My Journey from Surgery back to the stage

[paperplate73]

I'm having surgery in the morning for a torn labrum in my shoulder (SLAP tear) and thought I would start a thread documenting my recovery since it might be helpful to others who have this injury.

I'm not sure exactly how it came about, but I believe I was having some impingement last fall/winter which could have led to it. It got worse a couple months ago and I have since cut out all pressing and any other exercise that feels uncomfortable/unstable, which has limited me to back, biceps, and a couple tricep exercises for my upper body.

I have heard it's a long recovery since connective tissue and bone do not get much blood supply, but it is just a setback and I am determined to not let this discourage me. I will return to the stage in a couple years bigger and better than ever to claim that pro card!

[selffirst]

I'll be keeping positive thoughts for your speedy recovery man...Steve

[paperplate73]

Well the surgery went quite smoothly, woke up after anesthesia with just numb hand/arm (felt like I slept on it) and a slight feeling of needing to cough/clear my throat. They had injected something to numb that area, which led to those side effects, but they wore off in a few hours.

I was prescribed ibuprofen, an antibiotic, and narcotics if the pain was bad, but I have only needed one dose of ibuprofen since the stuff from the hospital wore off, honestly not much pain now and I would rather avoid narcotics if they aren't needed.

[paperplate73]

today and yesterday have been pretty similar, not much pain and only taking the antibiotic and ibuprofen. It seems that whenever I take the ibuprofen and sit down to read or check ******** I get really drowsy and sometimes take a nap. I went for a walk and out to a few stores, but that's about it.

I got one more day with the ice and dressing, then I put band-aids on the stitches and don't have to wear the large ice pack on my shoulder I would upload pics but its not working on my computer. still wont be able to shower for the rest of the week though

[APwn]

I had a SLAP repair and stabilization just over a year ago. I thought it would really hold me back but within about 4 months I was back to normal lifting and I am now bigger and stronger than I was before the surgery.

My advice would be to take it really easy the first 3-4 weeks but begin very light exercise after that. My doc didn't want me exercising at all for the first 3 months but later admitted that my rapid recovery was probably down to me ignoring him. Just remember to take things slow and light (very high rep baby weights) and don't risk tearing the repair out.

Good luck bro

[paperplate73]

I had a SLAP repair and stabilization just over a year ago. I thought it would really hold me back but within about 4 months I was back to normal lifting and I am now bigger and stronger than I was before the surgery.

My advice would be to take it really easy the first 3-4 weeks but begin very light exercise after that. My doc didn't want me exercising at all for the first 3 months but later admitted that my rapid recovery was probably down to me ignoring him. Just remember to take things slow and light (very high rep baby weights) and don't risk tearing the repair out.

Good luck bro

That's good to know, I've heard that active people with heathy diets should recover much faster. I think I'm supposed to be going to physical therapy after 3 weeks, and I can train legs next week. I'm probably gonna do some occlusion training on my good arm too, I read somewhere that it can have an effect on the untrained arm to retain muscle so it's worth a try

[IgyEm2]

I know how you feel. I have recently finished a long and painful recovery process after surgery.

Keep up the determination and don't let it get you down. Good luck.

[paperplate73]

finally able to stop icing this afternoon and it feels great to walk around without that on my shoulder

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also able to take off the bulky dressing and put bandaids on

[paperplate73]

Each day it is getting progressively better. Really noticing how I'm feeling much more normal, before it felt kind of stiff/swollen and would ache a little every so often. Still haven't taken narcotics, and I'm very glad since I heard of some bad side effects.

Drove for the first time today (mom's car since mine is a 6-speed RSX type-s)
I have an appointment on tues to check my progress and get the stitches out I think

[tinnsla]

Hey! Good luck on your recovery! I tore my Achilles tendon last year and five months later I was playing competitive badminton again.

My best advice for keeping your motivation up is to keep a journal of what you CAN do, focus on your progress instead of focusing on what you cannot do yet. For me I tried to do increases in movement/complexity of movement/weight every week. The Achilles tendon is also a region that does not get a lot of blood flow, so you need to do your exercises religiously!

Also setting realistic goals and not being afraid of adjusting them according to your progress.

[paperplate73]

Stopped taking ibuprofen on sat. and still feeling better.

Yesterday I did my first real workout since before surgery. Theres really not many exercises I can do, but I hit legs with 5 sets of extension superset with walking lunges then seated leg curl/abductor/adductor and some bodyweight lunges to finish it off, felt great!

It's also great to finally be able to get a shower

[paperplate73]

Stiches are out and I start physical therapy soon. I was told I could take the sling off as needed, as long as I dont raise my upper arm.

I trained legs with the same workout on weds and did a new one yesterday:
5x10-12 leg press superset with jump squat 10 reps, then 4x10-15 leg extension superset with walking lunges, then 4x10-15 single leg curl
I also been doing a separate day for calves lol

I have noticed atrophy, but I think I'm now at my natural muscle level without training and shouldn't be much more without drastic dietary changes. I also started taking DAA again at about 2g/day, hoping it will raise my testosterone enough to prevent some loss.

[paperplate73]

Shoulder feels really good. getting a little motion back, but arm stays pretty close to my side. I'm now out of the sling for the majority of the day
Physical therapy starts next thurs, I'm excited to see what they have me do.

For my training now, I hit legs twice a week and calves/abs 2-3 times. I like doing squats in the smith machine since I can do them without holding onto anything. for one workout I go pretty heavy with those and leg press for 8-12 reps, then finish with hamstring curl and lunges. My other workout is more isolations like abductor/adductor and leg extension pre exhaust supersets with leg press or lunges.

[paperplate73]

been to three physical therapy sessions so far and I love it, they stretch me out and do exercises with bands to strengthen the rotator cuff. I was actually sore in my tricep the first couple days from something as simple as pulling a band toward my body with a straight arm lol, and this is coming from someone who could previously do skull crushers with 70+ lbs. Physical therapy is really helping a lot though, getting some motion back and feeling much better, I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring!

[NaturalHG]

been to three physical therapy sessions so far and I love it, they stretch me out and do exercises with bands to strengthen the rotator cuff. I was actually sore in my tricep the first couple days from something as simple as pulling a band toward my body with a straight arm lol, and this is coming from someone who could previously do skull crushers with 70+ lbs. Physical therapy is really helping a lot though, getting some motion back and feeling much better, I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring!

Looks like you are dedicated! Hope it all comes together in the end and you can get that pro card!

[paperplate73]

Quick update on my progress so far, its been a little over 7 months now and I can do quite a few things without my shoulder feeling weird. Just started doing regular pushups and can get about 10-15 before feeling unstable. also recently started curls again. Rows were the first thing I was able to do in the fall, dumbbells felt most comfortable, my physical therapist said it was ok for me to do tricep pressdowns last fall too. It's been a long, tough process both physically and mentally. There were days when it ached and I just couldn't get it off my mind, I went through bouts of depression and sometimes feared the worst thinking it could be damaged again. The doctors and physical therapist reassured me it would be fine though, I just needed to strengthen the muscles in and around the joint for stability and the past couple months I have made great progress.

[Urumar]

Did you recover completely by now?