Rotator cuff op.

[steve1]

Going in tommorrow to have some bone removed from the end of my collar bone to allow better movement for my shoulder, I have an inflamed tendon in there and it's making movement very painful.
Anyone any experience of recovery rate for such an op.
Thanx.

[goldblum]

AC joint decompression surgery is not particularly invasive as the op is done through a small incision.I think recovery is quite quick..you may be looking at weeks rather than months before you can get back to sport.Good luck.

[steve1]

Hopefully quick recovery, I was a bit shocked when the consultant said it would be a few months before I could drive again.

[goldblum]

It could indeed be months it all depends how much bone is being taken away.

[The_Doc]

steve1 said:

Going in tommorrow to have some bone removed from the end of my collar bone to allow better movement for my shoulder, I have an inflamed tendon in there and it's making movement very painful.
Anyone any experience of recovery rate for such an op.
Thanx.

This sounds like a Sub-acromial Joint Decompression, not AC joint surgery as someone else has written.

A 2 second whizz through t'internet, and this PDF looks very helpful and reasonable:

http://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/pdf/Arthroscopic%...

I do knees

[steve1]

Feeling well enough to update this, had my op on Tuesday and steadily getting more movement each day, but still quite sore and catches me out if I try and reach up too far.
Had a bit of a reaction to one of the drugs thay gave me, ( tramodol ), didn't quite know what planet I was on, although it did help with the pain at the time.
I start proper physio on Tuesday and hopefully get it moving a lot more without doing any further damage, but what I really want to know, is there any specific exercise that can be done to strengthen this particular joint/ area so as I can support it as much as possible to give the maximum chance of not giving me any further problems.
Thanx.

[maxrider1]

steve1 said:

Feeling well enough to update this, had my op on Tuesday and steadily getting more movement each day, but still quite sore and catches me out if I try and reach up too far.
Had a bit of a reaction to one of the drugs thay gave me, ( tramodol ), didn't quite know what planet I was on, although it did help with the pain at the time.
I start proper physio on Tuesday and hopefully get it moving a lot more without doing any further damage, but what I really want to know, is there any specific exercise that can be done to strengthen this particular joint/ area so as I can support it as much as possible to give the maximum chance of not giving me any further problems.
Thanx.

After a year now hows the shoulder?

I had the same op in January and 8 months on I'm still in some pain and very weak on bench pressing type movements at the gym (from 25k dumbells pre-op to 10k now)

Like you I had some bone removed also torn tendons cleaned up, which apparently means the frayed bits cut away, cuff and biceps in particular were 3/4 tears.

Tramodol...oh horrible stuff, I preferred the pain TBH. It turned me into a zombie in between the bouts of throwing up.

[steve1]

Shoulder is very good, took a while to get there, but eventually ok.
The best advice I can give you is to follow the physio's advice very closely, do the exercises, how ever tedious they may seem, don't overdo the weights and be patient.

[Vladimir]

I've dislocated my shoulder many times and was "threatened" with the op. I surf a lot and its seriously bad news for paddling so I did incredibly intensive physio and avoided it. I'm still cautious but it's now 95% strong.

Shoulders aren't the best design ever...

[spikeyhead]

Vladimir said:

I've dislocated my shoulder many times and was "threatened" with the op. I surf a lot and its seriously bad news for paddling so I did incredibly intensive physio and avoided it. I'm still cautious but it's now 95% strong.

Shoulders aren't the best design ever...

I think they're better than knees.

[Justin Cyder]

I had the op in January & it was a failure. My joint is now more painful than before & I'm resigned to limited use of my shoulder & have given up all hope of returning to sports. Good for you for having a success, I wish it were me.

[JEA1K]

I've had ongoing issues with both shoulders for years and have sort of ignored in true 'man' style until I did a proper job on my right shoulder snowboarding in March. For weeks I did't have the strength to lift it above waist height and the pain was eye watering.

I had physio where some of the movement was restored when I went on TENS machine but it's still weak 6 months on, although not generally painful so avoiding surgery. My physio said unless you're in severe pain, just live with it as the op can sometimes cause more issues!

Still got the impingement and it clicks and cracks when I rotate it. I suppose at 38 I'm approaching middle age so I expect things to start falling off.

[DMN]

steve1 said:

Feeling well enough to update this, had my op on Tuesday and steadily getting more movement each day, but still quite sore and catches me out if I try and reach up too far.
Had a bit of a reaction to one of the drugs thay gave me, ( tramodol ), didn't quite know what planet I was on, although it did help with the pain at the time.
I start proper physio on Tuesday and hopefully get it moving a lot more without doing any further damage, but what I really want to know, is there any specific exercise that can be done to strengthen this particular joint/ area so as I can support it as much as possible to give the maximum chance of not giving me any further problems.
Thanx.

I damaged my rotator cuff about 20 months ago after coming off my mountain bike. I didn't go down the op route, but had a steriod injection which cured it. For the physio, the best stretch was the stand close to the wall and place both hands out at head height on the wall. Then to push the wall away, so to speak whislt stretching my back out. You'll feel it tighten under your shoulder, so take it easy at first and build up. They also gave me a large rubber band, holding one end in each hand, with it passing behing my back, I'd punch each arm forward in turn.

Another good one is to stand in a door way with your arms out to side on the door frame and gently bring your body forwards. Also I did one where again standing in front of a wall, place your elbow of the effected arm onto the wall, with your forearm flat (so that your hand is not flat to the wall, thumb towards your body) to the wall and level. With your other arm slowly push the injured arm down to the ground.

Of course listen to what your physio says over-all.

It still lets me know its there every now and again, so when it does I always go straight into these stretches. Touch wood its not stopped be riding my bike.

JEA1K said:

For weeks I did't have the strength to lift it above waist height and the pain was eye watering.

I realised I'd done somthing when I tried doing my normal morning press-ups. My left arm just collasped underneath me, it couldn't support any weight at all.

[steve1]

I am lucky in that I have private medical ins. And the physio is only a couple of minutes away, so no issues in the amount of treatment I can have/had.( not saying that NHS physio is not up to scratch ), its just that sometimes sessions can be few and far between on the NHS.
I too had a lot of treatment before having the op, including steroid injections, but in the end it needed to be done.
My right shoulder is now playing up, but it will have to get a lot worse before I have that one done.

[Vladimir]

spikeyhead said:

I think they're better than knees.

I also physio'd a dodgy knee back to health. For a while, it was knackered!