Posted: 2/22/2011 5:43:08 PM EDT
| Well, I’m 39 and went snowboarding this season >>> Crazy stupid I know. Fell on “overextended arm”, MRI images show 12.5mm x 10mm full thickness tear in the supraspinatus tendon. Surgery is scheduled for next Mon Feb28. Any of you have experience with this type of injury? I’m wondering if you could provide any tips for quicker recovery (recommended healing-type foods, vitamins). How about the special neoprene thermo-wraps (hot or cold), I heard sports guys wear these things to promote speedy growth/healing. Thanks for any input.. |
| there is nothing quick about it. have it fixed and then the rehab. You have to start a program of stretching it and regaining strength. You need first to regain your range of motion and then your strength. Go slow and do it right the first time. The only other tip I can give you is cortisone will help when you start out to get you going on your rehab program. You can't use it forever but it will be a big help starting out. Take it slow and give it a month or two. |
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I've had my shoulder done twice. Last one was to reattach the biceps tendon.
The best thing I had was a cooler (think little Igloo cooler) that had a pump in it that circulated cold water. It was a necessity for bedtime. Your surgeon/ortho will probably proviced it after surgery. Use it. Every day. Trust me. If they give you a passive motion chair to use, do it ASAP. I was using mine before my shoulder block even wore off. It will help you get back to a point where you can start rehab faster. That's really what you want. The sooner you start, the less your muscles have a chance to atrophy. I'm not positive you'll do that on the first day. Depending on what all they find, they may have you immobilized for a time. If you can, be sure and flex your elbow from time to time. That will help the soreness. Another thing is the pain meds. It's going to hurt like holy hell for a while. Do not let the pain get ahead of you. If it does, nothing you do will help for a while. I thought I was going to be OK and didn't take a dose because it didn't feel too bad. Big mistake. I was hoping my wife would shoot me for a while. At that point the constipation didn't even enter my mind. I wanted the damn thing to quit hurting. The last piece of advice I have is DO EXACTLY WHAT THE DOC says to do. Overdoing excercises or therapy can do more harm than good. If he tells you an unlimited amount of time in a passive motion chair is ok, then go for it. If he restricts your use of something, pay attention. The last thing you want is to have to do it all agian after you've healed once. BTW, the next time my shoulder screws up I'm going to have to have a reverse shoulder done, or a total replacement. I've given up ice skating and the snow stuff for a while. I realize I'm an old codger now. 
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there is nothing quick about it. have it fixed and then the rehab. You have to start a program of stretching it and regaining strength. You need first to regain your range of motion and then your strength. Go slow and do it right the first time. The only other tip I can give you is cortisone will help when you start out to get you going on your rehab program. You can't use it forever but it will be a big help starting out. Take it slow and give it a month or two. Hmmmm.......spoken like a true therapist, are you PT or OT? to the OP, rehab as soon as possible after surgery......as posted above lots of stretching to regain loss of ROM, strengthening, ice, pain meds and probably some cross friction massage to break up any scar tissue(this is why we stretch to break it up....the scar tissue hinders ROM) this is not the nicey nice massage your thinking its going to be lol........rehab will be work, and your therapists are going to be assholes(if they are any good ) but I promise you....listen to what they say and do what they tell you, and you will be just fine.
