Rotator cuff surgery this week. :(

[alfresco]

I find Dr.s give advise for the worst case scenario. They give the same advice if you are 30 or 80. Originally they told me 4 months for the tendon to graft back to the bone and 18 months for it to be fully grafted back. I just put tiny loads to start and went from there. At 3 months the Dr told me to do what i wanted but not go crazy which i didn't i just listed to my body and it was obvious when a movement was starting the tax the tendons. I was a journeyman machinist so i used both arms but did not move heavy loads. usually did those lifts with a crane i had over my work area. I trained my torso and 3 appendages the best i could. Stimulating the good arm keeps the other from atrophying as much as there is still nerves getting stimulated in the repaired arm. I wore my sling for the first week then dropped it as the Dr said it was for comfort and did not help healing. And i was in no real pain. Took me 9 months to be back to full power with my shoulder rebuild. Longer with my replacement. But i had spine surgery 3 months after i had my should replaced so that caused more down time. I never missed a night of sleep and was in my own bed for all my surgeries. Might only sleep 5-6 hours but then adjusted my position and went back to sleep.
Best of luck.

Bolded . . . very astute of you and oh so true.

 

[Biohazard]

Hey guys. Been a while since I checked in here. The one injury I've dreaded for years finally got me.

Torn infraspinatus
Torn supraspinatus
Partial tear of subscapularis
Intracapsular biceps tendinosis
Mild/moderate acromioclavicular joint degenerative changes
Mild lateral downsloping of the acromion

Translation my shoulder is Fooked. Ha ha. So what am I looking at. I know its a tough surgery. Sling for 6 weeks. PT and just time. I had a bone spur and torn labrum fixed years ago in my left shoulder. It was still hurting after 8 months. Hit the gym and pain went away. I was much younger then though. Just turned 51 recently. Have plenty of Black Tops. So will be doing that. Probably do 4IU per day. Post surgery. Any other advice? Thanks guys. Hope everyone on here has been doing well. I need to check in more often here. As you all know life happens.

That's a rough situation, sorry to hear about it. I had shoulder surgery nearly 4 weeks ago to reattach all the ligaments in the AC and they removed a plate in my collarbone after more than a decade, so it broke the collarbone when being removed. I hopped on bpc and tb500 the day after surgery and really wasn't sure what to expect, after 2 weeks I didn't notice much, but week 3 it seemed to kick off and wow I am so impressed with how quickly my shoulder is recovering. Mobility is better every single day with less pain and inflammation. Highly recommend them. I am also running gh alongside.

Good luck and speedy recovery.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

update. typing with left hand so bear with me. lol. my nerve block is still going at 29 hours. doc said it can last 36. but my hand is starting to get feeling and i can squueze the ball in the sling more forcefully. slept in recliner last night. also have the ice machine with the cold pad around my shoulder. was able to do one of the rehab movements. you bend over and put your left hand on a table then take the sling off and let your arm hang free and move your hips back and forth so your arm gets in a little swing motion. couldnt do the others because arm is still numb. will update tomorrow. i know you guys are dying to hear about it.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Bolded . . . very astute of you and oh so true.

i plan still hitting the left arm. if not at the gym im gonna get a 20lb dumbell from wally world and do high rep stuff.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

4 days post surgery. im amazed how little pain i have. i only took i think 3 or 4 pain pills. havent had any pain pills since thursday. only taking ibuprofen still. doing my exercises. sleeping in recliner sucks. but is what it is.

 

[Neuro1234]

Don’t rush back either!

Biggest regret. Don’t rush back. It’s not worth it. Stay consistent and keep up with your PT even after your released.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

2 weeks post op today. Doing real well. Didn't even need pain meds really. Had surgery on 21st. That Friday, Saturday and Sunday took nothing. Then late Sunday night started getting pain in my trap up through neck. Could not sleep. Had to start eating Oxys to get just 4-5 hrs sleep. The PA said wearing the sling often gets everything in your neck area out of whack. Did fine until the evenings. I'm not even wearing the sling when home unless I get up to cook or I leave the house. That definitely helps. Slept without the sling last night for first time. I'm in the recliner so my arm stays still. Starting a strong dose of Prednisone for next 12 days. To get my neck calmed down. I don't like either one but the prednisone is better than the pain meds. I don't like needing to take laxative when using that stuff.

Did my first physical therapy last week. She said I was doing so well already I only needed to come once a week. Happy with that. We'll see how it goes from here.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Biggest regret. Don’t rush back. It’s not worth it. Stay consistent and keep up with your PT even after your released.

I am. I'm older now so not as impatient. My doctor told me no heavy weights for 6 months. Although for people like us "what is heavy weight"? Our light is so much heavier than the "ordinary peoples" heavy.

 

[TrippplePPP]

Don't rush it. Rushing leads to more injury and in long run provides no meaningful benefit. Really, ask you doctor what he means by heavy, not us.

 

[Alzadosghost]

2 weeks post op today. Doing real well. Didn't even need pain meds really. Had surgery on 21st. That Friday, Saturday and Sunday took nothing. Then late Sunday night started getting pain in my trap up through neck. Could not sleep. Had to start eating Oxys to get just 4-5 hrs sleep. The PA said wearing the sling often gets everything in your neck area out of whack. Did fine until the evenings. I'm not even wearing the sling when home unless I get up to cook or I leave the house. That definitely helps. Slept without the sling last night for first time. I'm in the recliner so my arm stays still. Starting a strong dose of Prednisone for next 12 days. To get my neck calmed down. I don't like either one but the prednisone is better than the pain meds. I don't like needing to take laxative when using that stuff.

