Shoulder Surgery 12.20.06

On Dec. 20 I went in for rotator cuff tear, shoulder stabilization, and several other repairs for my shoulder. My initial injury was playing football making an arm tackle in 1982, my senior year in high school. The last 5 to 6 years of training has caused further damage to an already busted up shoulder.

I finally decided to have it repaired because I was unable to do any bench or overhead lifting. I just wanted to post how my recovery will be going from time to time for anyone else who may be looking at shoulder surgery. Before surgery I did go through ART for approximately 7 weeks , which relieved pain at night but couldn’t heal it. If anyone has tips for a faster recovery, let me know.
Thanks, Ace

Cool. This is great, I’d love to read about your progress.

I was told just yesterday, that based on the MRI, the pain I’ve endured in my shoulder is caused by a rotator cuff tear which is caused by a degenarative acrimonium causing an impingenet. . . .whew, what a sentance. I noticed the pain after a workout involving 100 dips.

Dr. Sawbones wants to suture the tendon and “file away” the bone spur in the acromium.

Anyway, I’m debating weather or not to get the surgery and it would be great to hear how it goes with you.

Now that the Percocet level isn’t as high, here is an update. surgery was scheduled for 9:30 Wed. morning. I arrived an hour early, they prepared me and the last thing I remember doing is looking at the clock at 9:20.

The next thing I remembered was them waking me up at 1:30PM. I felt sick to my stomach and was in a “thick fog”. The anesthesiologist put something in my I.V. which helped my stomach, but i remand in the “thick fog” for a few hours.

After I ate a bag of pretzel’s and had a can of Canada Dry, I was able to leave the hospital at 6:00PM and go home to rest in my lazy boy recliner. I was given a block that numbs the fingertips, shoulder, and part of the chest area to relieve pain. The block normally last 12-24 hours, mine lasted for approximately 14 hours.

The first night of sleep was pretty rough. I was taking two percocet every 4 hours with Vistaril every 6 hours for nausea. I also have this ice pack for the shoulder called a Cryo-cuff, that circulates cold water throughout my shoulder. Setting the alarm clock for every 4 hours the first night and staying on top of the pain helped a lot.

The pain could be described as an elephant siting on my shoulder. The morning of the 21st I felt a little weak and lightheaded. I mostly stayed in my lazy boy but every once in a while I would get up and walk around. Sleeping the night of the 21st was very good, waking every 4 hours for my medication.

The next day went very well, I was able to walk around for longer periods of time and not get lightheaded. I will update more later, the Percocets are kicking in and its time for a nap.

Ace,
SPEEDY RECOVERY!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Completely tore my rotator cuff in the middle of a BP set. Had mine repaired because of my job as a Physical Education teacher, and, as importantly to me, because I wanted to train for the rest of my life. Surgeon said I’d be lucky to be able to do some push-ups when it was all said and done. 3 years post-surgery and I still have some deficits BUT, I’m making progress even at the age of 50-something.
Post surgery, I never had any pain, did not require any pain meds. Biggest complaint up until the tear was not being able to sleep at night from discomfort(pain). My physical therapy went OK, though it wasn’t very aggressive. I am still rehabbing it 3 years later as I still have a sig. strength deficit. Take your time with yours; if your MD did a good job, the rest is up to you.
Art

I had surgery for impingement in june of this yesr,I was pain free in three days,after a month I just had a little ROM limitations and the Dr. cleared me to do what ever I wanted,since I was feeling great I went a little to fast and started to have pain again after three mos. I am still dealing with some issues with my shoulder.Just take it real easy for longer than you think you need! And don’t do any benches untill you are healed totally.

          Dave

Rotator cuff repair on my right shoulder in July '04. Be sure to work hard on your rehab, but make sure you get their approval before you even THINK about touching a weight.

I will say that It really took a year for it to feel right. But I would say it feels damn good today. You will be very happy when you are done.

Hope you heal well…

I have a small full thickness tear of the supranatius and was diagnosed in April and scheduled for surgery Nov. 19,the gap in time is due to work committments.

I started on 2 ius of GH in August and layed off any benching and over head lifts, really hit the squats and deads and I woke up one morning and NO pain. I went in to see my ortho a week prior to surgery and he said if it didn’t hurt don’t fix it. It use to wake me up at night. I also used Knox Gelatine, Glucosamine/Chondroitin and some test here and there. I am 45.

I can bench and do over head lifts again, dips and flys seem to make it sing so they are off the list for now. Also, on Cissus and that really seems to help.