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there is nothing quick about it. have it fixed and then the rehab. You have to start a program of stretching it and regaining strength. You need first to regain your range of motion and then your strength. Go slow and do it right the first time. The only other tip I can give you is cortisone will help when you start out to get you going on your rehab program. You can't use it forever but it will be a big help starting out. Take it slow and give it a month or two. Hmmmm.......spoken like a true therapist, are you PT or OT? No I am not but I have had a torn RC. Just get it fixed and do the rehab right. Spend two months and do it right one time. Don't be a dumb ass and try to get better in three weeks, and then spend the next two years trying to get better. Get a cortisone shot and start the rehab and keep it up. Having only one working arm blows trust me. |
| only reason why I ask is cause I am a therapist........and your giving good advice lol :) I tell all my patients, "We can do this right the first time" or you can go back get it done over and I will see again in a few months.....choice is yours. I do alot of hips and knees |
| Got my front rotator cuff on my right side in August. Went to PT and did everything the Doc and PT said to do, now it's February and the shoulder is still doing great. However Front Rotator Cuffs take time to completely heal, my Doc told me that mine won't be completely bonded together until June. It is a slow process. I started doing physical work in January without more that just an occasional twinge. However, now I am laid up after doing a knee replacement last week. Sure sucks getting old. |
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I've had my shoulder done twice. Last one was to reattach the biceps tendon. The best thing I had was a cooler (think little Igloo cooler) that had a pump in it that circulated cold water. It was a necessity for bedtime. Your surgeon/ortho will probably proviced it after surgery. Use it. Every day. Trust me. If they give you a passive motion chair to use, do it ASAP. I was using mine before my shoulder block even wore off. It will help you get back to a point where you can start rehab faster. That's really what you want. The sooner you start, the less your muscles have a chance to atrophy. I'm not positive you'll do that on the first day. Depending on what all they find, they may have you immobilized for a time. If you can, be sure and flex your elbow from time to time. That will help the soreness. Another thing is the pain meds. It's going to hurt like holy hell for a while. Do not let the pain get ahead of you. If it does, nothing you do will help for a while. I thought I was going to be OK and didn't take a dose because it didn't feel too bad. Big mistake. I was hoping my wife would shoot me for a while. At that point the constipation didn't even enter my mind. I wanted the damn thing to quit hurting. The last piece of advice I have is DO EXACTLY WHAT THE DOC says to do. Overdoing excercises or therapy can do more harm than good. If he tells you an unlimited amount of time in a passive motion chair is ok, then go for it. If he restricts your use of something, pay attention. The last thing you want is to have to do it all agian after you've healed once. BTW, the next time my shoulder screws up I'm going to have to have a reverse shoulder done, or a total replacement. I've given up ice skating and the snow stuff for a while. I realize I'm an old codger now. Pretty much this! Do you have a recliner? If so it will help with recovery (sleeping) a lot. Hurts like a bitch but had my right shoulder done twice (about ten years apart) amd managed taking pain meds only twice. Ice all the time. Either the pump thing or use a bag of frozen peas if cost is an issue. Follow your PT's orders exactly! Good luck |
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That is so true, it sucks getting old..........you got the double whamo shoulder then knee.....ouch!! but then again everyones pain tolerance is different so hopefully your doing well.......where are you as far as your ROM on the knee? ice and bend.........you REALLY need to be bending the crap out of that knee.......dont let that scar tissue screw things up, it sucks having to go back under the knife and start all over again.
Tell you a quick funny story, when I was doing my clinical rotations in an acute care setting(hosp) I had 2 fresh knees.....got to sit in on both surgeries, put the CPM(cont pasive motion) machines on both patients in PACU.......one was an 80yr old woman who had BOTH knees done at the same time........the other was a 50yr old male body builder who had ONE knee done. Guess who was walking the next day .......and guess who cried in bed for days just having me walk in the room heehee |
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I had mine repaired on 3 Jan. Sling came off 2 weeks ago.
Doing physical therapy now, getting back range of motion, no strength exercises yet. Do not rush anything, let that thing heal good, and follow Dr, PT orders exactly. I am still having a hard time sleeping, and have only been comfortable using a keyboard the last 2 weeks. That sling sucks, sucks real bad. Sleeping is a nightmare. |
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only reason why I ask is cause I am a therapist........and your giving good advice lol :) I tell all my patients, "We can do this right the first time" or you can go back get it done over and I will see again in a few months.....choice is yours. I do alot of hips and knees If it wasn't for guys/girls like you, I would have never ending problems. My therapist was BRUTAL, I swear I thought she was a Nazi deathcamp guard reincarnated, but she got me back to "normal". She pushed me hard, but it was well worth it. I did everything she said while in the sessions, and then I followed her advice to the letter for my workouts outside of our normal sessions. She was awesome. My thanks go out to you. I'm functioning damn well because someone really took an interest in my rehab and was willing to push me alot harder than I thought I could be pushed. They may hate you when you're "working them over", but I guarantee you they're thanking you 6 months down the road. |
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Pain, lots and lots of pain. Shoulders are extremely painful and take a long time to heal.
