Problem after rotator cuff surgery

I had surgery 3 months ago and I really feel like my PT dropped the ball on my therapy. I did every exercise and the number of reps every single day. I kept telling him and the assistant I was having pain only to be told that I just had surgery and felt like an id**t. When I went to ortho I told him of my pain and he gave me a cortisone shot and had me going to PT 5 days per week. PT is killing me right now, I feel as if they are going to pull my arm off and beat me with it. My arm has gotten a little better but I am changing PT's. I can't even describe the pain I am feeling. It's almost like there is something extra hanging out in there. We shall see. I will say that hearing some stories that it takes a long time to not feel any pain gives me hope that maybe I won't feel any at some point as well. Good luck to everyone.

What a sucky club we have joined!! December 26 2009 I will be one year post-op from my third rotator cuff surgery on the same shoulder. The first was August 28 2008. I have been in major pain ever since the first surgery. First time we fixed the rotator cuff and biceps tendons, repaired a SLAP tear and reduced a cyst. Three weeks post-op I tripped and fell heavily directly on the repaired shoulder. OMG....that was excrutiating!! At the next follow up I reported this to my surgeon. He said my motion and strength were fine and to continue my in home exercise program. Early November I was getting dressed one morning and something went POP. The xrays looked bad. An MRI showed a complete rupture on the rotator cuff and Loose Screws. Second surgery performed December fourth. After the surgery my doc said it looked like something had exploded in there. Three days before Christmas I went in for the first follow-up. The very first thing they did was take me to radiology for xrays. After that I went to the exam room where they had an ultrasound machine fired up and waiting for me. Once again I have a loose screw. Only this time it is adrift in the soft tissue. Doc says it must come out. We scheduled surgery for the day after Christmas. He knew the anchor was loose but said he hoped the tendon wasn't torn again. Mentioned maybe having to install a GraftJacket to reinforce the tendon. Well he got the anchor out and of course the tendon was torn. Apparently he had overtensioned the tendon and that was why it tore again. So he had to do the GraftJacket to lengthen the tendon. The pain has never abated. I was getting better in May when my phyiscal therapist pulled too hard on my arm and..... something went POP!! Two different xrays and an MRI all show no repairable defects and nothing torn. I am in a pain management program taking three Norco and two Flexeril daily. And it still hurts like hell and my arm works worse than before I started all of this. I am currently seeing my fifth doctor. At least he isn't saying this is as good as it gets..... yet.

wow, I am sooo glad I found this post. I had shoulder impingement surgery on october 30, 2009. I have been taking PT three times a week with no relief at all. I asked my orhto and he says my condition is not that bad. but my pain is incredible, and now I feel worst than before my surgery. I cannot lift my arm 90° and I am in constant pain, Is that normal?

Tmj, chiropractor, acupuncture, physical therapist, no more pain medications,spiritual search for the pain and mood swings, this is what i have been doing. Back posture is very important too. All tendons are somehow connected so if you have a tight leg then it can affect your whole body. Flex stretch know your body. it mus all be flexible to recover and heal and be normal. Aim to where you ran around like when you were a child and felt great without hurting yourself. If you do then stretch

I am 69 years old and had the rotator cuff surgery five months ago on my left shoulder. I am right handed. I still have considerable problems, some pain at different times, some limitation on range of motion. I did physical therapy afterwards. I was told before the surgery by others who had had the surgery that the recovery time would be long and painful, perhaps as long as a year. I have no doubt but that it will take me that long. The doctor prescribed vicodin for the pain and that has helped. Sometimes I feel the pain at 2 or 3 in the morning, not only in my left shoulder, but now my right shoulder as well, though I don't know the reason for the pain. The long and the short of it is that it is a long and painful recovery period.

I had surgery on my left shoulder ten months ago and on my right shoulder two months ago. The first shoulder took nine months before the pain even started getting better, yet it still wakes me up after several hours in bed. The second shoulder hurts MUCH worse since I took the sling off last week. I take sleeping pills and narcotics, yet I still have to get up every couple of hours for a new ice pack (I highly recommend the 10" x 15" TherapyGel brand packs). It's just hell, and that's the truth of the matter. Thank god, I at least have a doctor who doesn't think I'm lying about the pain in order to get narcotics. The truth is that the narcotics don't even help that much, which is why I HIGHLY recommend sleeping pills. I have Dalmane, Restoril, and Ambien, in order of strength.