Thanks guys for all the great information on the PT and taking it easy. Tomorrow the 28th, I will be having my first PT session and my first Doctor visit post surgery. I have been completely off of the Percocet since the 26th with only occasional pain when I move my arm in an awkward position. The doctors say I cannot take any OTC medication until after tomorrows appointment.

Everyday I have been doing some passive range of motion work with my shoulder, which the doctor laid out for me after the first week of surgery. I have very limited range forward with much better range backward. I will know more after tomorrows appointment. Thanks again for your tips and suggestions. Happy Holidays!
Ace

Best of luck on your recovery. I had lower back L4/L5 fusion and 2 titanium rods installed in back for 2 fractures 16 months ago.

Recovery is going well, but very slowly. Then again, I’m 48 years old.

My best advice is when allowable, do each and any exercise to keep the shoulder mobile. If chiro or massage can help do it as often as you can afford.

My big thing now is arthritis which can set in to surgical areas after approximately a year. It’s a lot better with adjustments and massage.

I am 41 and had my MRI on my right shoulder last Wednesday (12/27). My appt. with the doctor is next week and I fear the worst. My left shoulder is acting up too.

Many years of goaltending and a couple years of lifting weights I guess have taken its toll. I was getting pretty excited at the improvements I was making in my weightlifting routine (went from 165 lbs to 180 lbs at 5 ft. 11 inches tall) and trimmed 2 inches off the waist, now at 32 inches. Now this shoulder problem.

Glad to read the recovery stories, I hope it works for me. From what I have read, it appears patience is the key. Please continue to share your recovery stories. I will share mine. Best of luck to you all.

hey Im 16 right now hoping to play college football. Second to last game of the year ( im a junior-linebacker 5 10 195 ) i jammed my shoulder into the ground. It killed so bad, but i was determined to play the next week.

I went through two practices with the pain so bad jus with the shoulder pads on it ( i had no contact). I was an idiot i finally went to the doctor, who basically said it was a seperation and it would heal in three weeks. Two months later i went and seen a shoulder specalis. I had a grade 2 seperation, he came back and gave me a cortozone shot. in three days it felt 100 percent better. now that ive started lifting again , and its starting to bother me ,and my coaches and a gym teacher ( who was a olympic sprinter back in his young days) said that getting cortozone at my age is really unhealthy and my shoulder will be worse in a couple of years.

Really im worried about being able to bench pretty soon, i was hoping to attend the nike combine in chicago this spring. As a sophmore i repped 185 17 times. I was aiming for 25 this spring, but im worried because i tried benching 115 the other day jus to see how my shoulder felt in the bench motion, and it didnt feel good.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do ? I play at a small school and wont get any recruiting attention unless i go to this combine. Some colleges that ive contacted ( my football future is basically relying on this combine) and im not sure if i can bench by that time or not?

What shoudl i do
thanks for any responses

How long was it before you didn’t experience any pain again? I’m going to have surgery on the 18th of January and was thinking of trying to heal it with GH first.

[quote]Over40 wrote:
Hope you heal well…

I have a small full thickness tear of the supranatius and was diagnosed in April and scheduled for surgery Nov. 19,the gap in time is due to work committments.

I started on 2 ius of GH in August and layed off any benching and over head lifts, really hit the squats and deads and I woke up one morning and NO pain. I went in to see my ortho a week prior to surgery and he said if it didn’t hurt don’t fix it. It use to wake me up at night. I also used Knox Gelatine, Glucosamine/Chondroitin and some test here and there. I am 45.

I can bench and do over head lifts again, dips and flys seem to make it sing so they are off the list for now. Also, on Cissus and that really seems to help.[/quote]

[quote]defen21 wrote:
hey Im 16 right now hoping to play college football. Second to last game of the year ( im a junior-linebacker 5 10 195 ) i jammed my shoulder into the ground. It killed so bad, but i was determined to play the next week.

I went through two practices with the pain so bad jus with the shoulder pads on it ( i had no contact). I was an idiot i finally went to the doctor, who basically said it was a seperation and it would heal in three weeks. Two months later i went and seen a shoulder specalis. I had a grade 2 seperation, he came back and gave me a cortozone shot. in three days it felt 100 percent better. now that ive started lifting again , and its starting to bother me ,and my coaches and a gym teacher ( who was a olympic sprinter back in his young days) said that getting cortozone at my age is really unhealthy and my shoulder will be worse in a couple of years.

Really im worried about being able to bench pretty soon, i was hoping to attend the nike combine in chicago this spring. As a sophmore i repped 185 17 times. I was aiming for 25 this spring, but im worried because i tried benching 115 the other day jus to see how my shoulder felt in the bench motion, and it didnt feel good.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do ? I play at a small school and wont get any recruiting attention unless i go to this combine. Some colleges that ive contacted ( my football future is basically relying on this combine) and im not sure if i can bench by that time or not?

