After Rotator Cuff Surgery-when will the pain end?

Hi - im week 15 tomorrow and i certainly know your pain. i went through a bad week about 2 weeks ago and was on codeine every night just so i could get some sleep. I am now managing to sleep without painkillers. I still cant do things i would like but i know the surgeon said full recovery is 6 to 12 months.

Thanks for your reply its reminded me of my surgeons words ! 12 months ,don't expect anything else! Last year when i had my right shoulder done i had one or two hiccups but no nerve pain . I've also being doing to much around the house and perhaps the stress of Covid-19 has made my body tense up as well.

Hopefully we will all be 90-100% by the 12th month.

I pray my nerve pain is gone by then.

thank you and wish you the best also.

sincerely,

Pamela

I keep this posted on my fridge, so I don't forget: It takes the repaired rotator cuff tendons about six weeks to heal initially to the bone, three months to form a relatively strong attachment to the bone, and about six to nine months before the tendon is completely healed to the bone. Most patients who have had rotator cuff surgery will tell you that it takes about nine months before the shoulder feels completely normal. This observation is supported by a study showing that in patients who have had rotator cuff surgery, strength in the shoulder muscles is not fully recovered until nine months after the surgery, twelve months for full healing and strength is regained.

To put it bluntly, you will never feel normal again, period. A bit of knowledge to pass on, recovery has occurred when you don't think about it. I had my surgery on March 5th last year. I went back to work on July 22nd, full duty and I'm a postal letter carrier. I had my right shoulder rotator cuff repaired and bicep tendon repaired along with a few other things. I stopped physical therapy once I went back to work. I don't think about it as much these days. I'm right handed and I had a tear in my left rotator cuff first. The doctor told me to go to physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around it to help deal with the pain. He said as long as I could sleep, he suggested to hold off on surgery. Then I tore my right and sleep was non existent. That is when I broke down and decided to get my right shoulder repaired first. It was the worst experience of my life. I'm glad I did it now, but the memories of the first 3 months still linger. There was no sleep after the first 2 weeks of pain meds ran out and the doctor doesn't allow for any more after that. Physical therapy was just flat out torture. The pain is gone, every once in a while I will do something that gives a little uncomfortable feeling though. The one major drawback is that I don't have the same range of reach to my back now. My left shoulder has gotten worse though and he recommended that I get it repaired. Good news, I know what to expect, bad news, I know what to expect. Good luck, trust me, it does get better.

I'm so sorry for everything and I for sure feel your pain. As for mine, it's been about 80 long days .I'm doing better with the shoulder movement but strength is not there. I cannot raise it on my own passed waste high. The bicep is still painful. PT says its doing good, just takes time. The nerve pain and hypersensitivity HAD greatly improved when I was taking 1200 ' 1500mgs of gabapentin per day, along with the componded nerve cream, they call it. it had been doing so good that I decided to decrease the gabapentin myself. For some reason, I found it very difficult almost impossible to cry at times that I felt, I knew I should be crying. j dont know, but felt it was the medicine gabapentin. I deceased it slowly until I was done to 300mg during the afternoon and 600 mg at night...that's when all of a sudden, the nerve pain is BACK. I cant lay the arm on anything that touches underneath . The elbow is horrible pain and from there down to my fingers. my pinky and ring finger are again numb and tingly. I'm taking the meds again. I'm so afraid this pain is permanent.

I came here to see what other people are experiencing, and I talked to two people I know who have had the surgery. Neither talked about the healing process, but both have full range of motion and no pain, and said it was the best decision they ever made. I'm not having any out of the ordinary issues, which is nice. It feels local to the shoulder. I just wanted to know how long the healing is (for some reason my doctor is evasive about the length of time, but I think it's because every patient varies). I don't have any nerve damage, and I don't have to work, so I'm lucky to make up for fitful sleep nights by just, well, sleeping in. Today I slept for 10 hours (I usually sleep 8), to make up for the part where I woke up due to pain. My only serious complaint (now that I know that the pain in the shoulder I feel is normal healing pain, I mean, after all, my shoulder was sliced apart and sewn back together (arthroscopically, but...), and my bone was shaved down. Only logical that it's going to hurt pretty badly, and for a long while because of the mechanism of the shoulder and it's many moving parts, and the fact that blood flow in that region is not great even in a healthy shoulder) is my blasted headaches and neck aches! Your body has a way of protecting itself, and in order to protect my shoulder, the neck kicks in. Blessed neck, I love you, but PLEASE LET GO. It's clenched so tightly that the tension travels from trapezius all the way up to the base of my skull, all muscles pulled constantly to protect my shoulder, and about every 10 days, this results in a massive headache. I have to take a hard ball and literally cram it into my muscles to get them to let go, and after 3 days of this, I take 2 Tylenol and it starts to calm down. The whole process is 3 or 4 days till my neck/head feel back to normal again. I think I have all the info I need. I feel really grateful that I don't have nerve damage or other issues that I see people talk about. PT starts next week, and I will flat out refuse to do anything that they try to get me to do that will cause me a massive amount of pain. I would rather have a longer healing process than feel like someone is torturing me. I will challenge them and let them know 'my body, my way. I have no interest in crying every time I come here, so, don't even bother pushing me too hard'. lol.