did I mention pain? +1 on the passive motion machine. I woke up from sugery strapped to one cuz my surgeon did not want my shoulder to freeze up. I've had both of them done 10 years apart. The one done when I was older took a lot longer to heal. |
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That is so true, it sucks getting old..........you got the double whamo shoulder then knee.....ouch!! but then again everyones pain tolerance is different so hopefully your doing well.......where are you as far as your ROM on the knee? ice and bend.........you REALLY need to be bending the crap out of that knee.......dont let that scar tissue screw things up, it sucks having to go back under the knife and start all over again. Tell you a quick funny story, when I was doing my clinical rotations in an acute care setting(hosp) I had 2 fresh knees.....got to sit in on both surgeries, put the CPM(cont pasive motion) machines on both patients in PACU.......one was an 80yr old woman who had BOTH knees done at the same time........the other was a 50yr old male body builder who had ONE knee done. Guess who was walking the next day .......and guess who cried in bed for days just having me walk in the room heehee Got my knee done last Tuesday (2/15) was in the Orthopedic Center for 2 days, then released. been doing the constant motion, ice machine and the suggested home PT. Went today to start my PT at the Orthopedic center, will go 3X a week for about 4-6 weeks. I am 52 years old and hike, bike, snowshoe. I shouldn't have to mention of course Guns and Archery. The knee replacement was from a football injury when I was 15 years old. Sure wish I would have missed that game :). |
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I had my rotator done one year ago this month. Had 4-5 anchors installed and it has been a nightmare. I’m worse off now than before the surgery. Don’t know exactly why, 2 more MRIs are negative. Doc says I might have more “fraying” on the underside of the rotator. Also had two more cortisone shots, no good.
Some free advice base on my experience: Don’t get a $5 piece of shit sling like my doc gave me to use. Mine allowed the arm to move around too much and did not provide good support. If I had to do it over again, I would get the one that immobilized the arm close to the body. When you go to PT, don’t get tough or brave and do more than what they say to do in the early phase. Do what they say or maybe a bit less. I have read that rotators are one of the most easily injured post-operative surgeries and they aren’t kidding. That might have been what happened to me or maybe something was missed during the surgery. Or maybe I just plain did not heal up well, wish I knew. Don’t drive for a while and don’t get your arm hung up in a seat belt getting in & out of the car. Don’t know what you do for a living but even if it’s riding a desk, don’t go back too soon, even typing will hurt. Try not to handle too much stuff with your hands while standing. If you drop something, you will try to reach for it. You can’t help it. Start taking the pain meds when they say to and if they offer you the nerve block thing, you might want to think about it. HOWEVER, it does not last 24 hours like they say. I had my surgery done at around 9 AM and by 10 PM that night I was in so much pain I couldn’t take it. Had to hit the drugs immediately. Get a good chair, you will not be sleeping in a bed for a while. Like others have said, get the pump/ice chest thingy that has the fitted shoulder pad. DO NOT reach behind you to put on a belt for a month or more. Make that 2-3 months. Slip on shoes only, no laces. Get some waterproof band-aids ahead of time for showering. That first shower is going to feel great after not taking one for a day or two or three. Don’t reach across with your bad arm to wash your other arm for a while, it will be painful. Still hurts me to do that to this day. Don’t push off a wall or against something that does not move. A move like that in the first couple of weeks or months is a killer. If you have kids, don’t wrestle or play too rough with them. If you put a load on your arm, you could tear it again. If the bad arm is the one you use to wipe yourself after taking a dump, good luck in using the other arm. Keep your sense of humor. I have nothing good to say about it, I have been in pain every single day since the operation, mobility & strength are not good. In PT there were guys that had their operations 18 months prior. On the flip-side, a couple of guys at work had it done and they are fine after 6 months. Just take it easy. Best of luck to you & stay well. |
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It's been a year and I don't recall exactly what area or muscle etc but it was on the underside of the rotator. I do know that it was not a complete tear, wasn't even close. I could not move my arm behind me or put it down a jacket sleeve or raise my elbow up without wincing. The thought of throwing anything no matter the weight made me cringe. Just the motion of throwing was impossible without pain. Impacted sleeping as well.