Did my first physical therapy last week. She said I was doing so well already I only needed to come once a week. Happy with that. We'll see how it goes from here.

Bro do the therapy as often as you can. I had stuff I did at home every day for over a year. The surgery is pointless without agressive rehab. I’m 100% convinced of this. Rehab rehab rehab then more rehsb. Didn’t touch a weight with my upper body for 6 months after last shoulder surgery. Nothing over 20 lbs for 9 months. It worked out perfectly

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Update. Should have been back in here before now. I'm at 10 weeks. Things going great. My last physical therapy was last week. She told me to go slow and gradually work up. I'm way ahead of schedule as far as recovery. Only doing 5lb front and side laterals. Doing band directly for the rotator cuff. That direct work on the rotator cuff is still tough. I'm gonna include that work anytime I do upper body from now on. Just never did any direct rotator cuff work for warm ups in the past.

I've continued to work the rest of my upper body and legs best I can. Just started doing some leg presses about 3 weeks ago. Sucks not being able to squat but gonna wait another month at least before I try to get under a squat bar. Gonna see what my doc says about that. Putting your arm in that position is tough on the shoulder so may have to wait longer. Doing 5 lb curls for the bicep. Taking it slow. Its not easy I feel great but I know I have to keep going very light even still. Hope all you guys are doing well.

 

[Jefe]

Hey, we’re surgery twins! Same shit.

I’m 4 months out. It gets better at a faster rate. I recommend flopping around in a pool and doing some exercises in there. Helped me.

I’m on gh no peps.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Hey, we’re surgery twins! Same shit.

I’m 4 months out. It gets better at a faster rate. I recommend flopping around in a pool and doing some exercises in there. Helped me.

I’m on gh no peps.

How is the strength coming along? My doc doesn't want me doing anything heavy at all. I'm up to 12lb curls now. Lol. Doing 10lb side laterals and fronts. The shoulder work you definitely have some pain. Nothing big but I think it takes those things a long time to become pain free. I think the shaved bone on my "acromion", I think that is the correct area" will probably take the longest to heal. I'm taking 5IU of GH a day. Its tough because you want to go heavier but know you can't.

 

[Jefe]

How is the strength coming along? My doc doesn't want me doing anything heavy at all. I'm up to 12lb curls now. Lol. Doing 10lb side laterals and fronts. The shoulder work you definitely have some pain. Nothing big but I think it takes those things a long time to become pain free. I think the shaved bone on my "acromion", I think that is the correct area" will probably take the longest to heal. I'm taking 5IU of GH a day. Its tough because you want to go heavier but know you can't.

I’m not on weights yet. I’m enjoying flopping around in the pool. Monday I get evaluated. Surgeon told me 1 year to full recovery so I’m taking it easy.

Having my shoulder hurt less is weird. I was used to excruciating pain for decades. Kinda nice now

 

[AllLoadedUp]

I’m not on weights yet. I’m enjoying flopping around in the pool. Monday I get evaluated. Surgeon told me 1 year to full recovery so I’m taking it easy.

Having my shoulder hurt less is weird. I was used to excruciating pain for decades. Kinda nice now

What all did you have done? Complete replacement? My original post shows everything wrong with mine. Long list. Lol. The pics of my bicep tendon look like shredded chicken. I'm glad your pain is gone man. Were you a typical man and too stubborn to get it fixed/looked at? Ha ha

 

[Jefe]

What all did you have done? Complete replacement? My original post shows everything wrong with mine. Long list. Lol. The pics of my bicep tendon look like shredded chicken. I'm glad your pain is gone man. Were you a typical man and too stubborn to get it fixed/looked at? Ha ha

3/4 muscles torn. Biceps tendon moved. Extensive debridement. Acromioplasty.

Surprisingly he said I should be in pretty good shape once healed.

He said if total replacement happens, it’s not anywhere near as bad as it sounds.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

3/4 muscles torn. Biceps tendon moved. Extensive debridement. Acromioplasty.

Surprisingly he said I should be in pretty good shape once healed.

He said if total replacement happens, it’s not anywhere near as bad as it sounds.

I'm really surprised at 4 months you are not doing any weight at all. I don't see how it can strengthen without any resistance. Are you doing rehab? If so what do they have you doing?

 

[Jefe]

I'm really surprised at 4 months you are not doing any weight at all. I don't see how it can strengthen without any resistance. Are you doing rehab? If so what do they have you doing?

Rehab. I tore it before and this one was bad so maybe that’s slowing the pace. According to rehab and the surgeon, I’m ahead of schedule. I’ll find my exercise list later, on the treadmill now.

 

[Jefe]

I'm really surprised at 4 months you are not doing any weight at all. I don't see how it can strengthen without any resistance. Are you doing rehab? If so what do they have you doing?

Just got cleared to do regular activity. I guess there was a gap I fell into between last doctors appointment and therapy. Good to start baby weights.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Just got cleared to do regular activity. I guess there was a gap I fell into between last doctors appointment and therapy. Good to start baby weights.

Great man. Mine still has pain in it. If I just take my arm and push it forward like I'm doing a press or like a punching motion mine still hurts pretty bad. Its like on the side like something catches sometimes. Kinda worries me but I guess at just over 3 months that is still normal.