It's been a while since I posted but I felt the need to share. I had a full thickness repair, decompression and distal clavicle resection on my dominant shoulder at the age of 73. From the outset my surgeon and everyone on my care team stressed that the rehab is long and hard and to expect some degree of limitation/pain for up to 18 months. I am now 18 months post op and 75 years old. I did PT twice a week for five months. I continued my exercises at home for another three months or so. Except for nerve pain, I can identify with almost everything that has been said in this forum. I didn't need more than Tylenol for pain after the first week post op. I went through a period of extreme muscle spasms in my traps area. My chiro said it felt crunchy! Mild heat and extra stretching resolved it. I found myself being frustrated more by the small things I couldn't do or having to modify the way i did things than anything else. It has become my new normal. At 18 months out my range of motion is as good as the non-surgical side. I have occasional aching but it doesn't take more than resting to resolve. My major limitation is in lifting. I last saw my surgeon at the one year mark and he capped my lifting at 10-12 pounds. His warning was that re-injury will require replacement.

It is a long, hard, painful, frustrating healing process. Progress is measured in milliliters. There are times when you feel like you're losing ground. Then there is the day you can reach the second shelf, or push the grocery cart with both arms, or put on a pull over shirt!! You will probably cry with these victories.; and they are victories. Enjoy. Pray and persevere!!

Thank you! For me the biggest 'issue' was not really knowing how long to expect pain and limitation, but now I know that it's 12-18 months, I feel better. I spend time in my garden. My husband does all the heavy lifting and digging. I get to push seeds into the ground, and, of course, now I have plenty of free time to watch them grow!

I'm glad to hear about everyone's experiences, especially about going back to work with a physically demanding job.

On 1/16/2020 I had a Right Sub Acromial decompression and a distal clavicle excision with bursa clean up, I had a partial thickness tear at the time. (I had tried PT before since I was hoping to avoid surgery.)

I didn't start PT for about 5 weeks after the surgery. With ongoing PT I continued to have pain and limited mobility. And now and then I'd have this sharp shooting zinging pain when I'd reach out laterally. I kept asking my surgeon and my PT if my rotator cuff could be torn. An MRI showed a full thickness tear. I had rotator cuff surgery on 04/24/20.

I am sleeping in the guest room in a bed with lots of propped pillows. i have pain when in the morning. and wake up about every 2 hours. I wear a sling at night and rarely during the day. i do passive dangling circular exercises at least 3 times each day.

It's been 3 weeks since my surgery. My surgeon has his pts start PT 4-6 weeks post surgery. I've mostly has achy pain. But today I've had throbbing .

I'm scared that this surgery will fail.

Hey! This surgery takes a year (and more in some cases) to heal from. You are only your third week in. I just made week 11. It's a very long healing process, and you do heal, but it is gradual. I have very little R.O.M. and of course, a lot of pain when I get close to the threshold of my current range of motion. My surgeon does not even think about PT for 8 weeks after surgery. He said it's too fragile and the risk of tearing it are too great. I had to wear my sling for a full 6 weeks around the clock, and the surgeon said that most people wear it for 8 weeks because of pain. I have to say this: IT'S A PAINFUL SURGERY. Period. There is no getting around that. And it takes a while for the pain to go away. I took the foam pad off of my sling around week 7. And around that week, I started doing the gravity arm circles and started weaning myself off of the round the clock sling. Now I only sleep with the sling (no foam pad), because I don't want to reach out in the night and risk hurting myself, which I have done twice in my sleep. It's natural to just reach out, and that is beyond the range of motion, so, you end up in massive pain. So, I sling at night, and do not sling during the day. The surgery WILL fail if you push yourself beyond your limit. You have to really digest that this is a year long healing. And 3 weeks in, you should be wearing that sling around the clock. Your body needs time for the tendon to heal to the bone, and if you are constantly forcing it, it won't heal properly. I know my body. I refused to take the sling off at 6 weeks, but between weeks 7 and 8, I felt confident. I started with a few hours sling off (no pad), and spent most of my days in the sling. You work up to more and more hours without the sling. But I think that, in my experience, you should leave the sling on at night when you are not conscious of your limited range of motion. I have no desire to rush this process. I will give my body the time that it needs to heal. Read some of the comments above, particularly the one from gwen. Take it slow. I know several people who have had the surgery, and they all say the same things: A FULL YEAR of healing. You cannot speed up the process. It is painful. Healing comes in degrees. At the end of a year, you will wonder why you didn't have the surgery sooner. All of my friends/acquaintances are living normal, pain free lives with full range of motion and no pain. One of them had such good luck with the first surgery that when it healed a year later, he had the second shoulder done. I think you have to accept that this takes time to heal, and be patient and not push. Nothing good will come from pushing beyond your limits. Accepting the process and being gentle with your body will pay off in the end. Put your sling back on! For at least 7 weeks post op, and after that time, try to keep it off during the day (still, no heavy lifting, no pushing beyond a comfortable R.O.M.) and put it back on (without the pad!) at night. Your body will reward you with increased R.O.M. and gradual lessening of pain if you respect its healing process and the time that it requires.

