I get my rotator fixed Monday! (Tomorrow) (4/26/10)

[BUDTAO]

After nearly 8 months of discomfort, I finally have a diagnosis from a specialist. The expense of an MRI and other such test and examinations hindered my search for an answer. I have a torn rotator cuff of the right shoulder, best described as the top most tendon has a full tear.

This is a lesson in learning HOW to lift weight, and NOT lifting beyond your limit, as I did EARLY on in my lifting which resulted in the tear.

I hope to video document the recovery and PT exercises of post procedure.

Wish me luck, Im already bummed out about not workout out for quite a while.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Viper098]

Good luck Bro. It is worth it to get it fixed. !

[CaptChip40]

After tomorrow you will be one day closer to being back in the gym. Total recovery for me was about a year. I am lifting heavier now than before the surgery. I am much wiser about form and warming up.
In my case it was worth it and was back in the gym in just a few months doing light work. I took it as a chance to work legs and cardio.
Good luck I think you will agree that it was worth it.

[BUDTAO]

Thanks guys.... I too saw it as a perfect opportunity to work the lower body, which I have not given fair attention to. Hack squats, calf raises and ham curls are in good order for a while. The only thing Ill do upper body is PT.

This page proved to be a worth while read:
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/rotatorcuff2.htm

I hope to provide similar, only utube video.

Andrew

[BUDTAO]

*VIDEO* Rotator Cuff - Part 1 - Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us79KBs3fgA

[BigSlick-------]

I have endured a shoulder problem for about two years now. Mine is on top, a little toward the rear. Could this be the rotator cuff? It not only hinders my lifting(no benching), but also throwing a ball or swinging a bat. This really sucks because i'm a coach and cant even hit pop flys without my shoulder feeling like its going to fall off for a few days.

[BrotherWolf]

After nearly 8 months of discomfort, I finally have a diagnosis from a specialist. The expense of an MRI and other such test and examinations hindered my search for an answer. I have a torn rotator cuff of the right shoulder, best described as the top most tendon has a full tear.

This is a lesson in learning HOW to lift weight, and NOT lifting beyond your limit, as I did EARLY on in my lifting which resulted in the tear.

I hope to video document the recovery and PT exercises of post procedure.

Wish me luck, Im already bummed out about not workout out for quite a while.

Cheers,
Andrew

Good luck .. and please video tape everything especially the PT after the surgery
it should be a quick procedure and relatively painless but good luck anyway..

PS
they are doing an Arthroscopic Repair right ?

[BrotherWolf]

I have endured a shoulder problem for about two years now. Mine is on top, a little toward the rear. Could this be the rotator cuff? It not only hinders my lifting(no benching), but also throwing a ball or swinging a bat. This really sucks because i'm a coach and cant even hit pop flys without my shoulder feeling like its going to fall off for a few days.

Not all RC injuries require surgery , you can try prehab exercises they worked wonders on my shoulder to the point that my pain is totally gone..
these are the ones I did..


give it a shot , at one point I was not able to sleep on my side
I had to learn to sleep with my back flat, after a few months of these I felt no pain
but I am still sleeping on my back LOL I still do them from time to time as a warmup before pressing

[BUDTAO]

they are doing an Arthroscopic Repair right ?

Yes, that is correct.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthroscopy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mzpTnMcqQ4
(The above video may not be the exact procedure I will undergo, but gives an idea anyway)


Andrew

[BUDTAO]

and please video tape everything especially the PT after the surgery

That is my intent, further updates will follow in this thread.

Andrew

[tomdana]

Good luck, I am still nursing a shoulder injury that I had when I was coming back from my hand fractures. Damn!! Hope things go well. Take care!!

[BrotherWolf]

Yes, that is correct.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthroscopy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mzpTnMcqQ4
(The above video may not be the exact procedure I will undergo, but gives an idea anyway)


Andrew

Sweet ... you'll be back in no time

I love watching those procedures

[BUDTAO]

This vid shows pretty much "exactly" what I will have done...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgv8tmWzmnI

[phigg]

Best of luck!

I recently started having some R shoulder pains too.. well actually, not pain so much as reduced power. It really shocked the hell out of me, how much I'd lost in pressing type exercises. But in my case, I'm still very early on.
I was told that you do not "work through" knee or shoulder pain, that's a recipe for disaster, so for now I'm just nursing it, taking anti-inflammatories and giving it rest; and like you said, I see this as an opportunity to focus more on my core, midsection, forearms, and even my left side in general, which of course, being right handed, is a tad lagging my right.
Silver lining and all that!

[BUDTAO]

I had the procedure yesterday, as far as I know everything went fine. Ill be posting more video as soon as I can. Right now, the nerve block has worn off and Captain Lortab and myself are becoming good friends. :-) Its quite and experience, and Ill be posting more.


