my head yet. That said, the doctors believe I should be able to snow/water ski by next season again and should be 100% based on the progress. The orthopedic surgeon I saw at Scripps was very good and is not extremely conservative with the recovery.

Which shoulder is it?

 

[Tamalewagon]

A Bidet can be compared to Sliced Bread.
You don’t know what you are missing.

Just saw this...you're scaring me again Zigmund.

 

[Ziggy]

Just saw this...you're scaring me again Zigmund.

Why? It's not like it's gonna spray outta your ears or anything.

 

[Tamalewagon]

Why? It's not like it's gonna spray outta your ears or anything.

LOL...dunno, my wife says her comments go in my ears and out my ass.

 

[185EZ]

I'm reading this thread with more interest now, as the past few weeks my left shoulder now has a few positions that are excruciating. Dammit. LOL

It seems to be getting better, as I am learning what motions are painful. I move with a slow deliberate speed now. Once in a while I will accidently raise the arm straight out or a similar action and damn, it feels like being stabbed with a hot dagger. I wince and howl.

I started MSM, chondroitin, collagen and Glucosamine supplements and doing different gym exercises. I cut back physical work too. Hopefully I can get it back to normal without this surgery. You guys just scare me! LOL

I tried the glucosamine and it didn't help.
I have 800 mg ibuprofen but the otc 200 mg works good for the occasional pain.
My doctor sent me to PT but all they did was tell me I have limited range of motion. No shit lol.
My insurance didn't cover most of it so $75 a visit and they wanted me 3 times a week.
I found the same exercises online and it's helping.
I got a posture corrector. Amazing how keeping your shoulder in a different spot feels so good
I also do a 1/2 hour massage almost every week and it's an amazing $40 feeling.
I have good and bad days but trying to avoid the surgery. Sometimes the pain is like a knife in the joint and I'm not doing anything physical

 

[Tamalewagon]

Follow up...just saw the surgeon yesterday. He said you're healed kid. The tendon is healed and now all you need to do is continue to strengthen the shoulder muscles and you should be 100% by Spring. He took me off Physical Therapy and just told me to take it slow on the weight increases and not to overdue the workouts but essentially I'm good to go. FYI, I did NOT follow the conventional recovery methodology. I took my arm out of the sling after 8 days post surgery as it was driving me crazy. At 3 weeks I was already starting to working on my range of motion besides the typical "swinging your arm in circles BS". However, what worked for me won't work for everyone. You know your body...when it hurts, stop.

Unfortunately, he cleared me after the boating season is all but over. Already looking forward to DS next year.

That is all...carry on.

 

[Desert Whaler]

Follow up...just saw the surgeon yesterday. He said you're healed kid. The tendon is healed and now all you need to do is continue to strengthen the shoulder muscles and you should be 100% by Spring. He took me off Physical Therapy and just told me to take it slow on the weight increases and not to overdue the workouts but essentially I'm good to go. FYI, I did NOT follow the conventional recovery methodology. I took my arm out of the sling after 8 days post surgery as it was driving me crazy. At 3 weeks I was already starting to working on my range of motion besides the typical "swinging your arm in circles BS". However, what worked for me won't work for everyone. You know your body...when it hurts, stop.

Unfortunately, he cleared me after the boating season is all but over. Already looking forward to DS next year.

That is all...carry on.

Nice. Glad you’re dialed, & thanks for the tag-back.

 

[Bobby V]

Follow up...just saw the surgeon yesterday. He said you're healed kid. The tendon is healed and now all you need to do is continue to strengthen the shoulder muscles and you should be 100% by Spring. He took me off Physical Therapy and just told me to take it slow on the weight increases and not to overdue the workouts but essentially I'm good to go. FYI, I did NOT follow the conventional recovery methodology. I took my arm out of the sling after 8 days post surgery as it was driving me crazy. At 3 weeks I was already starting to working on my range of motion besides the typical "swinging your arm in circles BS". However, what worked for me won't work for everyone. You know your body...when it hurts, stop.

