About 4 months postop - Still a LOT of pain

I had rotator cuff surgery in August 2017.  I slept on a recliner for 12 weeks too.  Even after returning to my bed, I still had pain while sleeping.  I would place large pillows under my arm to keep my arm elevated. That did help with the pain. Unfortunately, I developed a frozen shoulder which lasted for a very long time. I was just released from my Physical therapy in August of this year. Yes, one year. And finally I am pain free. Sounds like you are much more ahead of schedule than I was.  Make sure you are doing your own part of the physical therapy. That is very important to do  EVERYDAY.  I also turned to this forum for help.  You are not alone.  This is a long process for recovery.  Make sure you ice your shoulder after PT and exercise. Also, I bought "BioFreeze", which is over the counter.  Really helped out. Unfortunately I did need to be on pain meds until the 16th week to help me sleep. This will take time but you will be fine!     

I had my surgery on 12th June. I was doing well until about 5 weeks ago when my shoulder developed a click. This was about the time. I started using bands. I had to stop using the bands. I then rested it for 2 days and started exercise again but not with the bands as per instruction of my Physio

I was disheartened and felt my surgery had possibly failed. My surgeon had warned me that due to the condition of the cuff and bone it may not be successful. I have not done anything that would jeopardize it.

I am sleeping sitting upright in bed. Supported by 1 V pillow and further 3 pillows. I found it difficult to sleep upright but I am now used to it.

Have you cut back on the exercise ? I have been told if it is painful I should stop or pull it back.

I am pretty pain free at night. My movements is pretty good but I am lacking strength I am not able to lift the iron not been lifting the kettle for more than 18 months. I am seeing my Surgeon 10th October Still trying to remain positive BUT

Hope your situation improves What is your surgeon saying about it ? Sue

Mine was performed 2/13. I still hurt but not as much. Slacked off PT (DO NOT DO THIS) and had to go back and start all over. I sleep better on my couch as opposed to the bed. It supports my rt shoulder better. I’m still on pain meds and am in pain management. It’s a long road to recovery. At least a year but I’ve done a few things I shouldn’t (I’m a nurse) and I’m paying dearly with pain. Be patient. I know it’s difficult but it does get better. You should feel a lot better within the month. It took several months for pain to decrease and I screwed it ip by slacking on PT and doing too much. DONT lift, push or pull anything like I did. I’m telling you from experience. Hang in there. Let us know in a month how you’re doing

Thanks for the posts It encourages me to know that people are still having pain and I am not the exception Sue by

I see my surgeon in about 10 days. I did have to cut back on my exercise because I guess I was trying to do to much. I also have ulnar nerve damage in my elbow which has made my hand/wrist very sore and numbing. Seeing a hand surgeon and PT for that too. Just overwhelmed at this stage. Hoping for improvement soon. Thanks for responding  

I saw my Physio today and she is pleased with me. I have very good movement always have had Pain and lack of strength are the biggest problem

She has given me 3 new exercises which I can manage In fact at the end of my session I felt I was managing and with reduced pain. I am seeing my surgeon next Wednesday 10th and see what he has to say.

I am encouraged and positive again

Good luck Sue

Hi Bill.  When pain diminishes differs with each patient.  I have taken 1.5  years to heal from my last shoulder surgery and still have 24/7 chronic pain and flare ups I need steroid injections and meds for despite having had two sets of shoulder surgeries between 2015 and 2016 ....we are now of course almost at the end of 2018! Give yourself time to heal, and lot's of it! Keep expectations low even though you want to get back into living a productive life as soon as possible . Don't look too much on the internet for recovery times and symptoms and listen to your doctors, as you will only get frustrated by trying to set time gauges for yourself.  Often times for any surgery, it says 6 weeks to 6 months recovery, but so far, I have not known anyone to recover quickly from shoulder surgeries! Most are 6 months and up to 1 year from what I have heard from other patients, (including myself) equally frustrated by seeing much lower recovery times offered by doctors and on-line. Mine was much, much longer and I am still struggling day to day. Often times, people re-injure so it is important to be extremely careful with what you do in recovery as well as do all the physical therapy and report any complications immediately to your supervising physician.  Here is my story: My first shoulder surgery was in Dec. 2015. It was a SLAP tear repair ( because the labrum was completely torn from the bone, causing my shoulder to wobble all over the place, further injuring tendons and muscle) , debridement, clavicectomy, bone spur removal and acromial decompression. My second surgery was due to the first one failing ( re-torn the labrum after just 4 months post-op lifting only 5-10 lbs of paperwork and books from a recently deceased parents' home- had to do what I had to do and my doctor said I should be able to lift that much- Nope! I ruined my first repair that way! ).  also had two torn rotator cuffs, which were already there before my first surgery, but for some reason, my first surgeon did not repair them! Go figure on that one! Lol!  So, I had 1 of the 2 cuffs repaired as well as a biceps tenodesis on my upper arm ( relocation of the biceps muscle- something surgeons do when a SLAP tear fails or a patient is older), plus removed more bone spurs that had developed since the first surgery. My second surgeon also did a second decompression and debridement.... Anyhoo, I was not one of the lucky ones. After two sets of surgeries and over 2 years later from my second shoulder surgery, I still have 24/7 bad chronic pain in my shoulder and sometimes excruciating flares from both inflammation and repeated impingements. I can no longer work at a job and have to limit use of my dominant arm/hand to only daily living tasks that involve no reaching up over my head, and no more than 3-5 lbs of lifting and only when absolutely necessary, no house work where I have lift/drag/push/carry more than 2-3 lbs for only seconds, or press down hard, no handwriting ( it's terrible now!) and no more than about an hour typing or texting per day and not even  every day at that, since when I am in flare, doing so is almost impossible!  Surgery only resolved about 30-50% of my issues and pain was not a big part of this relief at all, much to my disappointment, but hey, I can wash my hair myself and my shoulder is at least a little more stable, but that other torn cuff is still not repaired. I was told that I can get it repaired with a 3rd surgery at any time, but given my bad experience so far with the results of 2 surgeries on one shoulder, I am not exactly keen on going under the knife again, with a declining success rate with each successive surgery. Something to understand: surgeons consider surgery a "success" at 50% improvement of functionality. We as patients always expect more than that and we want guaranteed relief from pain.  Surgeons are there to cut and repair, not solve all of our pain issues. I learned this the hard way. There is no guarantee your pain, other than perhaps the most severe of post-operative pain, will go away as it differs for each person, which is why surgery is a last resort, not first line of treatment, even for rotator cuff tears. Sad, but all this is the truth. Just go easy on yourself!  Like yourself, my pain goes all the way through my back, neck, arm and even my hand... and that's on the shoulder I have had all the surgery on. I have issues of impingement also with my non-dominant shoulder as well. What might be helpful, if you have not done so already, is to get an MRI of your cervical spine to rule out a neck issue. Same goes for follow-up MRI to see if your repair has been compromised. Keep in close communication with your doctors and explain how this is negatively impacting your day to day functionality. If you cannot sleep ( yeah, my sleep gets all messed up too) then ask for more pain meds and a sleep aid from your doctor. I have found that medical cannabis also helps a lot for sleeping through pain as well as being more effective for nerve pain than anything else. Hope you heal swiftly and your pain goes away fast as well! Best of luck!