A FULL ROTATOR CUFF TEAR is unquestionable, you have a SNAP in your shoulder followed by EXCRUCIATING pain and an inability to move it AT ALL for about 48 hours. I wanted to make it clear, if you experienced that, SEE A SPECIALIST! I was not properly diagnosed by my general physician!

Thanks for all the support, like I said, Ill be posting some follow up video in the next day or two!

Andrew

[snorkelman]

Not all RC injuries require surgery , you can try prehab exercises they worked wonders on my shoulder to the point that my pain is totally gone..
these are the ones I did..

Those were 3 of the 30 or so exercises my physical therapists taught me. I do those 3 with 2 pound weights for 20 reps. Anyway, I do not have a tear, and the PT exercises have helped me, but I am not satisfied so I will undergo surgery in July to shave down the acromium, so I will be following OP's thread. I suspect that his PT exercises will be very similar to what I have already undergone to build up the shoulder muscles in hopes of avoiding surgey. I am particularly interested in any stretching exercises OP undergoes, as my Physical Therapists taught me about 3 main stretching exercises and I have been using them for the past few months and they really help (again, but not enough to avoid surgery).

Good luck with the recovery OP, and just remember to listen to your PT and expect the weight training to be more of a conditioning and just suck it up and face the reality that you will be using bands and pink dumbbells for a while when they eventually allow you to use more than body weight resistance.

[BUDTAO]

Im in too much discomfort to tape and post right now. I am hitting some vid off the FlipHD to put up later. I just glad I got my TENS and Lortab right now, last night was terrible pain. For hours on end, I was in agony until this morning, it eased up enough to sleep. Right now, Im better than last night but Im not happy.

Ill post more as soon as I can, Ive got info on meds, TENS, taking shower, etc... I havent started PT yet, its only been like 3 days. I have an appointment Friday so I should have more info by then.

Cheers,
Andrew

[BUDTAO]

Well daum, looks like there wont be much to post for the next while, I got my stitches out today and was told to stay in the sling 24x7 for the next 4 weeks still. You could have twacked me with a baseball bat and I wouldnt have felt it... Oh well, as long as the final outcome is good, its all good.

Ill post some info on showering and sleeping, which is about all the activity Ill be doing for the next 4 weeks it appears.

Andrew

[dbx]

Im in too much discomfort to tape and post right now. I am hitting some vid off the FlipHD to put up later. I just glad I got my TENS and Lortab right now, last night was terrible pain. For hours on end, I was in agony until this morning, it eased up enough to sleep. Right now, Im better than last night but Im not happy.

Been there, done that . You'll be fine soon enough.

Well daum, looks like there wont be much to post for the next while, I got my stitches out today and was told to stay in the sling 24x7 for the next 4 weeks still. You could have twacked me with a baseball bat and I wouldnt have felt it... Oh well, as long as the final outcome is good, its all good.

Ill post some info on showering and sleeping, which is about all the activity Ill be doing for the next 4 weeks it appears.

Andrew

They tell you "the sling, the sling!", but you can fudge in a much shorter time period. The doc just doesn't want you to screw up his work (and neither do you!). You just have to be very careful. They haven't already said it's rehab time? You'll be surprised; you'll go from one day being like, "Oh, hell no!" to 3rd or 4th day saying, "Damn, this isn't so bad." The key is to start moving and working the shoulder asap. You have a big advantage from being active (lifting) prior to this, and unless you have a premium insurance, your rehab folks will be nice, but not sport-specific in helping you. I found it to be a joke and never went back after the 3rd visit. My doc fully understood where I was coming from. You can use your own DBs at home instead of using the "pink" ones (well, 3 pounders) the rehab would have you use for weeks and weeks.

Cheer up, heal up, and be careful when pushing yourself to rehab faster than your body might want to. You'll be back to normal before you know it.

[BUDTAO]

Thx DBX, Im out of the sling right now, moving within my comfort level, which aint much I tell ya! But I dont want a froze shoulder so I take the puppy for a walk 4 or 5 times a day. :-)

I finally had to cave in to the Lortab, I just took some because the pain got to be an 8, it had been hovering around 5 and the TENS kept that at bay.

I cant just sit around for 4 more weeks... I guess Ill have to get started my my website, which is what I wanted to do for months anyway!

Cheers,
Andrew

[BrotherWolf]

Thx DBX, Im out of the sling right now, moving within my comfort level, which aint much I tell ya! But I dont want a froze shoulder so I take the puppy for a walk 4 or 5 times a day. :-)

I finally had to cave in to the Lortab, I just took some because the pain got to be an 8, it had been hovering around 5 and the TENS kept that at bay.

