Davidgpc

I am not a doctor and I do not presume to know anything beyond my own experience. Two years ago I hurt my shoulder. The pain had all the symptoms of Rotator Cuff Injury. It kept me up at night and in fact this was when I noticed it most. I was ready to have surgery when the lady across the street told me her pain continued after surgery and in fact it did not get better so I put it off. I didn't do anything but give it rest. Two years later I have no pain and I am just a little stiff. I lift weights and ride a bicycle three times a week. Just my thoughts Good luck

nobodyhere

I'll say it again - you NEED a 2nd opinion before ANY major surgery no matter how prestigious the doc - and the doc should welcome this. And maybe a 3rd opinion. And if he/she doesn't welcome it, find another doc who does. No one knows everything, and opinions on surgery can vary radically.

peterws

Such symptoms may not be rotator cuff problems. Could be a pinched nerve in the neck vertebrae, aor a frozen shoulder which could typically take 2 years to get over. There`s also TOS which is Thoracic Outlet syndrome. My doctor was unconcerned. The initial treatment is the same . . .

bliksem

About 5 years ago I had a rotator cuff injury, it took about 6 months to heal. I still have some movement limitations but the doc said that surgery is not advised at this stage. I'm active and fit - cycle 30 miles every day and paddle board and surf as much as I can. My shoulder got better/stronger with exercise - speedy recovery to you.

Wittfan

I suffered a complete tear of my rotator cuff due to a fall in Nov 2012, with surgery 6 wks later. I was in my mid 50's at the time and fairly active. I found out that the key to a successful recovery was to follow the post-op instructions fully and to take the physical therapy seriously. Most people who have an unsuccessful outcome expect the surgery alone to solve the issue. They're wrong - the surgery only gives you the opportunity to have a successful recovery. The rest is to follow a somewhat aggressive plan to recuperate. Make sure your surgeon explains what outcome is available if you follow the script. Good luck!

Oldguyonoldbike

@ddeand Any updates? How did surgery go? How are you doing?

I've had gradually increasing pain in my right shoulder since last summer and my family doc recently confirmed a torn RC. Steroids and anti-inflammatories didn't do anything, while range of movement is progressively worse. I'm weighing up options and would like to hear about your experience.

SloButWide 

Since you've revived the thread, I'll chime in with my (secondhand) experience. My ex had her rotator cuff repaired and cartilage removed from the shoulder socket 7 years ago (when we were still together). She was in her forties.

Dr skill is key. She went to the practice that was the official orthopedics practice to the local pro and college teams - they said they did this surgery a few hundred times a year. It was arthroscopic, and they took less than 20 minutes from walking into the room to walking out. They had their surgery set up with a viewing area, and I watched them work. All you could see was three guys huddled around a box with levers, and the camera feed.

She had a lot of pain the first two weeks afterward, and wore a sling for 4-6 weeks. If I recall correctly, physical therapy started pretty quickly, and ran three times a week for 8?? weeks. After physical therapy, she felt and was assessed at 100%, with no residual pain.

Gerryattrick

As I said in my post (#3) I was due to have RC surgery two years ago, but decided not to get it done. Two years later I have absolutely no symptoms and no pain.

You should use a combination of your own gut feeling and medical advice to make a decision. The different experiences on this thread alone just goes to show that no two cases are the same and, while you may listen to them, do not make any medical decisions based on information from a cycling forum!

