Rotator cuff repair/bone spur surgery

[Shugardrawers]

I had rotator cuff repair 7/10 with bone spur removal at the same time. Maybe I'm seriously underestimating the amount of pain and recovery time. I'm still needing the max pain med dose a month later! If you've had this surgery, how long was it before you really started to be able to cut back on the meds? How long before you were really a LOT better and able to drop the meds altogether?

 

[Nala56]

I know someone who had same surgery earlier this summer. She says if she had known how bad it would be, she would never, ever have had the surgery. Anyway, she was still on pain meds a month after and was surprised that she had to call doctor and ask for refill. She was also getting therapy, which she said was very painful. I haven't seen her for about 2 weeks, but she was still complaining of pain last time I did see her.

Good luck, I hope pain goes away very soon.

 

[golfgal]

My FIL had the same surgery for on both shoulders, different times, 56 bone spurs in one shoulder. He was on pain meds a LONG time, 6 weeks??? It wasn't fun but he couldn't lift his arms any more.

 

[tmt martins]

I didn't need surgery but what I did was crack the entire top of the ball of the joint.It had started to rub but did not cut the rotatorcuff.I was immobilized for 10 weeks so it would heal and not do anymore damage.

When therapy started I couldn't hold my arm out straight and it still is not the same and never will be as I'm told.

Please do not rush it and just take what you need for comfort it will get worse before better .Do what is told and don't do what you are told not to (my mistake) and you should be fine.

Good luck and heal well.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I had rotator cuff surgery when I was 16! It was extremely painful. The doctor actually told me that because I was more endowed then some other women that the weight of the girls actually pulled on the stitches, both inside and out. I didn't have bone spurs removed but did have a tendon moved and everything tightened up, etc. He recommended that I stay on my back for as long as possible. Being 16, I milked it for a couple of weeks!!

Oh, and I screamed my head off when he removed the stitches. He put them on the inside so he had a knot at each end of the scar (about 6 inches long). The plan was to hold one end with tweezers, snip the knot at the other end and then pull. Only one of the knots slipped under the scar. Only way to get it was to ummm cut my freshly healed scar. Let's just say that the people in the waiting room were pretty concerned when I came out.

Good Luck with everything and don't forget to take the meds!!

 

[chager]

My friend had this surgery last year. It was a LONG time before she could even move her arm. She is sensitive to pain meds so she had to often go without and just hurt. A year later and she still has pain if she uses it too much.Good luck on your journey!

 

[Twinkles6892]

My dad had the surgery last summer, my grandfather had it the beginning of this summer. My dad has a novicane pump with his surgery, DGF did not, DF thought it would be easy because he was numbed by the pump, and didn't take his pain meds, but once those wore off, boy oh boy was he hurting and the pain had gotten so far ahead of the meds he couldn't catch up. He was out of work for about 8 weeks. My grandfather has limited use of his shoulder still (his surgery was June 15), he doesn't complain that often, but it's the way of the men in this family, lol. My dad is extremely glad he had the surgery done, because he has full use of the arm again, and no more pain at all. But, he also said, it didn't even compare to having all of his ribs broken for the open heart surgery he had in '90, lol.

I hope you are feeling better soon

 

[Shugardrawers]

Well, I feel better now. I was really worried that something was wrong because I'm still hurting quite a bit. I drove to Richmond and back yesterday (about 90 min each way) and was really suprised how much my shoulder hurt just from that!

I'm in PT now 3 times a week and so far don't see much improvement from it. My range of motion was pretty good all along, even right after. The only thing that really bothers me at this point is to hold my arm out for more than about a minute (think the position of your arm when using your mouse) and reaching behind me like when you pull your pants up. THAT seriously sucks

OTOH I don't have to haul the laundry around, put the dishes away or vacuum. Dh has been pretty good about that.

I am the surgery queen. You name it I've had it removed or repaired at some point. I don't recall being in this much pain for this long with any of them. I really hope it's worth it in the end. Right now I'm not so sure.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

I didn't have the rotator cuff repair but I had a frozen shoulder with a capsular release with bone spurs removed. This was March 29th. I still have pain and do not have full use of my shoulder. After over a month of vicoden and darvocet I finally went to 2 extra strength Tylenol and 4 Motrin every morning. But there are nights I have trouble sleeping because of it and I still can't get my arm over my head.
I hope you feel better. I'm about to the point I wish I had never had the surgery.