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My aching shoulder


fastlarry

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Has anyone had successful rotator cuff surgery? My right shoulder has bit the dust; I believe I had a partial tear for over a year that has completely torn as I can't raise my hand as to shake hands or reach for a beer. I'm out of the shooting game for now and haven't tried riding. It is hard to get my hand on the right grip, but once there I might ride with the bar supporting my arm.

 

What can i expect from a surgical repair? How long?

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RecentConvert

I have had it done and know several others also having the procedure. The surgery is very reliable, if you follow through with the physical therapy. If you don't follow through, you don't get full recovery. It will be better, but not as good as it could be.

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Funny you should ask. Before I tell my story I want to say that I have had a few times where I could not lift my hand enough to put it In my pocket. A cortisone shot fixed it like a miracle. In July we rode to Vancouver Island, 10 days, and camped the entire way. Every morning my shoulder was killing me. I thought another cortisone shot would do the trick. Long story short, I had surgery 5 weeks ago. The surgeon relocated my bicep tendon, cleaned up other torn tendons, bone spurs, and put this 'bovine patch' on my rotator cuff. 5 weeks and I have a long way to go to recover. I don't know your age, but the cortisone shot worked until now, and now is 68 years old. Good luck.

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Similar story here. Had the shot at end of August and got about 4-6 weeks of relief. Then I probably aggravated the problem working in the yard and garden. Back to the same pain and worse. The doc wouldn't give me another shot, saying the short time it gave me relief was indicative of a more serious problem, like a torn rotator cuff or partially torn. Last weekend I couldn't lift my hand to buckle my belt, but it is a little better today. Just not as painful. I'm 71.

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Cortisone shots are funny things. ~15 years ago I injured my right shoulder while chainsawing and moving trees. After 3 months, it wasn't getting any better, so I saw a sports medicine doctor who diagnosed "schmutz" in the joint, and pushed this big honking needle in my shoulder. A week later, the pain was completely gone, and has never returned.

 

On the other hand, two years ago my left elbow was hurting as the result of shoveling too much snow, and I remembered how well the shoulder had done. A shot to my elbow hurt like hell when the anesthetic wore off, and there was only modest improvement for a few weeks before it was back where it was before the shot. Then I decided to search for the effectiveness of corticosteroids for tennis elbow, and was horrified to learn that they are less effective than placebo, and actually increase the risk for long term injury by weakening the tendon.

 

Surprisingly, after 3 months of heavy lifting involved with moving my household earlier this year, the elbow is back to normal. I also suspect that using a touchpad on a laptop contributed to the problem, and have cut back on that repetitive movement.

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I had my right rotator cuff done when I was 60. Mid-December. I was totally diligent about doing my exercises, PT, and stretches. It seems that whatever range of motion you get back after 8-10 weeks is pretty much all you're going to get, and the first 4 weeks you're in a sling not doing active stretching at all. I asked my surgeon when I could ride again and he said "when it's warm enough". I rode to my appointment in mid-March and he was like "I said not until it's warm enough!" And I said "it's 45 degrees and I have heated gear, that's warm enough." After he did the ROM and strength checks he told me that he'd planned on asking me back in another month but decided there was no point and discharged me. It still took a few more months to get full strength back in that arm though.

 

I was shocked how much strength I lost in just a few weeks in a sling, I couldn't reach out to grasp a doorknob.

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....Then I decided to search for the effectiveness of corticosteroids for tennis elbow, and was horrified to learn that they are less effective than placebo, and actually increase the risk for long term injury by weakening the tendon.....

+1 to that

 

Onto my soapbox..

It blows my mind the number of folks who will put more time into researching the purchase of a new car or refrigerator and almost zero time into researching their heath care choices...present company excluded :)

Expert opinion aside you are your best health care advocate. Whether a needle or surgery these are invasive actions that have pros can cons to be considered and lots of information is needed to make the right choice. The issue of weakened tendons being brought up about corticosteroids are a well documented side effect all too often glossed over in the discussion of their use on your body. Too many times I have heard of, or been directly involved in medical treatment discussions where critical information was omitted or glossed over. Get multiple expert opinions and do a deep dive into any information you can find (hence your post here). Find a source to translate any technical mumbo jumbo into language you can understand. Before any surgery review the data on the surgeon's number of and successful outcomes for the procedure your about to have. Do not forget to look into the hospitals track record or managing the surgical process to avoid the wrong procedure being done (wrong shoulder) and most of all how well they manage infection in their facility. Have they had problems with super infections. Too bad, so sad, if the doctor takes offense to your questions. In fact, maybe another doctor is in order if they behave that way. My wife and I literally had a doctor tell us that we should not read the statistical research we were quoting as it was too confusing for laymen like us...That doctor was replaced that day!

OK off my soapbox

 

Larry, I am sure you will arrive at a course of action and an outcome that is best for you and restores you to a high quality of life.

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I had an aching shoulder for three months that never seemed to get better so I went to the local sports doc in Salida after Xrays and then MRI he said I had a torn rotator and the surgery/recovery was nuts.

 

A friend suggested acupuncture... four visits later 90% of my discomfort is gone and I am back in the gym weight lifting.

 

YMMV

 

Whip

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Well, I got the MRI and results handed to me today. Wasn't such a bad prognosis. The ortho doc said I have a partially torn rotator cuff, but not so damaged to explain the pain I get. He also found some particles in the shoulder joint, cartilage or bone he couldn't determine. He feels these lodge in the moving parts of the joint and cause the "catch" I described to him. These can be short painful episodes or they can cause swelling and enduring pain, depending what I am doing. Suggested these can be fished out of there with relative non-invasive surgery with a short recovery. Guess I'll get it done in the dead of winter to be ready for springtime activities. Thanks for your posts.

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Well, I got the MRI and results handed to me today. Wasn't such a bad prognosis. The ortho doc said I have a partially torn rotator cuff, but not so damaged to explain the pain I get. He also found some particles in the shoulder joint, cartilage or bone he couldn't determine. He feels these lodge in the moving parts of the joint and cause the "catch" I described to him. These can be short painful episodes or they can cause swelling and enduring pain, depending what I am doing. Suggested these can be fished out of there with relative non-invasive surgery with a short recovery. Guess I'll get it done in the dead of winter to be ready for springtime activities. Thanks for your posts.

 

For sure the quality of life issue says to have the procedure to clean out the loose crap in the joint as sharp and/or enduring pain is no way to live and be happy. Also, long term use of products like Advil is not all that good for you either. Will the Doc repair the rotator, or did he recommend rest and PT?

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Well, I got the MRI and results handed to me today. Wasn't such a bad prognosis. The ortho doc said I have a partially torn rotator cuff, but not so damaged to explain the pain I get. He also found some particles in the shoulder joint, cartilage or bone he couldn't determine. He feels these lodge in the moving parts of the joint and cause the "catch" I described to him. These can be short painful episodes or they can cause swelling and enduring pain, depending what I am doing. Suggested these can be fished out of there with relative non-invasive surgery with a short recovery. Guess I'll get it done in the dead of winter to be ready for springtime activities. Thanks for your posts.

Every case is different, so take this with a large grain of salt. I had a shoulder bothering me for a year or more. I could not really lift that arm at all although it was pretty good for other activities like riding or carrying things in that hand. I finally had an MRI and was told I had a tear in the supraspinatus muscle or tendon, don't remember which now. It is part of the rotator cuff. He gave me a steroid shot which provided some short term relief. After that I just waited and it took about two or three years total but finally went away on its own.

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