Rotator cuff surgery.

[Casey Jensen]

I think I have to get it done. I am a farmer and have a lot of pain in my right shoulder in daily work like scooping corn cleaning out bins and laying out irrigation pipe. Is it going to be like I was when I was 20 if I have it done or do I have to admit I'm getting old and cant do that $hit any more? At 42 should I have it done or put up with the pain for a few more years? I've heard both good and bad stories from people that's had it done. ????

 

[dragrazor]

Have you had an mri done? How do you know its the rotator cuff? The reason i ask is that I have pain in my shoulder also and i have had my arm come out of its socket(painful). I have not had an mri but i think it would be safe to say that i have a problem and i will be 42 this august. Sucks getting old!

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

My pops had his done and he is glad he did. I would think sooner is better than later. He went gung-ho on his rehab and was shooting his shotgun again in like 2 months.

 

[Bad Boyz]

Get an mri.Find a good bone doc and go for it.It is"nt going to go away.I waited 2 yrs.Went to therapy,had shots and nothing was a fix but surgery.You go in the morning and your out in the afternoon.Then you go for therapy and in 4 to 6 weeks your good to go.Your still young so dont wait.

 

[Casey Jensen]

I think I have to get it done. I am a farmer and have a lot of pain in my right shoulder in daily work like scooping corn cleaning out bins and laying out irrigation pipe. Is it going to be like I was when I was 20 if I have it done or do I have to admit I'm getting old and cant do that $hit any more? At 42 should I have it done or put up with the pain for a few more years? I've heard both good and bad stories from people that's had it done. ????

I have went to my family doctor and after the pulling,prodding and poking he is referring me to an orthopedic that I see on the 10th of July. I'm not letting them do anything till after harvest this fall. I am just tired of the pain and want it to go away. Some that I talked to that has had it done say that they have no pain at all after and some say they still have problems and pain. I don't have an office job and just can't golf or play tennis anymore, I have to use my shoulder for work. Just curious and wanted to hear some replies. Thanks.

 

[Casey Jensen]

Get an mri.Find a good bone doc and go for it.It is"nt going to go away.I waited 2 yrs.Went to therapy,had shots and nothing was a fix but surgery.You go in the morning and your out in the afternoon.Then you go for therapy and in 4 to 6 weeks your good to go.Your still young so dont wait.

Yea, I went to therapy too for a while this spring to help out. I declined the cortisone shots cause that is just a cover and don't fix the problem. Besides I don't like doctors and hate needles.! Haven't been to a doctor for 20 years till now and would like to keep it that way but getting tired of the shoulder pain and sleepless nights!

 

[DavzGN]

I had my shoulder done in 2010. I had pain in my shoulder most of the time especially if I was doing something where my elbow was shoulder height or higher. Also had some clicking in the shoulder. They went in to make more room in the ac joint for the ligaments to move and also fixed a labrum tear that didnt show on the mri. Now I wish i would have done it earlier. I put up with pain from when I was in my early teens until just before I hit 45.

David

 

[turbofabricator]

Let's see........I've had SIX shoulder surgeries. First two were bi-lateral 1st rib resections. (they make a 6" cut in my armpit and tunnel up and remove the 1st rib (neck area) to open up blood/nerve flow to my arms.) Third was a torn rotator cuff and AC joint carving. Then three more AC-joint carving and scar tissue removal. The rib resections helped a little with numbness, rotator cuff recovery is painful to say the least. The AC joint fix isn;t too bad for recovery. My last (right shoulder) was done by a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and his work was amazing. The next day I felt great. Then I over did it a couple weeks later and REALLY paid for it. I was pain level 9.5 for about 6 days. Vicoden wouldn't help at all. Do NOT start working the shoulder right away even if it feels good. Listen to the doc's/therapists and do what they say. Drink LOTS of water when taking percocets (which WILL be required) Rotator cuff surgery is tuff to go though. They now use pain pumps to help out. It is a little ball the size of a softball that trickles anesthetics into the shoulder joint for a few days. Works wonders. Relax for a few weeks and work it as they instruct. Do a search on ratemd.com on the doctor BEFORE you set an appointment. Ask around and find out who in your area is the BEST. Guys that work on professional football players or baseball players will be your first choices. Ask them point blank if they are board certified in orthopedic surgery. Make them PROVE it, too. I had back surgery in 2006 by an anesthesiologist and he wasn't even board certified surgeon. Had NO surgical training at all. Was highly reccommended. He did NOTHING to fix my back. Cut on me, but did nothing. Before and after MRI pictures showed no change. Sure hurts more now, though. If you have blond hair and blue eyes you are more prone to bad scarring and the scar tissue doesn't go away. My last shoulder surgeon said that the MRI didn't show it, but my entire shoulder was a mass of scar tissue that he had to remove. Feels alot better now, but I am still unable to hold my arms over my head for long periods. I work on commercial airplanes and have to work over-head all the time. Real painfull and my arms still go numb after about 2 minutes. (my co-workers know NOT to stand under me when I'm working overhead.) Hope this helps.

 

[jkelley]

I had mine done when I was 24 ...I tore everything,tendons,ligaments,muscles While pitching in the Minors ...I was out for 6 months ...It took me about 2 years to get back to full strength,but once I did I felt no pain felt stronger & have not had any problems with it since the surgery and Im 39 now ...Good Luck!

 

[turbo39151]

I was just at a seminar with a surgeon who specialized in these sorts of injuries/repairs... He actually does an arthroscopic in his office as the radiologists cannot always "see" the damage from the mri's- even with contrast... He showed some of his surgery techniques and talked about how he uses the patient's own blood to make a platelet gel to speed up healing and recovery. His results were nothing less than amazing. He was also very particular with the physical therapists he used and claimed that pairing the "right" therapist with the patient was a huge factor in recovery. This surgeon is in Louisville, KY if I recall correctly.

 

[ravege]

I've had off and on shoulder pain for years, one day the pain just built up in my right until I couldn't move it for the pain. I had a cortizone shot straight into the pain point (very localized) and it did jack squat. An xray showed one of the tendons (which I guess normally don't show up, this one had calcium deposits on it). MRI confirmed that plus a bone spur or two. So doctor does the orthoscopic (spelling?) and cleans the tendon up (superspinadus?) and finds - not much tendon left, less than a quarter. He puts an anchor in to strengthen it. Since then my shoulder has never felt better. Plus, my left shoulder would have off and on pains that are now gone. Doctor says I was compensating my weak right with my left and it was beginning to show. With my right shoulder fixed up, my left has given me no problems. Win-win-win.