Unfortunately, he cleared me after the boating season is all but over. Already looking forward to DS next year.

That is all...carry on.

My shoulder was bugging me a lot. Very painful. WEnt to the ortho last week and since it was feeling better and the x rays were ok. He called it a frozen shoulder. I didn’t want to go thru the surgery and PT like you did.

 

[Tamalewagon]

My shoulder was bugging me a lot. Very painful. WEnt to the ortho last week and since it was feeling better and the x rays were ok. He called it a frozen shoulder. I didn’t want to go thru the surgery and PT like you did.

Glad you did not have to. Glad to hear you didn't have a tear. Hopefully the frozen shoulder can be fixed with physical therapy.

 

[Bobby V]

Glad you did not have to. Glad to hear you didn't have a tear. Hopefully the frozen shoulder can be fixed with physical therapy.

Actually no PT required. He said frozen shoulder is hard to explain. He prescribed Cerebrex. (SP?) Pain is mostly gone.

 

[TPayne]

Interesting how this thread popped up, I have an appointment to setup surgery of my right shoulder. I have a rotator tear, labrum tear and grade 3 AC separation. Been told the recovery is quite difficult. Not looking forward to it, but my shoulder is affecting my day to day life and I am done living in pain.

 

[clarence]

Just last Friday found out I've only have a small rotator cuff tear, not complete (requiring surgery) as the orthopedic surgeon expected.

Turns out I also have a pinched nerve in my neck that is keeping my from raising my arm.

This thread makes me feel like I've dodged a bullet.

 

[Tamalewagon]

Interesting how this thread popped up, I have an appointment to setup surgery of my right shoulder. I have a rotator tear, labrum tear and grade 3 AC separation. Been told the recovery is quite difficult. Not looking forward to it, but my shoulder is affecting my day to day life and I am done living in pain.

The recovery IS difficult. Don't expect to recover in a month or two. Take it week by week with small goals and DO NOT push the recovery time. I am 4 months out and was just cleared from the PT but I still have a long way to go with my recovery. If you can, stay away from the opiate drugs. They mess with you hard core. Had I known the after effects of the oxycontin and other opioid drugs, I would have never taken them (even taking these for a few days can result in withdrawal symptoms - anxiety, claustrophobia, insomnia etc). The surgical pain after the nerve blocker wears off is excruciating but is gone by day 3 or 4. Stay ahead of the pain with your meds even if it doesn't hurt yet. Feel free to call me or PM me if you need more information.

 

[SKIA36]

Thank you all for the info on this tread. Right shoulder pain for years, but I have a high pain tolerance. It finally started to wake me up at night and the pain lifting the arm was getting worse. I had 3 Cortizone injections that were ineffective. MRI showed rotator cuff 100% torn, long head bicep tendon 90% torn, Cromium head had bone fragments. Stem cell therapy not an option for complete /major tears. Feb 13,2023 had surgery to reattach rotator cuff with 3 screws, Tenodesus to reattach the long head bicep to the upper humerous, Osacromiale to remove the bone debris from the Cromium head. Surgery was awesome. Watched the nerve block on the monitor as the needle and injection fluid impacted the nerves...eerie!, but effective. No pain for 48hrs after surgery, then sledgehammer. 3 days of opiates, weird psycotic dreams, weaned off quickly. Did take half an opiate pill twice after that to take the edge off otherwise Leve maybe 10 times over the next two weeks and then nothing. 8 weeks of sleeping in recliner with a sling 24/7.(Extended sling time due to Osacromiale so the Deltoid muscle did not become abraded. Ice machine 3 times a day,rented a top of the line model, it was a Godsend, used it for 8 weeks. Started PT at 8 weeks after surgery, baby steps and a lot of pain. No flexibility and no strength. Started PT mid April, Dr. said 6 months 3x week PT and a year until the pain stops. 4 months into PT and it gets better every week ,but excruciatingly slow progress.(I am not a patient guy). I can get a coffee cup out of the cupboard now!

