Post Shoulder Surgery - Torn Rotator Cuff

Geobec1981

Good afternoon. In the next couple of months I am having my shoulder operated on to repair a torn rotator cuff. The tear is nearly completely through. He will also be removing about 5-6 mm off my collar bone where it meets the shoulder blade (to stop the crunching). My surgeon has told me that I will not be able to move my arm (except for limited movement) for approximately eight weeks. I will then be able to commence rehab exercises (light). With full recovery of movement and strength expected at about the 8 to 9 months post operation.
Has anyone here had similar surgery and if so, what did you experience and what exercises did you find the most useful for recovery and strengthening? I am quite active at the moment and exercise on average five days a week both cardio and strength. My surgeon has also told me to expect wastage of muscle on that arm I fully intend to seek physio intervention and advice. But I believe to have some idea of beneficial exercise for recovery is always good and gives me something to talk to the physio about.

Also, how did this injury happen?? Came off my push bike and my head and left shoulder met a concrete footpath - cracked my bike helmet through (thank God I always wear one) and had some minor bruising on the left temporal area.

Thanks

Azdak

You can search the web and find a number of sites that will have detailed rehab protocols for post-rotator surgery. These will give you a sense of what is ahead,the timing, etc. rehab from the type of surgery you are having is long and definitely not a DIY project. Good luck!

erincricket

My husband has his rotator cuff repaired in August. He doesn't know how he did it, but it was getting progressively worse. It was only the rotator cuff though, doc said it was a bad tear, but nothing else had to be done. He had to wear a brace for weeks, it had a foodball like cushion that went with it. As far as it all went, the recovery is long, but a few months out I can tell you he is using that arm more now than he did before. He can sleep on that side for a while, whereas before he was miserable. He is young, 42, so his recovery wasn't as bad as an older person. He did have some muscle wastage, and it wasn't pretty, but you can't tell now. He slept in a recliner with a pillow under his arm for over a month. The brace was the worst part. We live in TX so it's hot, and it was hard to keep the skin under the brace from being sweaty, etc I'd invest in some Gold Bond just to keep away the moisture if you're prone to that. My husband had physical therapy after six weeks, and he did whatever the therapist told him, so I can't answer that. I do hope your surgery goes well, you won't regret getting it done. It's very inconvenient and time consuming recovery, but we do not regret doing it. BTW, you can find the actual surgery on YouTube to see how it's performed.

Geobec1981

Thanks for the replies. Appreciated.

Packerjohn

I have had 6 shoulder operations including rotator cuff and the shaving of the collarbone you mention. It's called subacromial decompression. If you Google, you will find the acromion has 3 typical shapes, a couple of these, along with lifestyle factors can increase the chance of rotator cuff problems.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8548441
http://ortho-md.com/procedures/subacromial_decompression.html

I had little pain after any of the surgeries (at least to me, I've been told I have a high pain tolerance, don't know if that is good or bad) was able to sleep in bed with the sling/cushion described and only used 1-2 pain pills after each operation.

I had significantly different rehab than what was mentioned earlier. After each of my surgeries I was at the PT 2-3 days after the operation . Do the exercises the PT tells you to do and not random things you see on the Internet unless you show him/her and get the okay, everyone's situation is different.

Also, if you are willing, tell your PT you are willing to work at PT and don't care if it hurts a bit (as long as you're not doing something to tear up the repair) do extra sets of exercises, etc. I've been told by a couple PTs the typical protocol "takes it a bit easy" because a lot of people aren't willing to work at it and they don't want to scare people away. Following this idea, the PT said I was generally running 25% ahead of typical rehab time (and I was in my 50's)

You said you have a couple months before surgery. My surgeon has an in-house PT staff. When I found out I had to have an operation I went to the PT staff and asked them what I could do prior to surgery exercise-wise to improve/speed the healing process after the operation, i.e, so I could go in as strong as possible. I did the things recommended and was told this also made a difference in recovery time.

Best of luck.

dawniemate

Hi I'm a 47 year old female in the same position. ..not good. .. at the moment I can't do much. ..even physio hurts. ..worst thing is it was a work injury ..I work in a children's hospital ...fingers crossed for you. ...take it easy it could be worse X

DarbiB

Good luck! I had a little baby tear in my rotator cuff from swimming. I was 24 when it happened, and was lucky enough that I didn't need surgery, but I did have 6 months of physical therapy (2x a week! V expensive!). Even now, 2 years on I'm still working on getting my strength back, and sleep with a weird pillow/sling contraption so I don't roll over onto that shoulder in the night.

DarbiB

Possible suggestion: I was told to start Yoga once I started getting most of my mobility back. Obviously talk to your PT and talk to your yoga teacher before practice so they know when to suggest modifications, but I feel that my practice has really helped!

njitaliana

My husband was injured Jan 2014 and had rotator cuff surgery in April 2014. He tore one of the ligaments completely off the bone and had smaller tears in two other ligaments. He has still not returned to work and is still in physical therapy. He wasn't able to do anything for the first 6 weeks after surgery. Then, he started PT. He has steadily been going to PT 3X a week. He still doesn't have full range of motion back, but he has come a long way. The PT will give you resistance bands and other things to take home to do your home exercises. I wouldn't do any exercises unless both your doctor and PT approve them.