Shoulder injuries - how was your recovery?

[Syndrome]

Apparently I have completely torn my suprasinatus. Has anybody experienced a similar injury? If so, did you have surgery to repair the tendon and how was the recovery?

[wodahs]

Yer I did in 2004
Did it a work , and they footed the bill for surgery and rehab back then
Tore the fibrous tendon, popped the fluid satchel up and out the socket and had bone calcium spers in th mix
Three key hole incisions was the operation , was told in following years as I was still having problems post surgery it never be 100% again
And like now I still have ongoing issues which seem worse each time it fliers up like it's still in degrade

[JasonACT]

I was undoing a wheel nut that wouldn't budge back in the mid noughties, tore something for sure but never did see a doctor. Hurt like hell at first, my hand went slightly numb but also tingled too and was like that for ages. 15 years on and I still feel it from time to time, mostly it's good because I know not to put my arm in certain positions... Positions I don't use in my day job. Sometimes I do though and it hurts for a week or so again (happened a few weeks ago). Can't really do weights anymore either, no big deal though.

[73 4V XB]

Ask yourself if you realy need it done. It’s pretty full on. I had a 2 torn tendons, 1 full thickness the other half. 20mm rotar cuff tare in the socket and had the clavicle shaved down. This happened in October last year, I’m sill off work cause I’m not welcome back till 100%. I currently have 80% movement and it is improving. I also suffered from nerve damage in my right forearm and bicep, they tell me it will heal it’s self.... I’d like to know when.
You won’t be sleeping on the side you have done for 6 months, get used to sleep deprivation. You won’t be able to wash your self properly for months afterwards, or wipe ya own bum with what ever hand.
Once again ask yourself am I prepared to be incapacitated for the best part of 6 months financially and mentally, both takes its toll.

I’m not saying this to scare you or anyone else that’s looking at having this done, just be prepared. I wasn’t

[five 7]

Have 25mm rotor cuff tear apparently to small to operate on. Took about a year and a half to come right, where i could fully use arm with no pain. If i move arm in certain ways shoulder feels a bit loose for want of a better term. One of the more unpleasant things i've done to myself, its up there with torn rib cartilage.

[asagaai]

I went surfing in huge surf before work, was running off a reef between huge sets and water was swilling around- ran along what I thought was a ridge but water hid a huge hole- which I fell into and put my arm out to prevent hitting my head and ripped my right shoulder out and broke 2 fingers on right hand.

Hospital- shoulder re-inserted, did conservative sling thing, exercises.

Then in surf diving over wave on shore, shoulder pulled out-back to hospital shoulder re-inserted.

Further exercising, got strong, training for rock climbing and bouldering low- jumped for a hold and pulled right shoulder out again. This time hospital said you need surgery.

I had a case where there was an orthopaedic surgeon who stuffed his right shoulder downhill skiing on snow. He went to Professor Sonnabend in Sydney, who operated on him.

I thought well if an oerthopaedic surgeon who was a top one at that went to Professor Sonnabend, Prof will do me.

Thats who I went and saw-Professor Sonnabend-got MRI done with dye, supraspinatus and rotator cuff, an orthopaedic surgeon from Canada who repaired American Football gridiron players was studying with him - asked him why he came to Sydney, he responded because shoulder surgery is most complicated joint in body, and Sonnabend made it look easy when its not.

He discussed keyhole v open surgery. Keyhole maintains full reach and flexibility, but not as strong as open. So an olympic fencer would go keyhole. With open - much stronger, but slight restriction at extremes of elevation.

Sonnabend looked at my size, fact that I rockclimb- went open operation. My scar is very very clean, almost invisible unless you know its there.

Was in hospital some 4 days cause I could not pee and had a catherter. Spent another 4 days odd in bed at home.

Had a brace on right arm for some 8 weeks, could not drive. Then brace off and did physio at hospital, and exercises in morning. Was painful, but not that bad.

Anyway, 8 months later back to rock climbing, and I now do gym, rock climbing, surfing, and right shoulder is strong and actually stronger now than my left.

My advice- find the very best orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders- they are like fine craftsmen and a good surgeon cuts clean and fixes the shoulder in a natural anatomical position with no nerve damage/stretching.

The top two in Australia used to be Professor Sonnabend in Sydney and Dr Des Bokor who repaired the professional football players shoulders.

I waited a year to get cut by Sonnabend- best decision - my right shoulder is trouble free and strong as. I have heard horror stories from other people who got non skilled shoulder orthopaedic surgeons doing the cutting.

Do not cheap out- get the very best shoulder surgeon - do your research.

