Torn Rotator Cuff

[bczoom]

I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm having some shoulder and arm problems.
Saw the surgeon this morning.
Within minutes, he pretty much figured it was a TRC. A MRI to follow to confirm.
Anyone else have one? Surgery? If so, what was your recovery time?
Info here on causes, treatments... Sounds like it may take a year to recover after surgery.

Rotator Cuff Tear

A rotator cuff tear causes shoulder pain and makes arm movements difficult. Learn more about the symptoms and treatment.

my.clevelandclinic.org

 

[FrancSevin]

You are looking at six months to a year depending on how much damage and how well you perform the regiments of recovery.

Age is also a factor.

 

[Melensdad]

I have two of those.

Left is mild. Right hurts most of the time.

I don't have the time to have the surgery & recovery.

 

[bczoom]

When you're talking about recovery time, are you talking about a period of weeks where there's no use then gradually getting things going again?
I'm in pretty good shape for my age and for the most part, can recover quickly.
I had a hip replaced - walked 1/4 mile that same day (therapist said that was a record). Walked more then that every day afterwards. Went to PT after about a week and the guy said not to bother coming back as I didn't need it.

 

[FrancSevin]

It depends on your age and general health as much as the discipline you apply to recovery.
You sound like a fit and healthy individual who is in good physical shape. That means your body's healing systems are likely younger than your age would suggest. Perhaps a month of very limited use to promote the mending process. However, don't let the shoulder stiffen thru nonuse.

A perfect example of why we should make the effort to keep in shape.

I'm not a doctor so the advice is amateur, free, and worth every penny.

 

[m1west]

It’s good that you verified it with a MRI, I thought I had it for a few years and turned out to be an inflamed bicep tendon.
I was able to both massage and exercise my way out of it, been good for a couple years now.

 

[Crumpy]

Here is a link to some information about diagnosing and treating rotator cuff injuries.
The length of recovery depends on the severity of the injury. Hope you feel better soon.

Signs of a Rotator Cuff Tear and How to Help It Heal

Signs of a rotator cuff tear include difficulty moving the arm and a dull shoulder ache that worsens at night. See surgical and nonsurgical treatments.

www.verywellhealth.com

 

[bczoom]

Bump.
MRI confirmed torn cuff. Not super bad so orthoscopic surgery is all that's needed.
Met with the surgeon this morning. After meeting with him and confirming I wanted to proceed with the surgery, there was what seemed like a train of workers that came in behind him.
First, the scheduler - I could get the surgery in as fast as 1 week!!! Glad I don't live in Canada. I said that was a bit too soon as I want to get things done first so we pushed it back a few weeks.
Then the person for pre-op orders (x-ray, labs, ekg...)
Then the person that pre-fit me with the sling I'll need post-op and the machine they'll bring to my house for therapy.
Then a person I talked with about post-op patient instructions, physical therapy, post-op visits...

Visit with the surgeon started on-time and even with this train of people, I was done in about an hour.

 

[Crumpy]

Bump.
MRI confirmed torn cuff. Not super bad so orthoscopic surgery is all that's needed.
Met with the surgeon this morning. After meeting with him and confirming I wanted to proceed with the surgery, there was what seemed like a train of workers that came in behind him.
First, the scheduler - I could get the surgery in as fast as 1 week!!! Glad I don't live in Canada. I said that was a bit too soon as I want to get things done first so we pushed it back a few weeks.
Then the person for pre-op orders (x-ray, labs, ekg...)
Then the person that pre-fit me with the sling I'll need post-op and the machine they'll bring to my house for therapy.
Then a person I talked with about post-op patient instructions, physical therapy, post-op visits...

Visit with the surgeon started on-time and even with this train of people, I was done in about an hour.

Good luck with this, BC.
Hope it goes well for you. Hugs

 

[Doc]

I'll 2nd that. Good luck. I hear Rotator cuff surgery can be rather painful. Maybe the orthoscopic surgery is not as bad.

 

[Dax949]

We had a 'wreck' in an inflatable rubber boat a few years ago on a whitewater rafting trip down the Ocoee River through North Carolina into East Tennessee. I survived the trip with a torn Achilles tendon in my ankle and a torn rotor cuff. It wasn't so much fun as they said that it'd be.

The orthopedic surgeon in Oak Ridge, Tennessee does things a little differently than most. Usually, the next day after surgery the patient is managed to exercise the affected arm so it doesn't seize up and become immobile. When that happens, lifting the arm lifts the entire shoulder as it becomes all fused into one mass.

The doctor told me, "The shoulder is the second-most painful joint in the body when it's injured. First, is the knee. It's really painful for a patient to exercise that arm right after surgery just to keep it moveable. I do things different than that. I'll put your arm in a sling so you'll keep it immobile and save you a whole lot of pain. We'll let it go ahead and seize up while it's healing.

Then, after it's had some time to heal, we'll bring you back here, sedate you, and while you're asleep we'll free up that arm and get you into a therapy program to keep it moving. I've found that's a lot better than doing it the old way."

So, indeed my arm and shoulder did seize up and became one solid mass. At the appointed time, I went back to Oak Ridge for a remedial operation to get the arm loosened back up. When I woke up in recovery the doc came in and asked how I was doing. "Your arm is freed up now. It's up to you to keep it that way so we've got a therapist assigned to help make sure you do that. While you were taking a nap we took ahold of that arm and got it all broke loose. It was popping and cracking like nobody's business. We had it up over your head and all the way across your chest so it's loose now. That's why we do it this way, under anesthetic. You wouldn't have been able to stand it otherwise."