What shoudl i do
thanks for any responses[/quote]

Go to the combine and skip the benching session. Do the other tests they look at those tests more anyway. The broad jump and the vertical are very important along with the 40 and 20 yard dash. You need to do lots of rowing motions and you also need to see a specialist. Ask for a referral if your parents insurance needs a referral and go to a specialist.


On Thursday the 2th I went to the PT’s for my first post op treatment. My range of motion was right were he expected it for 8 days. He worked my shoulder for about 40 minutes with passive range of motion. the next appointment is for tomorrow Jan. 2nd. I do passive range of motion exercises 4 times every day.

After the PT visit was my first doctor visit since the surgery, he removed my stitches, checked my ROM, and also told me to continue doing my PROM exercises. From being off of the Percocet from the night of the 25th I have been sleeping like crap, so the doctors prescribed me 5-10 mg of Ambien for sleep. This has helped tremendously. My doctor also put me on extra strength Tylenol for pain. The doctor gave me his operative notes on my exact repairs.

PROCEDURES PERFORMED:

  1. Right shoulder arthroscopy and rotator cuff repair
  2. Right shoulder biceps tenodesis
  3. Right shoulder subacromial decompression
  4. Right shoulder distal clavicle resection
  5. Right shoulder capsular plication
  6. Bankart repair

I am now able to spend more time out of my brace in the house, and only need to ice it with my CRYO CUFF after exercises.
Photos are 8 days out.

Sounds good. Another great sleep supp is ZMA with Melatonin.

Best of luck.

[quote]MrCritical wrote:
Sounds good. Another great sleep supp is ZMA with Melatonin.

Best of luck.[/quote]

Thanks MrCritical for the sleep advice, I normally take ZMA before bed, but stopped one week before surgery. I am still taking four caps of Flameout and two servings of Metabolic Drive daily. I will add the ZMA tonight.
Thanks Ace

Ace:

I will be having rotator cuff repair of the suprispinatus tendon a week from today and will follow my progress compared to yours. I see that you had a little more done than I will, but would still like to compare. Are you taking any supplements to speed healing? I have been doing as much research as I can and was curious to what you were doing.

[quote]Bigpull wrote:
Ace:

I will be having rotator cuff repair of the suprispinatus tendon a week from today and will follow my progress compared to yours. I see that you had a little more done than I will, but would still like to compare. Are you taking any supplements to speed healing? I have been doing as much research as I can and was curious to what you were doing.[/quote]

Bigpull
The only supplement that I’m taking at the present time is Flameout. I’m now 16 days post surgery, had my 5th PT session and things were really tight and sore today. It seems to be like a roller coaster with this shoulder. Some days it feels good then others it feels like it is stuck under a truck. Best of luck with your procedure, if you have any other questions let me I’d be glad to help.
Ace

Hi there-I found this forem through google. I think this is mostly mens site here but figured I would let you all know I will be having rorator cuff surgery too on monday Jan 8 2007.

I am in early 30’s and got injury from frinding at work…I have been having problems with shoulder since May 2006…and my advice to the younger person still in school looking to get into sports-havea doc orthepedic doc look at your shoulder before too long. The taller you grow and all can change the make-up of the shoulder and may be easier to fix now instead of later.

i would love to hear other people’s stories of surgery since I am nervous-first one I will have. I am told it is a 2 hour procedure then 2 hours recovery etc…I was told by doc that they will shave off arthritis on collarbone and remove bursi…and fix anything else he sees. I am glad to get this done as been very painful=I am active and like to ski and kayak but have not been able to do either one…not to mention sleep at night is non existance unless I take Advil PM but for now I cant take till further notice,hopefuly wont be too much pain after.

I was perscribed Oxycodone for pain after surgery-anyone use this? Will have to remember to take every 4 hours or whenever it is supposed to be to keep pain to minimum…anyone out there notice anything different in first week after? Like what to expect? will I be groggy all time or just after surgery? thanks for any imput!

Well i had the surgery yesterday Monday the 8th. It was weird-had a block done which numbs the arm which is good thing. I wasnt able to move it at all until about 4 hours after surgery. By then it was hurting like the dickens so i immediately started on prescription pain killers. I was woozy and soar. I iced it and recommend anyone who is going in for this to buy 2 or 3 of those gel packs since you are supposed to ice it 20 min out of every hour.

and like the other guy said, set the alarm to wake yourself up to keep on top of pain meds. So far i am tired and can only concentrate on things short period of time before fall asleep. until later-take care.