Good luck

[73 4V XB]

This^^^ you had a real good outcome. I went public after having a quote for $5500 and then the anethetist on top. I wasn’t in the position to go private with no private health cover and put up with it on the public system. I spent my first ever night in horsepidle. While I got a great doctor I also suffered from the small chance of “frozen shoulder”, one of those things. Physio is the most important part of recovery. Don’t push it but don’t whimp out also. Physio hurts a lot but no pain no gain right.
I had keyhole with 4 incisions 5-10mm long, barely noticeable.
Mine was more or less a degenerative thing. It got to the stage I was no longer able to lift my arm more than 110° and was inflicting on my work. I still have no idea how the tendons got torn but it is what it is.

[.:4:.]

Apart from broken bones ive only had an issue with my left radial nerve, its as good as it can be but not what it was. Nerves are different to ligaments and tendons and stuff. As a young bloke my archilis was too short and would slip off my heel at times. I was just told its called slipping tendon. The first few times it hurt, but it was a frequent thing, so popping it back on became normal. Its been almost 20 years since the last time i randomly stacked it due to that thing slipping off. Its stretched enough to stay on. So i can imagine that kind of torn stuff huring a lot more. My nerve issue didnt hurt at all. Yes 39 days with no function and the muscle degredation when it started to work were not ideal. But whilst its never going to be the same again, apparently its not damaged.

[Syndrome]

Tomorrow I go to get cortisone injections in the damaged shoulder.

[asagaai]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Tomorrow I go to get cortisone injections in the damaged shoulder.

Do you have instability, dislocation issues?

[peaterj]

I was diagnosed 3 months ago with a "frozen shoulder" on my left side, had an ultrasound and cortisone injection, back to about 90% atm.

[ratter]

I hurt mine in 96 which required 2 operations and it was never the same as before and slowly got worse, but it has improved hugely in the last 8 months.



I got a replacement

[Trevor 57]

I have had torn rotator cuffs and bursitis in both shoulders, both have been operated on. The surgeon also ground away a bit of bones that protrudes unnecessarily.

Follow the directions EXACTLY of the surgeon and the physio

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

I have had torn rotator cuffs and bursitis in both shoulders, both have been operated on. The surgeon also ground away a bit of bones that protrudes unnecessarily.

Follow the directions EXACTLY of the surgeon and the physio

And how are your shoulders these days?

[73 4V XB]

Looks like we’ve all had more than just tendons done so you can’t realy compare apples to oranges.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

And how are your shoulders these days?

90%, still get some pain if I overuse them, but I am 62, so a little pain comes with the age - all as a result of a mis-spent youth lol

[AlanD]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Apparently I have completely torn my suprasinatus. Has anybody experienced a similar injury? If so, did you have surgery to repair the tendon and how was the recovery?

Yes I have.

Right Shoulder (which had been giving occasional trouble for 30 years) finally let go in 2013.

I had consulted with an orthopaedic guy in Melbourne before it gave way, and he was reluctant to do anything because I had pretty much full mobility despite the pain from time to time.

When it let go it was rather like a zip being opened - no pain, but very restricted arm movement laterally. Back to the guy who did some simple tests and I was in hospital within a fortnight, single night stay.

Keyhole surgery with three puncture wounds. In a sling for six weeks followed by limited Physio and no activity other than that for another six weeks.

After that I dispensed with the Physio and simply monitored what I could do with the shoulder and didn't extend myself. The arm felt much weaker than I was used to but improved over a period of 12 months until it was back to how it was before the trouble started 30 years earlier. Today 6 years on I am totally untroubled by the shoulder.

The only caution I would offer is that if you are engaged in physical activity for employment you will have limitations for about 12 months - otherwise I would say "Go for it!", but be sure about the capability of the surgeon.

Syndrome, within 100 km of Melbourne and want the name of the guy who looked after me then PM me.

Cheers

[MattSAU2XR8]

Bit late to the party, bit if I was you I'd definitely be looking for a surgical opinion.

Most (but not all) of our muscles and tendons have a necessary function and things don't work so well without them, and so the orthopedic surgeons usually say that if the tendon breaks the best solution is just to sew it back together...

Supraspinatus muscle runs outward across the top of the shoulder blade, and then the tendon (a continuation of the muscle) runs out across the shoulder joint, before heading down to attach to the outside of the humerus, or upper arm bone. So it functions to pull the arm up and into the socket that is the shoulder joint. Its main function is to stabilise the joint when the arm is elevated, eg. to 90 degrees or higher, and carrying a load, such as doing lat flys with dumbells, Although the joint will work better at all times if it is properly stabilised.

Counterintuitively, the humerus will tend to migrate upwards over time if supraspinatus isn't working, since the humeral head isn't held int he socket, and the humeral head will start to rub against the acromion (in effect an extension of the collar bone over the shoulder joint) and cause pain from rubbing in day to day activities.