I cant just sit around for 4 more weeks... I guess Ill have to get started my my website, which is what I wanted to do for months anyway!

Cheers,
Andrew

Just take it easy it's a delicate spot...

[hookrunner]

Wow, another 4 weeks in a sling? I'm having a mini-open repair on the 24th and the surgeon wants me out of the sling and doing range of motion stuff within a week, and in PT in 2 weeks.

What muscle did you tear?

With the mini-open, I'll have about a 1.5 inch incision over the AC joint, which he'll spread with retractors. Then, he'll split my deltoid along the muscle fibers to expose the RC. After that, he'll anchor the supraspinatous tendon back onto the humerus. I'm also having about a half inch of my clavicle removed - a mumford procedure.

4 weeks seems a hell of a long time to be in a sling for what you had done...

Good luck bro, and I'll be following along. I'll be making a progress thread after my surgery as well.

Steve...

[BUDTAO]

4 weeks seems a hell of a long time to be in a sling for what you had done...

I had a full tear of the topmost tendon, which was also recessed. This was a pretty detailed operation, I was under for 2.5 hours while the repair was made. Partial tears, etc.. normally dont take quite as long from what I understand.

Not only that but my shoulder (acromion bone) was ground down and slicked up, calcification and arthritis build up. I think Ill need to have my left shoulder decompressed in about a year or so. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disord..._overview.aspx Both shoulders were a train wreck inside, now that I only have one good shoulder to use, I hear and feel it clicking and grinding with most all movements. Good thing is, a decompression could save the whole shoulder from disaster and takes a lot less time to heal from!



HTH,
Andrew

[hookrunner]

I had a full tear of the topmost tendon, which was also recessed. This was a pretty detailed operation, I was under for 2.5 hours while the repair was made. Partial tears, etc.. normally dont take quite as long from what I understand.

Not only that but my shoulder (acromion bone) was ground down and slicked up, calcification and arthritis build up. I think Ill need to have my left shoulder decompressed in about a year or so. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disord..._overview.aspx Both shoulders were a train wreck inside, now that I only have one good shoulder to use, I hear and feel it clicking and grinding with most all movements. Good thing is, a decompression could save the whole shoulder from disaster and takes a lot less time to heal from!



HTH,
Andrew

Meh, decompressions are nothing, I've had 2 on the shoulder that's getting repaired, and one on the other. You'll have full range of motion on your other shoulder in 2 days.

Keep in touch bro...

[Iceman1800]

I had a complete tear of the supraspinatus and have had a complete recovery after surgery. Make sure you do all the physical therapy and don't rush recovery. You will be back good as new but it will be a while. And I doubt your doc will want you doing hack squats or calf raises since the machines press against your shoulders. Good luck and pm me with any questions if you want

[hookrunner]

I had a complete tear of the supraspinatus and have had a complete recovery after surgery

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Txs bro.

I will be pm'ing you.

Repped...

[BUDTAO]

I had a complete tear of the supraspinatus and have had a complete recovery after surgery. Make sure you do all the physical therapy and don't rush recovery. You will be back good as new but it will be a while. And I doubt your doc will want you doing hack squats or calf raises since the machines press against your shoulders. Good luck and pm me with any questions if you want

Thanks for all the info, and good suggestion too... Ill just work on the website and leave all the weights alone until Im good.

Thanks,
Andrew

[BUDTAO]

*VIDEO* Rotator Cuff - Part 2 - Basic Information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_KnT4tHGgM


More to come as soon as I can..


Andrew

[Brackneyc]

Hang in there man. I had a very serious tear two years ago. I got scoped and cut. They had to use titanium pins and a whole lot of other stuff to put me back together. I also had the arthritis (requiring serious work on getting it all smoothed out, or whatever they did) issue, requiring extra work. I slept in my recliner for a week. Worst part may have been getting dressed and using the bathroom.

FWIW, I am at about 99% in all shoulder related movement, except throwing. Throwing anything still causes serious pain. Doctor said I may or may not ever be able to throw again without pain. I have a lot of scar tissue in there, and it makes some serious noise during some of my workouts. I have really made great gains in the past few months in strength and stability. I had the surgery two years and my last visit to the doc (I had concerns) was good. He did say it can take years to get back to 100%, especially with the degree of damage I did to mine, combined with years of prior abuse (sports and lifting).

My success (imo) can be attributed directly to my adherence to my therapist's orders. When I started showing up for therapy on my motorcycle, she tapered me off to once a week, then cut me loose two months early.

[BUDTAO]

As I get time, Ive got some more informational videos that Ill be posting in this series. I was wondering if there were any specific questions I could/should address?

BTW, healing is making progress... damn slow progress, but its getting better each day!

Andrew