Snowbrush

I had subcromial decompression almost 6 weeks ago. I did not get to see my surgeon until 2 weeks after my surgery and left the surgery center without knowing what his findings were. At the 2 week post op appointment I found out that he smoothed out the bone spur in my shoulder and found a partial bicep tear above my elbow in my right arm (that was the FIRST time I heard about this , 2 weeks after my surgery!), I am right handed. I started PT the day following our follow up, he wrote a prescription for 4 weeks of therapy two times a week. I have had the tens unit, h wave machine, done all of my exercises and followed all instructions. I still cannot sleep through the night and am in constant pain. I was informed yesterday at PT that my surgeon wanted me to have a cheaper tens machine, I had a first generation one as it was , and he refused, refused to write a prescription for a better unit, although my insurance company allows me to have one.
He appears to be totally out of touch with the pain that I am in and give me one pain pill at night, forget about the rest of the day. My PTs office actually asked me what I did to piss him off!!! My last status update done by my PTs office said my "improvement had DECREASED by 10%, I can no longer put my right hand behind my right glute, let alone raise it upward. My range of motion is worse that before the surgery and immediately after.
Has anyone else had these types of issues? This surgeon had told me he could get me back to 100%. I feel like I have had a botched surgery and I am tired of being in pain. I was an active woman who is reduced to doing nothing as I have lost the use of my right arm, my dominant arm. Sorry to rant, I am just really disappointed and no one seems to understand.
Thanks for listening.
Donna

Keep strong and keep looking for answers. Try to move around as much as you can, walking,hiking anything. If not you might get into a depression like me. Being in active for a long time will do that. Also make sure you posture is good if not, your shoulder will pull down the rest of your body and spine to give you even more problems. I am just recovering from this. I still haven't completly healed from all pains yet. The pain actually transfered to the other side of my body.

Thanks Koop,
I am trying to remain positive and some days it is difficult. I used to teach aerobics and boot camp at my local YMCA. I have had to give up both classes and am on hold for my water aerobics class that I teach. My PT is afraid I will fall as I teach from the deck and without the use of my right arm I have a compromised sense of balance.
I am comforted to hear that you still have pain, I do believe the surgeon expected too much from me. My pain is real and effects all areas of my life. I plan on sharing that with him when I see him next week.
Thank you again for the positive thoughts.
Donna :-P

8-| I too had arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder and after about 1 week my Dr. said I could remove my sling and attend PT. My PT was with new insurer and I had to pay $150./Session. I researched PT on internet and created some of my own "stick extension exercises" which helps considerably, however no one ever told me about not lifting ie light groceries or leaning with elbows on knees with weight of head & shoulder on knees. I was wondering why at night I was getting sore, and even after quitting pain medication, I found that I needed pain medication at night to get any sleep. I believe the PT and Dr. simply figured it is common sense to not use weight on your body or carrying weight while your shoulder heals, but from habit, necessity, and never being informed about weight bearing on shoulder, I was aggravating my shoulder. I also found alot of websites on complications with shoulder surgery also do not mention anything about weight-bearing on shoulder. My advise to many of you is this: BEWARE! We unconsciously do things without knowing the weight bearing consequences. For example I would read the newspaper, elbows on knees while leaning on elbows. It did not hurt my shoulder at all, but at night my shoulder would hurt more than normal. I also caught myself carrying a heavy bag of groceries in my good hand and a 5# or less weight bag on my recuperating shoulder. It did not hurt either, except later towards the evening. Now that I have paid closer attention to my activities and stopped weight bearing on my shoulder, I have noticed considerably less pain at night and more success with PT exercises and less complications. So take note folks, while your shoulder surgery is healing, do NOT lean on your recuperation shoulder and do not carry anything over 1# with that same shoulder for at least the first 2 months following surgery. Surprisingly this little bit of advice will allow your healing to progress much more quickly. Spend a little more time being conscious of weight on that recuperating shoulder which is so often overlooked when we unconsciously do things like we used to, just too soon before complete healing. Weight bearing during healing may not hurt you at the time of action, but you will pay for that activity at night and with slower healing. Simply be more conscious of weight bearing on that recuperating shoulder. Remember that the shoulder is more versatile than any other joint in the human body, and pay closer attention to details while healing which will assist the regeneration of your shoulder.

