Pain after Rotator Cuff Surgery

Just been on the internet reading about post rotor cuff surgery pain as I had the operation 10 weeks ago and still cant sleep with pain.The same as you describe. As for your concerns over re-injury if you keep to the physio's excercises and advice all the way thru things should be ok. They are trained in this field and are professional as long as they work closely with your surgeon.With the excercises I have found a need to push thru so as to maintain range which is very painful and takes hrs to settle even now. All the best ;-)

I'm 9 weeks post op and having the same symptoms, so I would assume that this is normal for all of us. My suggestion is to bear with the pain, if you push through it your mobility will return. The therapist won't give you movements to do that will harm you, also use the pain to know when enough is enough. Pulling type pain is normal, just sharp searing pain is no good. Keep communicating with your doctor and your therapist about your concerns and they will get you through it I've talked to many other PT patients in my personal quest to get better and this is a very long painful recovery. I guess the key word is patience

Thanks guys this really helped. I am 4 weeks post surgery and just started PT this week. Yikes. I will trust my PT and try and have patience. Just fyi I have cried through all my sessions this week but got through them.

i had surgery oct 24,2011....did not do anything for the first three weeks...meaning moving my shoulder...big mistake....finally went to pt and now rom is 125 degrees...extremely painful , the rehab part of it...i actually moan and groan each and everytime...i am making 5 degrees progress everytime i go...i am week 6 post op.....next week i will be going 3x a week....i am  in pain everyday....finally able to sleep in bed.....i am seeing progress but this by far the worst pain i have ever experienced in my life...i am a 51 year  old male...i have been thru some rough things in my life but this is by far the roughest... i will be losing 6 months of work over this....will keep you guys posted!

did you ever get an answer to your question?

I am post op 5 weeks today. I had rotator cuff surgery and a bicep release. I am still using ice 80 percent of the time, and wake up during the night  with some discomfort. I dpn't start pt until next week, but I do my passive pt at home. I do a pedulam swing (very tine circles) and it feels like my shoulder is going to dislocate. I have to grab my arm and put it back to the sling position. It freaks me out! I go back to the doc on Monday so he can see me before sending me off to pt. 

Has anyone else had that dislocation feeling? If I don't grab my arm really quick, I am pretty convinced it will dislocate.

I am having rotator cuff surgery this Weds  9/26/2012,  The comments on here have ben very helpful

I had a cuff tendon repair and double joint decompression 2 weeks ago. My surgeon had me start physio after 7 days (supported movement). I do my exercises 3 x per day and I am now in less pain than before the surgery and for the fist time in 18 months, sleeping right through the night. I mentioned some of these blogs to my physioterrorist and she replied that there is often long term pain associated with delayed physio following a cuff repair, including frozen shoulders. It is also one of the most painful procedures post op. Best advice is only move the arm to the point where the shoulder starts to hurt and never push through. Pain is there to tell you you're doing something wrong! Good luck everyone.

I had rotator cuff surgery on 08/27/2012 surgery went well, but still have pain and can not sleep very uncomfortable. Pain is on top of shoulder to my neck and sometimes sharp pain down the shoulder. Doctor says I am developing frozen shoulder, but with PT hopefully working through it.

Hi Steve. I had surgery on 8/18 . I am still in pain and no sleep. I am still doing physical therapy but doesn't seem to help. Doctor said I have an impingement. Was told before I had sugery that it was possible that I would need a second one. I don't know if I will be able to tolerate it again. I hope the therapy helps yours. Good Luck

Hi people - i literally can feel your pain . Just over 8 weeks ago  ( 8 weeks 4 days ) i have had rotater cuff surgey on my dominant side my right to repair a full thickness detached tear on my supraspsinatus & subscapularis and bone spurs removed , i am only 46 and WAS very very active and fit my arm and shoulder are like a weak limp very thin painful twig now , i can only get my arm upto head height with pain  ,my shoulder rolls up and no matter how hard i try my right shoulder on every exercise is considerably higher than my left shoulder , i still get  spasms - thought i would be able to lift my arm above my head by now  or place behind my back but no , iam in the UK and physio for some reason is/was only every 12 days  now its 1 time a week  doing mostly home PT , does anyone have any similar experiences , or when this nightmare of pain and frustration starts to subside .

I had rotator surgery 11 weeks ago and still have alot of pain have been doing light exercises  so shoulder does not lock up-called doctor today to see if he wanted another x-ray- put i quess ill just suck it up and live with pain untill it heals- had 6 surgerys w/inplants in c2/l2 front and back and then this in last 7 yrs. this is worst pain

Your surgery and background sound similar to mine. I am 46 and had almost the exact surgery 4 1/2 months ago. I started pt the day after my surgery. I had pt 3 times a week for 9 wks. i am now in pt 2 times a week. Before surgery I was quite strong and lifted weights. I was allowed to begin strength training with low weights at week 7. I am working on getting my full range of motion back. My labrum had a lot of work on it and is still kind of tight. My physician and PT say my progress is great. My pain got better but is now pretty constant. I don't take anything stronger than anti-inflammatories. I am not sure when the pain goes away. I do suggest that you research for the best exercises to get your range of motion back. That is much harder if you wait. Good luck!

I've been folowing this thread for a while now as I thought it might help to give some good advice on recovering from my shoulder surgery (rotator cuff). Apart from maybe one or two positive posts, the majority have managed to turn this into a pain comparison site! I first had cuff surgery to my left shoulder in October last year and am now totally pain free, which is just the best thing in the world compared to the pain before the op. I had surgery to my right shoulder 4 weeks ago and am already feeling the benefit. One guy who attends PT with me and had his cuff repair 2 months ago, is struggling to recover because he is not putting the effort in. Like many guys on this thread he needs to toughen up and get on with it. Comparing ages and levels of pain is not going to get you through this surgery, which, according to my surgeon is one of the most painful procedures post op you can have. By the way, I'm 66 and the only difference I can see between my progress and that of others here is that I want to get better and am prepared to work at it, rather than spend valuable PT time writing about how much pain I'm in. Come on guys, man up!