So I had a sore shoulder / arm for a while and it hurt to do the exercises at the therapists - but nothing that I couldn't handle. Hey? I'm a GUY! And we Guys are tough! No pansy azz liberal here!

 

[300 H and H]

I have had both of my shoulders repaired. 6 weeks in a sling. 3 months of rehab and yes about a year for 90% recovery.
I have had knee surgery on both knees as week. Both have 3-5 days of rather high levels of pain. Rehab is not a lot of fun either.

My shoulders were interrupting a good night sleep regularly. During the day not so noticeable, but nights were hell. Wide says I was all over the bed nearly every night.

I don't regret any of the shoulder surgery. The knees long term are a whole other story...

6 weeks ago, I broke 4 ribs. I am sleeping in bed now, but only on my back or right side. Any other way will still light me up mid sleep.
So, I can argue ribs are worse than shoulders or knees. Or maybe it is because it is still fresh and active in my daily life. I hope in another 30 days I will be much closer to normal.

Good luck and get it done now. Waiting too long as we age gets poorer results.

 

[Ringo]

I'll 2nd that. Good luck. I hear Rotator cuff surgery can be rather painful. Maybe the orthoscopic surgery is not as bad.

A torn rotator cuff is pretty painful too. I've not torn mine, but have had shoulder pain off and on for years. Last time I injured my right shoulder it took about a year to heal. No tear thank God, but still hurt pretty bad.

 

[Ringo]

I have had both of my shoulders repaired. 6 weeks in a sling. 3 months of rehab and yes about a year for 90% recovery.
I have had knee surgery on both knees as week. Both have 3-5 days of rather high levels of pain. Rehab is not a lot of fun either.

My shoulders were interrupting a good night sleep regularly. During the day not so noticeable, but nights were hell. Wide says I was all over the bed nearly every night.

I don't regret any of the shoulder surgery. The knees long term are a whole other story...

6 weeks ago, I broke 4 ribs. I am sleeping in bed now, but only on my back or right side. Any other way will still light me up mid sleep.
So, I can argue ribs are worse than shoulders or knees. Or maybe it is because it is still fresh and active in my daily life. I hope in another 30 days I will be much closer to normal.

Good luck and get it done now. Waiting too long as we age gets poorer results.

I feel your pain literally and figuratively. When you have shoulder pain there's no such thing as a comfortable sleeping position. Mine did improve markedly when I went to a rather firm memory foam mattress. But even that only goes so far.

 

[tommu56]

Not to steal the thread but it strikes me a note

I'm having trouble with my right shoulder at night and was looking at those shoulder braces whats everyone's take on them"
I have an appointment to get my lower back fixed in the next month and have to limit my anti-inflammation, and pain med's to until this is over and was hoping I'd get a good night's sleep with the brace, I tried a a arm sling but that didn't work.

tom

 

[bczoom]

Can't help with the shoulder sling.
I was fitted for an arm sling at the doctor's. I said "this looks expensive". She couldn't tell me a price but she guesstimated $600.
I looked up similar slings. They're $39 at at WalMart. WTF????

 

[tommu56]

Can't help with the shoulder sling.
I was fitted for an arm sling at the doctor's. I said "this looks expensive". She couldn't tell me a price but she guesstimated $600.
I looked up similar slings. They're $39 at at WalMart. WTF????

23.99 amazon it will be here Monday hopefully for a good nights sleep!

 

[bczoom]

23.99 amazon it will be here Monday hopefully for a good nights sleep!

Did you get it? Is it working?

Got all my lab, EKG & X-ray results. Most were good. My WBC/RBC and Creatinine were off.
- The blood counts have been attributed to the the shoulder injury and the pain meds.
- Creatinine (Creatinine is a waste product produced from muscle metabolism, and it is normally filtered out of the blood by the kidneys) was out of range. They had me re-take the test this morning to see if it was a fluke. Muscle metabolism? Yea, my whole body's muscle metabolism is off since I can't use one arm AND, I have chronic kidney disease (Cystinuria) since I was in kindergarten.

I wasn't told when meeting with the surgeon but my PCP needs to check all my lab, EKG, X-ray results & clear me for surgery. Met with PCP this AM and have been cleared for the surgery.

 

[tommu56]

Did you get it? Is it working?

Got all my lab, EKG & X-ray results. Most were good. My WBC/RBC and Creatinine were off.
- The blood counts have been attributed to the the shoulder injury and the pain meds.
- Creatinine (Creatinine is a waste product produced from muscle metabolism, and it is normally filtered out of the blood by the kidneys) was out of range. They had me re-take the test this morning to see if it was a fluke. Muscle metabolism? Yea, my whole body's muscle metabolism is off since I can't use one arm AND, I have chronic kidney disease (Cystinuria) since I was in kindergarten.

I wasn't told when meeting with the surgeon but my PCP needs to check all my lab, EKG, X-ray results & clear me for surgery. Met with PCP this AM and have been cleared for the surgery.

Nope I used their dimensions and I couldn't get it to fit my upper arm I have a DR appointment tomorrow I'm asking about creatine stuff