Hey I had my suprispinatus repair 4 1/2 months ago. He also did a biceps tenodiseis. As of now i still have a little pain in my shoulder, but its getting better. My range of motion is still kind of restricted. When i lift my arm my shoulder blade opens up much earlier than on my left side and makes my shoulder rise. Is anyone else having this problem? Any suggestions? I don't see my doctor for another 5 weeks but I am a little concerned.

I had the rotor cuff/labrum repair surgery 6 months ago on my right shoulder and I still don't have full use of my arm. The right shoulder blade is sliding over and the bottom of the shoulder blade is sticking out. The therapist is trying to push the bottom of my shoulder blade back into place and I have to train my should blade to go back to being normal. I went back to the doctor because the pain wasn't going away and the swelling was still there. He gave me the steroid shot in the shoulder and that seemed to help but I don't know when I will get the range of motion back.

I'm glad I found this blog!!! I'm 3 weeks out from SLAP repair, my Dr. said it was one of the worst he has seen. Gotta wait 4 months to have the other one done. SLAP tear and rotator cuff repair. 1st 3 weeks were great but now I feel like I hit a wall. I didnt use much pain meds after the 1st week but now something has changed. It is painful and stiff. I was in rehab after the 2nd day and been to 1 follow up appt. with my Ortho. They all say it looks good but am always afraid that I jacked it up and tore the sutures up or something like that. It's good to have this venue to hear from others and hear about the progress and pain of others. I'm definately NOT looking forward to have the other one done. i love my job as a fireman but dont want to go back untill i'm absolutely strong enough and ready to go back. Another thing I notice and am bummed about is that I can't work out? Feels like i've put on a few pounds since my injury on 11/27/09 at that fire> :-)

The post on 1/27 at 1601 said it best. I have had rotator cuff surgery , bone spurs removed, artritis, bursitis etc. 7 weeks ago and am making steady progress due to good care and a great pt. At first the pain after the neve block wore off was excruciating no sleep for more then an hour or 2 after the first 2 weeks. 4 weeks in a sling. Then 3 times a week at pt for 4 weeks now down to 2 times a week at pt for the last 3 weeks. Taking hydrocodone for pain 2 to 3 pills a day down from 6. Ice after use, heat at times and lots of stretching. i am recovering so quickly that i sometimes overuse my surgically repaired arm(left)...The advice from the post i mentioned couldnt have been better....take it real easy and stay disciplined....diet along with the strict motions for execise pedulums etc i found is key. do them in the shower with nice warm/hot water on your shoulder at first....some foods allow for quicker healing than others....research them...i see this as 24 hour a day rehab insted of a few hours a day hear and there. i hear the posts about getting depressed....its affected me that way also...not quite sure why but was way down in the dumps over this...might be the hydros exaggerating the negative feelings...although i have found nothing that says it does that.I lifted my 40 pound book bag without thinking today until i grabbed it quickly with my good arm and im a little sorer then usual tonight....but over all pain in the morning is almost completly gone after it being horrible at first...this week the 7th week...getting more ROM everyday now...but i have to keep in mind as well as everyone else at this stage that its still early and not to over due it. i think the better the physical shape your in also plays a key role in recovery time...and ive also noticed women tend to have a harder time with this specific injury then men for some reason...i will check back in and post to let everyone know how im progressing....i really appreciate everyones posts...this is one hell of a ride huh?

sorry i ment to reference the post on 1/27/10 at 16:27 . Thats excellent advice on watching how you recuperate and being vigilant about putting any stress on the shoulder.....thank you for reminding me. :-D