Educate me on rotator cuff repair and racing.

So I did a heck of a number on my shoulder about a month ago, which was diagnosed as a minor shoulder tear. Has not gotten better then I had a bit of an accident again and now its seriously screwed up. Like trouble shifting and reaching the steering wheel. Trouble typing and putting on shirts, has bnen that way for the last say 5 days.

MRI is scheduled to happen in another two weeks if nothing gets better. Anybody have this and can offer some timelines on how long it took for full recovery. Doctor said if its a mid tear that I could be out of commission on that arm for 3-4 months and a major would be 6-9 months. If it is a major tear and the pain continues surgery is on the table.

Am I out for good, am I out for years until I get full movement. Is it likely to tear again if it has been once before. Can I get in and out of a suit or HANS without doing damage.

Thanks.

It gets better but it never heals without surgery. I tore both mine at different times playing hockey, and after two or three years, they still twinge and warn me when I over extend my arm, but it is livable. Surgery was a time consuming option with uncertain results so just toughed it out. Certain motions really bring on the pain but mostly it is not a big deal anymore. First six months are tough though...

Hopefully there isn't labrum damage as well. Plan on an 8 to 12 month recovery and lots of PT.

Five hours of Arthroscopic by a good surgeon repairing a complete tear and cleaning out scar tissue, 12 weeks of therapy, limited strength for about 6 months, probably year to a year and a half for "full recovery". Beats the ...... out of the pain I had before the surgery. Pick your surgeon carefully and ask lots of questions pre surgery...... i.e. Arthroscopic or traditional 5-6 inch incision (increases chances of infection and lengthens healing process).

I literally came out of many therapy sessions vowing to do physical harm to the therapists but it's the only way to get your complete mobility back.

Crap. At least it is not permanent and its fixable. They have me in a new neoprene brace that got delivered tonight and it keeps the pain down and restricts my movement pretty good. I can kind of drive as well. Automatic is no issue, manual SUCKS. 12 months is not the end of the world, hopefully 4-6.

No pain killers this round I have had issues with them in the past. No lifting or Bike is going to kill me.

If it hurts, don't do it.

Total shoulder replacement has become a routine procedure (for the surgeon.) If you eventually hear that, don't panic. I have a close friend who breezed through it.

Anybody here been through total shoulder replacement? Would like to hear more on that-- probably something I need to prepare for in the next couple of years.

my ex-business partner had full shoulder replacement after wiping out on his motorcycle. He was already extremely arthritic with RA, he now considers the replacement his "good shoulder" as he has way more movement and less pain than the other.

One of my co-workers at another job had rotator cuff surgery, he was out of action for a month and on limited work for 9. The replacement my ex-business partner received had less recovery time.

Either or is in my future. I have a small tear in my right rotator, been living with it almost 25 years now. It lets me know when I do something stupid, but it otherwise fine 90% of the time

Continuing the threadjack.

My interest stems from already having had a repair of a torn glenoid labrum (about 30% of the way around) in my right shoulder, and my left really isn't much better. Before surgery, I had to use my left arm to move the right when I had to move a column mounted automatic transmission shifter.

Rehab was long and painful-- only the PT was allowed to move my arm for the first month, but definitely recovered functionality.

When I asked about how the rehab runs for a shoulder replacement, the PT staff says it's essential no different than what I went through with the previous.

Assessments I've been given so far of the two replacement options (normal and reverse?) are that one results in better strength with less recovered mobility and the other offers the inverse.

No mechanical damage its a smaller tear in just the wrong place they think. WOO!

Soft brace for a month and then a tiny bit of PT if I need it. Pain is way way down with he anti-inflammatory shot they gave me. Tenador? or something like that. With the shot I am able to sleep though the night and it works till the next day.

Also I have a new appreciation for women and how bad bra's are. Holy tar is it nice to take off the shoulder brace when I get home for an hour or so when I am on the couch.

wearymicrobe wrote: No mechanical damage its a smaller tear in just the wrong place they think. WOO!

sounds like you are in the same boat I am. Once the inflammation is down and some of the connecting tissue healed, your small tear should not really bother you 90% of the time.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

That's good to hear. I meant to write this earlier but I was on my phone.

I had mine repaired by a surgeon in Apple Valley. Worst bedside manner of anyone I've ever met but he was a damn good surgeon. I had a nickle sized hole and a bone spur from a fall off a work stand. My surgery was the traditional type because, and I quote, "If I did this arthroscopicly your stupid ass would go and lift something heavy too soon then tear all the anchors out. Then I'll have to do this again."

So we did it in the traditional manner. 12 weeks of PT later I had probably 95% of my range of motion back. The only think I can't do now, and this is mostly my fault for not working out as much as I should, is put my arms out at 90 degree angles then reach back and grab a squat bar. My left shoulder simply doesn't allow rotation in that position anymore. I can still grab the back of my shoulder and back of my neck with that arm though.

The0retical wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe: ... Worst bedside manner of anyone I've ever met but he was a damn good surgeon. ...

The two somewhat go together. If you want great bedside manner, go to a Family Practice doc. They specialize in bedside manner. Don't fix anything, but they can make you feel like they really care about how berkeleyed you are.

OK, OK, joke of the day:

An Internal Medicine doc, a Family Practice doc, a surgeon and a pathologist go out duck hunting. A flock of birds flies over. The Medicine doc stands up, aims his 12ga at the birds, says "Rule out geese. Rule out quail. Rule out pheasant. Rule out..." and the birds are gone. Another flock flies by. The Family Practice doc stands up with a fully automatic belt fed 10ga shotgun and lets a full 100 round belt go in 1 burst. A bird falls from the sky. He says "I don't know what it was, but I sure got it." Another flock flies by. The surgeon stands up with a 410, aims, shoots once and a bird drops out of the sky. He turns to the pathologist and says "Make sure that was a duck."

In reply to Dr. Hess:

I love doctors with terrible beside manner. I don't need or want to be coddled I just want to know what's wrong and how we're going to go about fixing it.

The family doctor I was using in California was this little tiny Romanian woman with pretty much zero tolerance for excuses on why you weren't doing something that she said. I got along great with her but my wife always referred to her as Dr. Death after the first time she came with me and listened to her give a massive tongue lashing about how the guy in the next room over was going to die if he didn't take his meds.

The guy I used for my shoulder in CA was a retired full bird colonel and was a lecturer at one of the University of California campuses (if I remember right.) Easily the most direct surgeon I've ever dealt with.

When they did the surgery because it was suggested that a nerve block be put in. I agreed and the anesthesiologist poked me with an electrode until I twitched then worked some magic. That was oddly pretty fun.

There's an prescription pump/icebox combo with a shoulder pad that looks like a CoolShirt which really helped a lot with the pain and swelling post surgery.

If it is your R shoulder, and you have a left hand drive car, maybe you can switch to a right hand drive car.

About two years ago I took a bad fall on my left shoulder. It hurt, bad. Thought it was a bad bruise, but did not get better. Went to my doc, he sent me to an Ortho. Sports doc, works with pro and college guys. Got the MRI and was told it was pretty bad. Torn labrum, etc. Went in for arthro and was done in an hour. I now have part of a dead guy in my shoulder. Recovery was not fast, PT was a bitch, but I now have almost full use of the arm. Funny, my PT guy was 6'6" 320# and quite gentle. Football type. No scars on my shoulder. Check out your doctor thoroughly, very important.