 

[SassyRN]

Interesting how this thread popped up, I have an appointment to setup surgery of my right shoulder. I have a rotator tear, labrum tear and grade 3 AC separation. Been told the recovery is quite difficult. Not looking forward to it, but my shoulder is affecting my day to day life and I am done living in pain.

I had the same exact issues and had the surgery 5 yrs ago. The rehab was not really bad and I did my own PT at home. That shoulder is weaker then the other but the pain is so much better. Good luck.

 

[jetboatperformance]

Only knees and hips BUT ice and pt just got my new ice machine

 

[Moabifam5]

I have had both of mine done and ya its a pain, but well worth it. First one was at 40 and second was at 57. The process sucks, PT is a pain but many years forward, both are doing great and at full strength for both. I like many of you did everything I could to avoid surgery. In my case, made the tear and injury worse, made surgery longer and PT/recovery longer. Best to luck for all of you considering this process ! If you follow the rehab requirements, it really works!

 

[Dan Lorenze]

Only knees and hips BUT ice and pt just got my new ice machine

I bought my Ice machine knowing that I would probably use it in the future, sucks getting old. Yeah the ice machines are great.

But I found that ice packs worked better for me. So much colder.

 

[hman442]

I'm a club member as well. Fall of '22 was out with friends in the high desert in sxs'. We were going around a dry lake bed, where all the juniper trees had been cut and left laying. We needed to go between two, but a 2" thick branch was going to really scrape down the side of my buddy's Northstar, so, I got out and pulled on it to break it off. The branch was about head level, so I was reaching up (which I later learned is the death wish for rotator cuffs), and when the branch snapped, two of the four rotator cuff tendons tore off on one end and snapped back to the other side of the shoulder. Yes, it hurt. Damn, it hurt. For months. It finally subsided but I had little strength in that arm. Went to the Doc in the spring, got an MRI, (Like getting stuck in a culvert, I'll need Xanax to get in one again), had surgery May 17. They stretched the two tendons back where the were supposed to be and tied them to a couple little plastic goodies that the Doc described as "moly screws, like you'd hang a mirror with, as well as fixed the torn bicep too. I noticed on the hospital bill that the two moly screws cost $12,000.00. Got home mid afternoon, propped up pillows on the bed and fell asleep. Woke up three hours later and my bandages, my back, and all the pillows, and my new sling, were soaked in blood. Pretty much scared me, but the Mrs. handled it like a pro, cleaned me up and new bandages. Three of my nine laperscopic holes were leaking pretty good. Apparently that happens sometimes. I showered the next day, with that saran wrap stuff over my bandages. Like everyone says, the ice machine was a life saver and almost replaced the pain pills. The pain was not as bad as the pain back when I injured it. No recliner, but I have a big, overstuffed leather chair next to the bed, that I slept in for six weeks. It didn't hurt in the chair, but the pain was unbearable if I tried to lay in the bed. Had to wear the sling, with the big square pillow holding my arm up for seven weeks. They told me two weeks off of work (automotive repair shop, but I'm on the phone and computer all day), but I stayed home for a month, I just didn't feel that good, was retaining about 20 pounds of water, and that damn sling holding my arm up. I started feeling normal after about eight weeks. Still going to P.T. twice a week. 13 weeks after surgery I have about 75% movement, feels great, no pain except at P.T., but have a ways to go strength wise. It actually feels like I've been dealing with the surgery & recovery for about a year, instead of three months, so that gives you an idea of how fun it's been. I'm glad I did it, but the other shoulder will have to get pretty bad before I consider shoulder surgery again.

 

[ChumpChange]

FIL headed in today for his surgery.

 

[Spudsbud]

All points taken. Do Not. Do Not !!! skip PT. Especially 1st few weeks.
You heal slow. Slower than you think.
Be patient.
Painkillers are your best friend. 1,an hour before ypur scheduled PT is a lifesaver.
Dont try to be a.man and go without. Theres no nobility in suffering needlesly.
Ask me how I know.
You'll be just fine a year from now.