ddeand 

Oldguy -

Thanks for the interest, I appreciate it. I had the RC surgery done on Oct. 13, and all has gone well since. The surgeon did the RC repair as well as a bicep re-attachment. Seven arthroscopic holes around the shoulder, but virtually no pain or problems healing. I was fortunate to need pain meds for only two days. The hardest part was the six weeks in a sling - I guess it's essential to keep everything immobilized. The other thing that has been important is following the physical therapy program closely - I think that has made a huge difference compared to some others who rushed things. At my age, I don't want to lose any down to a relapse due to stupidity! Anyway, the PT guy says I can start swinging a golf club in a few weeks and I should be able to get back on the bike once winter is over. I'll probably stick mostly to the road and gravel at first, but I hope to get back on the mountain bike in early summer - but no technical trails this year. I'll stick to flow trails and easier stuff. I'm feeling very fortunate and lucky with the recovery, and I can certainly feel and see a great improvement over my range of motion for the past year. I'll be doing PT until May (I go in for assessment and updated exercises every three weeks)' and at my age, total rehab will probably take a year. Unlike most advice, I got a young surgeon who was absolutely excellent - he had great references and rafings, so I took a chance.

I hope you can get your shoulder back in shape. The RC surgery takes a long time to sort out, but I'm glad I did it. Good luck!

RedRockRider

Timely thread.

This morning, I just called the orthopedic surgeon who repaired my badly torn right rotator cuff in 2010, for an exam on my left rotator cuff.


I personally didn't find the pain after surgery bad at all, only taking pain meds for a couple of days, and then getting back to a light work schedule in 2 weeks. I followed my physical therapy religiously, and although my shoulder may never have full range of motion, it is 100% pain free, and I have no limitations.

The left one started bothering me last year, but I though I could live with it for awhile, as I dealt with chronic dislocations on my right shoulder for over 20 years, but the pain and loss of function has gotten really bad over the last few months, so I figured it is time for a CT scan and consult.

Oldguyonoldbike

@ddeand Glad to hear that all went smoothly and that recovery is on track. Best of luck with the golf swing and it's good to hear you'll be back on the bike soon.
I have an appointment with the family doctor next week to discuss options at this point. Unfortunately, ignoring it doesn't seem to be an option. I'm a university lecturer and I can no longer write on or erase the whiteboard without significant pain and even driving is getting harder.
Your experience is encouraging.

Oldguyonoldbike

@RedRockRider Thanks for sharing your experience, and good luck with round two.

tarwheel 

I had a "frozen shoulder" about 10 years ago due to rotator cuff injury. Fortunately, surgery was not recommended but recovery was slow. I went through PT for about 6 months, which didn't seem to help much for quite a while. It finally got better after I got a cortisone shot in the shoulder. Instant relief and pain/stiffness did not return. Wish I had tried that sooner. All it took was one shot.

CrippledKonaBoy

Ironic that I find this thread.........

Tore my left RC in three places on Oct. 9 last; I was TOLD it happened months before, and all I did was aggravate it. BS.

I was removed from the 'surgery candidate' list immediately. When I saw the MRI pics, I wondered further -- but the surgeon gave me so little confidence, I agreed to let it go. (MRI showed one tendon completely detached from its anchor point, about 2" removed from where it should be.)

Theoretical option 1 was soft-tissue restructuring, learning to use the arm all over again, and no promise of any improvement.

Theoretical option 2 was joint replacement, which I was assured my active lifestyle would destroy inside of two years.

I'm on schedule for quarterly cortisone shots...no problem, and MUCH of my mobility restored.

rootboy 

...you mean, with one of your tendons completely detached from its anchor....and hanging two inches away from it...you have no problems using that arm?
That's rather, amazing....

RedRockRider

Oldguy - thanks for the kind wishes.


Saw the surgeon who fixed my shoulder. It took him less than a minute to diagnose "frozen shoulder".

They gave me a cortisone shot in the joint 10 minutes later (not as bad as I had heard, not fun but relatively quick and minimal discomfort). Shot also had anesthetic in it. Less than 10 minutes later I could move my shoulder better than I had been able to for 2 months. He told me to really stretch and work it while the cortisone and anesthetic are there, been doing mobility exercises for the last 30 minutes, already have back about half of the range of motion I had lost!