And if left too long:
- The muscle will shrink away making repair difficult or impossible, and or
- Advanced age will make proper healing less likely

Ideally you want an opinion from a surgeon who specialises in shoulders, and since this is difficult for anyone who isn't an orthopedic surgeon to assess, a good starting point would be a surgeon who does shoulders for professional athletes.

I'd be wary of anyone who isn't a surgeon who says 'stay away from the knife' or similar. Because that's kind of like saying they wouldn't care if it was their muscle or tendon that was broken. And since they don't know how to fix it, its easy for them to criticise the surgeon.

Also, don't compare a complete tear to a partial tear. A partially torn tendon still works pretty much as well as a normal tendon unless it breaks completely. Kind of like an undersized tow rope vs a proper size one.

Or frozen shoulders, or nerve damage. All you have described is particular tendon that is completely torn, namely supraspinatus.

[Sturmer]

I had a slip fall on a trecherous driveway in 2015 when I was located in Cairns and was only x rayed and given cortizone. At my age (then 50) and given that it was a traumatic injury, I SHOULD have been operated on immediately.

I tore the superspinatus, the bicep off the bone and the deltoid off the bone.
The assholes in Cairns should have operated immediately, however without performing an ultrasound the x ray showed no major issues..

i then moved to the Central West and was checked out at Dubbo, I had the operation there with the Sydney Specialist supervising (under the public system) and four weeks later discovered pus weeping from the wound.
Septic Shoulder usually kills 25% of the people infected. I was lucky pus was weeping...

Two other individuals who were operated on at Dubbo also suffered post op infesctions, making 100% of the people I knew who had surgery at Dubbo suffreing post op infections.

Two more ops and a week in hospital in Orange and I was put on IV antibiotics with a Baxter pump into my arm for four weeks.
Daily changes to the pump (like a baby bottle worn around the waist in a bumbag) and fresh AB each day...

Turns out the Orange prescribed antibiotic was only active for 8 hours. I was prescribed the wrong antibiotic!

immobilised for six weeks, limited physio on recovery.

Upshot of it all, the arm is not much better than before the surgery, limited overhead strength and inabiliity to climb out of a pool without the steps....

Another slip fall on wet leaves walking the dog on the OTHER shoulder, ultrasound diagnosis of tear in the OTHER superspinatus and guess what? I decided not to have the op on the other arm and the arm strength is the same in both arms...

The driveway I slipped on was a place where I was paying for temporary accomodation for a week during a couple of moves.
The owner of the property had no insurance on the place and my " No Win No Fee" lawyers decided not to proceed with the claim against the property owner (After almost three years of stating that they would.)

Should have had the rest of my life off work.... and the pain and mental stress have premmaturely aged me...


just so you are aware of all the risks...

[XByoot]

I’ve just seen this thread, but about 12 years ago I tore the AC ligaments in my right shoulder. It then compressed in the impact and cracked most of my ribs. I also fractured a vertebrae.


I was lucky (well in a way, I’ll explain at the end) that I found a great surgeon ASAP and he repaired my ligaments. The casualty ward did not pick up they were torn, I kid you not. If I did what casualty told me I doubt the outcome would have been so good. Aparently 14 days is about the best time frame for successful surgical outcome to repair this injury.


Roll on about 8 weeks in a sling and it was time for physio. I will always thank them for the rehab work, it was as important as the surgery in many ways. It was great but I knew it left me still needing to build muscle and undo bad habits. Luckily I met a guy who is now a close mate who owns a gym. I learned a lot from this guy, he played baseball for years and knew a lot about arm movements. In my opinion, without a good muscle build and correct movement my shoulder would never have been close to being OK.


To me I really think you drive your own recovery in some ways. Sure, we need a good surgeon, but I learned I needed a lot more than that to achieve a total recovery. Many of our injuries actually eventuate from years of bad habits, movement and poor muscle tone. Now sure there a many other reasons, don’t get me wrong, but I learned the hard way. Exercise is paramount in my book, forget all the machines, use body weight, bands and then free weights, they improve stabilisation that machines do not.

The shoulder to this day is pretty bloody good. I rarely actually think about it to be honest. It did take about 12 months before I could sleep on it without discomfort . It wasn’t really pain,I reckon cracked ribs poking into my lung took the prize for max pain. My shoulder did move differently in some weird *** way, but the exercise has helped so much I really can’t tell anymore .

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by asagaai

Do you have instability, dislocation issues?

No. Just still bloody hurts and it is one month since my crash.

[Syndrome]

9 weeks since my crash and I am over. Can't get a good night sleep because wherever I place my arm the shoulder hurts. Only option is to lay on my back and I can't fall asleep in that position.

[73 4V XB]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

9 weeks since my crash and I am over. Can't get a good night sleep because wherever I place my arm the shoulder hurts. Only option is to lay on my back and I can't fall asleep in that position.

Just wait until after the operation. I didn’t get a good night sleep for months