 

[dezrtracer]

Thanks for all the info guys . Tore the Superior Capsular 9 years ago . So after all these years of pain I finally decided to go see an Ortho to see what can be done last month . He gave me two options , 1st a scope reconstruction or 2nd a Reverse Toal Shoulder Arthroplasty and I'd be off work for 6 months . Leaning towards 1st option but , will probably just wait till I retire in 3 years .

 

[Warlock1]

Dammit... I was doing shoulder presses a few weeks ago and went up 5 pounds. No issues but I woke up to feeling some pain and weakness in both shoulders that would eventually diminish during the day. A couple of days later I am laying in bed and literally all I did was slightly move my right shoulder and I heard a crack or a pop. There really wasn't any pain or feeling just the noise. Now both shoulders just feel like day three after a heavy workout and get better during the day, but never are pain free. That being said the right one does hurt more and there is a constant ache. Also when laying on my left side and the right arm/shoulder is kind of hanging it hurts like a mother until I pull it closer to my body.....

 

[Javajoe]

Had full thickness tears in both shoulders and my elbow. Had them repaired a few years ago. Pain free during the day. Only hurts when I sleep on my sides. That’s a drag though. Can’t sleep on my back. Wish I could. Recovery was amazing. Both shoulder surgeries I could lift my arms fully up a month later. Played golf 6 weeks later. Did PT for 3 weeks then they said you are good to go, just keep stretching. I think it really helps when you’re in shape and have a good doctor. My first PT session I saw some jacked up guys. They all shit when I lifted my arm all the way up. Even the therapist said…”when was your surgery?” Lol. Then the next time when I said I played golf he asked if I cleared it with my Dr. I said..”why would I need to ask?” My shoulders never hurt before playing golf when they were torn

 

[hman442]

Dammit... I was doing shoulder presses a few weeks ago and went up 5 pounds. No issues but I woke up to feeling some pain and weakness in both shoulders that would eventually diminish during the day. A couple of days later I am laying in bed and literally all I did was slightly move my right shoulder and I heard a crack or a pop. There really wasn't any pain or feeling just the noise. Now both shoulders just feel like day three after a heavy workout and get better during the day, but never are pain free. That being said the right one does hurt more and there is a constant ache. Also when laying on my left side and the right arm/shoulder is kind of hanging it hurts like a mother until I pull it closer to my body.....

I'm not a Dr., but stayed at a Holiday Inn next to a hospital once, so, here goes...About six weeks after my shoulder surgery I got a bit aggressive steering my riding lawn mower with my "healing arm". That night, it hurt. Not a sore hurt like after physical therapy, but a pointed, sharp, burning type pain. I thought I was screwed, gonna have to through it all again. My follow up Surgeon visit was 2 weeks away and it was sweating the whole time. I told him what's up, he asked a couple questions & said, no, I don't think you hurt your shoulder. Would I bet my house on it, no, but I really don't think you hurt it. I think you "pissed it off", strained it. He told me to take anti inflammatory. I did, the pain went away within hours. You might try that.

 

[dryhoze1]

One week post surgery today. 3 tears 2 full thickness.
Kerlan / Jobe did a great job, but Faawk me. This is no way to live.

lots of great information here & nice to hear of so many success stories.

Like eating the elephant I guess. One bite at a time

 

[endobear]

Buddy just had a pretty good wreck on his Harley. High sided it in a panick stop and did the flying W.
Tore rotator cuffs in both shoulders. He's freaking out about surgeries.

 

[185EZ]

Had total shoulder replacement in april.
Dr Anderson in Lake Havasu
4 hour surgery. In and out of the hospital in 6 hours.
I took the nerve block in the neck and my arm was completely numb for 24 hours. They scared me for what they were going to do but it was nothing more than a mosquito bite in the neck.
Couldn't handle the percoset so it was just ibuprofen and tylenol. Was never really in any kind of pain.
5 days started PT.
I did everything including rzr riding and wore the sling off and on for 6 weeks. It was great for holding a beer.
2 months doctor said do what ever you want. I asked if I could ride my motorcycle. He said go for it.
People gave me the horror stories and i should have stayed in bed.
It was the EZiest surgery I ever had.