Supposed to call a PT office tomorrow and get PT 3x week for 6 weeks, then back to the doctor for eval. He specifically told me this has a MUCH better prognosis than the almost completely torn rotator cuff he repaired 5 years ago.

Relieved.

sunilmedapati3

A decent specialist is not the person who knows how to work but rather the person who knows when not to work. Shoulder Surgeon are doing every single other strategy for agony alleviating comes up short and as per my suggestion orthopaedic surgeons in mumbai are best.

peterws

This is an old one, but still applicable.
I had two shoulder injuries, I rhink i got them on the arm machuines down the gym. same exercise, it's pressure on the shoulder muscles.
The same thing happened. a couple o' years apart; first time I felt it and stopped, moving onto another unrelated activity. second time, I detected a slight twinge and stopped right then. I'd forgotten just how painful it turned out to be, in each case.
Couldn'd find a comfortable position at night; propped up on cushions was as good as it got.
I asked concerning surgery, and X rays revealed it would probably do no good; not enough muscle to bind up to, so aspirins and paracetemal it was, for a long time.
Physios told me to do certain exercises amongst which was the same as had caused it in the first place. I didn't do that.
A long time later, I'm fine. I have used weights for straight arm lifts (which could aggravate or induce an inguinal hernia, and other stuff which seemed to do the job.

I got an inguinal. That's fixed good now, too.
So's my right foot (plantar facilitis) and I've had a lens replacement.

Not done so bad, have I?

dendawg

I had surgery at age 64. Took almost 3 months to recover. A good PT regimen helps most. Doctor wouldn't let me start PT until after 4 weeks. Right after I went back to work I slipped on some ice (it was winter) walking home from grocery shopping and landed right on the repaired shoulder which put me back into rehab. Still bothers me a little on long rides but the doctor didn't think another surgery would help.

on2wheelsks

I had my right shoulder (rotater cuff and torn bicep) done a year ago. I'll be 63 in a couple months. For me it was the best decision I could have made. Had a great doc here in Kansas City who fixed me up. The worst thing for me was trying to sleep in a recliner, which was normal for this surgery. I spent about 3 months in the recliner, the pain afterward was minimal, in a sling for 6 weeks, started PT after 10 days. I was fortunate to have good people working with me, and I returned to light duty work 2 weeks after surgery. I am a light sleeper anyway, but sleeping was the worst thing for me. I am back to 100% today, would say about 4 months recovery time. Best of luck to you!

Doug64

I had shoulder surgery for 5 torn tendons including my bicep for damage caused by bike wrecks, and skiing crashes. It took 43,000 repetitions ( yes, I kept good records) of the exercises my PT gave me and a year before it was back to where I could start pushing the weights, and not worrying about the shoulder like I did before the surgery.

Don in Austin

A really good orthopedic doc saved my left knee 15 years ago. So I thought I would have him fix my torn rotator cuff and mis-healed collar bone in my left shoulder. These were from ancient injuries but starting to get pretty painful and troublesome. He took x-rays and, I think ultra-sound and told me "We do NOT want to go there after all these years." A long difficult recovery among other reasons. He sent me next door for physical therapy and from there I graduated to a good trainer at a good gym. I now have my Wed AM trainer who is very knowledgeable and works out of his house and the gym on Thursday or Friday. My left arm strength and flexibility do not match that of my right arm, but I can live with the situation just fine. It will cost you relatively little to get a second opinion as to whether you really should have surgery.

Don in Austin

Don in Austin

amen to that!!

johnu

Good grief how are you now?

I'm sitting here with my arm in a sling for three weeks now. I fell off a ladder and tore two tendons off the bone. I could not raise my arm past my nose. 3 more weeks in the sling before any PT. They want it to have the best chance of reattaching.

fietsbob

A friend is getting the surgery done today .. muscles retracted entirely so must be re attached..

( injury because he stumbled over his cat)


[Update , it's done ..surgery to re attach muscle's tendons successful , I am told ]






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