Doc put in some plastic anchors with 5 arthroscopic incisions about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch long each and pulled everything together underneath with some fancy string. The first 72 hours are the toughest. If you don't take the meds it's really gonna hurt to the point where you have to take them. No way you can make it without them. It's WAY worse than breaking a bone and I've broken three. Like I said though, some guys at work sailed through it with no problems. Just not me. |
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It's been a year and I don't recall exactly what area or muscle etc but it was on the underside of the rotator. I do know that it was not a complete tear, wasn't even close. I could not move my arm behind me or put it down a jacket sleeve or raise my elbow up without wincing. The thought of throwing anything no matter the weight made me cringe. Just the motion of throwing was impossible without pain. Impacted sleeping as well. Doc put in some plastic anchors with 5 arthroscopic incisions about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch long each and pulled everything together underneath with some fancy string. The first 72 hours are the toughest. If you don't take the meds it's really gonna hurt to the point where you have to take them. No way you can make it without them. It's WAY worse than breaking a bone and I've broken three. Like I said though, some guys at work sailed through it with no problems. Just not me. labral repair? i had that and rotator cuff done at the same time, what a mother f'er! |
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Damn. I hate these posts. I have told my story many times here.
Short story - I was attacked by 2 rottweilers. When they came back for seconds I "supermanned" a fence and full thickness tear of Rt Supraspinatus. + dislocation. As for surgical recovery - Be prepared for suicidal pain. DONT let them discharge you from surgery/hospital on the same day (Ambulatory). Stay in the hospital so they can give you pain meds that actually work. Get 10 bags of frozen peas. The igloo cooler ice cuff thing is a lifesaver. Percocets didnt do anything for me other than constipate me so bad I shat a softball and tore my ass up (Fissure/Fistula). It was real nice shitting blood everyday for a week and not be able to reach your butt because your arm is in a sling and if you so much as twitch it you cry out in agony. Seriously - I cried and wept for 4 days. It was without question the most horrible experience of my life. I had my hip replaced 3 years ago and compared to full open shoulder surgery it was like stubbing my toe. I hope and pray that it goes better for you and they give you a nerve block and maybe a PDA (pain pump) to take home. Be prepared for the fight of your life and prayers inbound. Please realize that this was for a "Full Open" repair. If they are able to do it arthroscopically you will not have it bad at all. |
| Cuff surgery was last Thurs, in Hell right now. Cant sleep, cant go No2. Every move hurts. Seems every part of my arm hurts (bicep, elbow, wrist). I’m a CAD designer who works from home, I told my supervisor no issues (but I can hardly move the mouse). Sleepy from the pills too. Thanks for the advice on cold therapy, worth every penny. |
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Quoted: Cuff surgery was last Thurs, in Hell right now. Cant sleep, cant go No2. Every move hurts. Seems every part of my arm hurts (bicep, elbow, wrist). I’m a CAD designer who works from home, I told my supervisor no issues (but I can hardly move the mouse). Sleepy from the pills too. Thanks for the advice on cold therapy, worth every penny. Keep using the ice, even when you get tired of it. And tell your supervisor that you are having trouble, no sense in letting him think you can handle your normal work load, if any. I had 2 tears in my rotator cuff about 3 years ago, I was off from work for 2 months. Even then I went back a week or 2 too early. The good news is I hit PT with a passion and regained 100% movement in my shoulder... even the doctor was blown away! Be patient with yourself and take the needed rest. |
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http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/crofoot629/Surgery003-1.jpg Hate to admit it but I’ve had 9 orthopedic surgeries. One shoulder twice, and the other once, plus all the others. Here’s the repair of a ruptured quad. Happened on the job. Just get er done and do the PT. Emory I've had 7 or 8 myself, mostly knees. I can't remember all of them to be truthful. But I've had both shoulders done as well. Doing the PT is important but get a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THERAPIST. Physical therapists are like docs, some are good, some are great, and some aren't worth shooting. If they don't lay their hands on you with manipulations or treatments, I'd say find another one. |
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Three surgeries, lots of physical therapy after each one. Ended up with a complete shoulder replacement about 2 years ago. If they can fix it, give them a try. I put off the surgeries as long as possible, and suffered like a bitch every time. The replacement was brutal, but really did dramatically reduce pain, improved my overall function.
I did the original tear in jujutsu. It sounded like tearing loose a huge piece of velcro in a bucket of water...I knew 'Oh, crap, that isn't good." |
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Was wondering how you were doing. Have fun with your pulley and blue & red rubber bands in PT. Raising your arm level with the floor will be tough. Getting it to the ceiling will take a lot longer. The arm bike if they have one will help a lot with strength later on.
They will move everything for you for the next few weeks if I remember correctly. Be real careful getting in and out of the sling. Expect a little bit of pain when they massage the scars, at least at first. After each PT session I opted for the ice, made things a bit better on the drive home. Hang in there. |