im a auto mechanic with a operated left rotator cuff for a large tear with decompresion 8 weeks ago still a lot of pain with very limited movement My right sholder is unoperated yet with advanced degenerative ac joint with compresion this is not workers comp so im off work without pay my question is will i reinjure my self if i go back to heavy lifting and a lot of overhead work my doctor is very vage about this
It is suppose to take up to 9 months to fully heal. I was told after it heals it would be close to 100 percent. Just from pushing myself and extreme pt I am having problems 2 months later. Everyone is different,
Hi I had rotator cuff surgery after being hit by a car Its 5.5 months post op and I am still in pain I am having Physio twice a week and Hydrotherapy.Initially the pain was unbelievable in the sling for 7 weeks couldnt drive or do anthing right handed.It is getting better however I have been told by my surgeon I will not be able to do any heavy manual labor or start lawn mowers anything pulling or pushing for good unless I want to risk a reoccurance which I dont .I have lost my job as I am unable to do what I did so am going to go back to Tafe/uni to upskill.I cant imagine doing this without support which luckily the woman who hit me green slip ctp insurance covers me totally or I would have lost my home ! I recomend having councelling as even tho I dont have the finacial burden It has been a very stressfull experiance one I dont wish on anyone good luck & dont lift anything untill its stronger !
I had no idea ibuprofen impedes healing i eat it like m and m's. THANKS FOR THE INFO . MY PAIN IS IN MY ARM 2MOS AFTER rotator cuff surgery. horrible. waking me up at night as well..
I am a 55 year old man that is 4 months post rotator cuff repair and decompression on my dominant Rt. shoulder. Full thickness tear of the supraspinatous tendon with retraction. I had suprascapular nerve block and general anesthesia. About 3 days post op, the pain in the shoulder wasn't as bad as I was prepared for, however, I developed severe burning/stabbing pain in my scapular border near my neck which radiated down to my forearm. Oxycodone did not even touch this pain! I am usually stoic, but I am ripped apart mentally by this unrelenting pain. No sleep, no minute without the pain. They finally stopped giving me narcotics, but they didn't help at all. Finally my Occ. Med. provider prescribed me Neurontin which has seemed to help a little. PT discovered that I have atrophy of my Rt. triceps and I can barely push 20 lbs with it (compared to 80lbs with the left non-dominant arm).
I am so sorry that I had this surgery. No pain that I had with the rotator cuff tear was nearly as bad as this post op pain. I will finally get an MRI of my neck and shoulder post op. I am convinced that the suprascapular nerve block is the source of my nerve damage. The pain in my scapular border is right where they did the block. Don't know what they messed up but the result is that I am damaged. I have not returned to work as I probably haven't had 24 hours of sleep in the past 4 months. Wish I could go back in time and just say NO! to the surgery. I have read others stories and now realize that the chance of severe post op nerve pain/damage is not nearly as rare as the damn surgeons tell you.
If you are contemplating having this surgery, heed this warning. RUN...don't do it.
HELL YES ! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG YOU JUST HAD RC SURGERY. IT CAN AND PROBABLY WILL TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS OR LONGER BEFORE YOUR FEELING PAIN FREE. YOUR BEST BET IS TO STICK WITH PT AND REFRAIN FROM ANY ACTIVITY THAT PUTS YOU AT RISK FOR RE-INJURY. ALWAYS THINK TWICE ABOUT DO'ING ANYTHING . IF YOU THINK IT MIGHT HURT DON'T TRY IT. JUST HANG IN THERE AND PLAY IT SAFE FOR AWHILE .
Hi guys! About 5 1/2 years ago I wouldn´t have had an idea of how good my rehabilitation would become. Like you I
didn´t sleep for 17 months after my supraspinatus surgery. 7.12. 2007 (age 51)I fell on my outstretched right arm and felt directly I couldn´t move it anymore like I´d been used to. After having consulted serveral docters who had absolutely no idea of what was going on I saw a PT who sent me to an orthopedic hospital. I had a full-thickness tear in my supra & biggg impingement, got decompression & stitched supra. First weeks after the surgery were hell. I started PT 2 months after surgery, then It became obvious something was wrong also with my left shoulder. So, one year after the right shoulder I got a decompression of my left shoulder. My PT supervised my rehabilitation and in spite of my depressive thoughts things slowly started getting better. Many times we would discuss scoliosis, blood flow, tiredness, age, cardilage... And he´d let me exercise many hours every day.
The result of many years of "moving" and using your scapula wrong means your back´s doing the work your shoulder should do. Also there are "muscles between r & l scapula we have to use so scapula´s function right. We get used to "moving" wrongly all of our lives and as a result the spine gets stirred. Then the scapula can´t move right anymore and the supraspinatus can´t "relax" anymore and weakens slowly but definitively. However this process can be turned around and regular excercising and strenghtening is a lead to the goal. Main excercises I do today are planking, sideways, belly upp & down. We seem to have an enormous ability of strenghtening, month after month we get stronger by daily excercises. Incredibly the PT says because of my body type and movements he could predict things would´ve gone wrong, excercises from a young age would´ve strenghtened me and I´d still be able to do weightlifting today that I can´t do anymore.
I am months past repair of complete tear of the supraspinatious. Had minimal pain at surgical site but severe pain in my superior scapula (right where the nerve block was done) and in my proximal forearm/elbow. Was told that it was nerve pain. No narcotic pain relievers would even touch it! Finally after 4 months of complete agony and no sleep, I was ready to either go completely insane or do harm to myself or someone else when my occ med doctor gave me Neurontin. I was able to fell the pain decline within 2 days to a "manageable level", Now after a month+ I can sleep again!
Unfortunately, I have now been found to have a deficit in my tricps muscle by my PT. It also affects my pectorialis a bit. I am right handed and was quite strong. Now, I can push 90 lbs in a tricep extension wiht my left arm and only 20lbs with my right! I am convinced that it was due to the nerve block (suprascapular) as that spot is where the pain is worst. I can still feel the pain there, but with the Neurtontin I can deal with it.
I am scared that my tricep/pec impairment is permanent. I can visually see atrophy of the right triceps as my arm looks half again smaller on the right. Prior to surgery the right arm was visibly larger than the left. I do PT 2X a week and am in the gym most every day trying to blast that right tricep. Unfortunately, I am not progressing. They gave me a neuro-muscular electrical stimulation unit to wear during workout that helps a little with the rt tricep fatigue.
If I could go back I would deal with the complete tear of the rotator cuff rather than have the surgery.
Did you ever get your range of motion back? I'm at 12 weeks and behind with my ROM. Can't get past that "stuck" feeling. Thanks.
Hi All,
I'm so happy to have stumbled upon this blog. I had rotator cuff surgery 5 days ago.
I have been doing my passive exercises in the morning and at night before bed.
My question is: Is it normal when doing the pendulum exercise that it feels like my shoulder is out of socket? Once I get it moving...it feels like something slides into place and it is less painful. When I finish the swing, I slowly start to stand up...and it feels like my shoulder is stuck again and it is a little painful...then it slips and feels better...
Does this make sense to ANYONE? Please help.
Thank you.
You described it perfectly! My husband said the shoulder that had the surgery definitely does not feel like the other one when he massages it due to continued pain (had surgery 3 years ago)!! I also feel like I have a "loose" muscle between my shoulder and elbow. That's the only way to describe it!!
Hi Dez 77. You must consider that this is a very long process. My surgery is now 5 yrs old & I feel lucky. If I´d NOT ripped my supraspinatus it would have come into a irreversible state. I slept badly for 18 months after the surgery. As this problem is a main result of bad bloodflow with professional help it´s possible to build up your bloodflow again. It´ll take much exercising but the body is an incredible tool that will revive if it´s treated right.
I am going thru the exact same thing after rotator cuff surgery. I would love to hear if you got it resolve and what was causing the headaches.
me 2 ..but my lft shoulder pops ..all the time and its been 3yrs I had my surgery ..I ALSO TOLD MY Dr..and he said u will b ok I don't see anything wrong but we can do a MRI u mite not have anything but we can see ..wow