BTW, if it helps, remember that athletes have this surgery all the time. Kobe Bryant is a good example. His surgeon told him like all surgeons do 'minimum 9 month healing'. Kobe was out of the game for 9 months. He did his PT, he didn't push his arm beyond the limits, he had he best doctors available, and still 9 months (they actually say its '9 months to a year', but usually it's 9 months to get your R.O.M. back and to heal, another 3 to gain your strength back, which is why most people look at it as a year long healing) it took Kobe to heal (probably a year to be fully recovered), so, you or me, without the best pro sports PT people working with us daily are not going to heal any quicker. Just to put things into perspective. And Kobe wore his sling for a long time after surgery! FYI.

Thanks for your update gives me hope. I had my repair 7 Jan 2020. Due to Covid - 19 I cant go to PT. I'm still in pain and dont have ROM yet but hope all the pain is worth it in the end.

You are right. Healing takes time,. I know there will be pain. I can handle it The hardest thing is the limited mobility of on my dominant arm.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Good point.

I wear my sling at night . Also in the kitchen to remind me not to reach out with my right arm.

I may wear it more during the day.

Thanks.

I had my right shoulder done about the same time as this last year and yes @ purplesam it is worth the suffering,,,,,, just!!! Im not 100 percent with the first one but better !

You will have your range of motion. Think of it like this, take care of your body as it has and will continue to take care of you. You will have a LIFETIME of reaching for things on the high shelf. You WILL get through this. And you will get a little more R.O.M. as the months go. It's not as though you will be incapacitated for the whole year. Mine is increasing daily. Bits at a time. It's like, today I could reach something as I'm gardening. Yay! I was not able to even come close to that a few weeks. I am committed to this healing, so that for the rest of my life, I can live pain free and with all mobility back. I have to remember, I have not had full R.O.M. for at least 3 years now, b/c I was avoiding surgery. Three years! And in massive pain at times, I had to sit so much stuff out over three years. So, a few more months and I'll be good to go! Be patient, wear your sling round the clock so that tendon is stabilized and can heal FULLY to the bone. Once it comes off during the day for good, every small bit of progress becomes a victory. It becomes a very empowering thing, and reminds you to indeed celebrate EVERY victory and every success in life in general. So, not only is there the physical healing element, but a spiritual one, a life lesson, and a fuller appreciation for your lovely little arms that do so, so much for you in this life! Be well, and I know you can do this! (p.s., I love having my partner do everything for me now. I need a break! I've spent my life doing everything for everyone! He can do the dishes for a while! lol)

I opted to go to PT even with Covid, to learn a few things, and then I can take them home and practice on my own. I will take my chances and double mask for a few visits. Also there is the internet so you CAN do therapy on your own. Here is a link: https://bostonshoulderinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Shoulder-Arthroscopic-RCT-Repair-Protocol-Hybrid-Patient-Therapist2.pdf

It WILL be worth it in the end. It is so hard to feel as though pain is forever. If you broke your leg, you would feel the same. That is the human animal. We often lack trust that our bodies have fully capable healing mechanisms in place. Your body WANTS to heal, and it is healing, some things are just more complicated and so the body needs more time to heal them. Your body is hard at work. Don't forget that. It IS working for you now, I can promise you that. As we speak, our healing mechanisms are hard at work putting tendon to bone and strengthening the connection. I love thinking of that. It reminds me to stay out of its way so it can do the work. Ya know? I hope you go to the therapy website. Be patient, go slowly, you will be hanging from the monkey bars in no time!

I love the last part! I honestly wonder if all this worked out the way that it did so that I could slow down and be still. I have worked hard, some times 2 or 3 jobs, Took care of my extended family, from my husband, to my ailing mother to my grandkids. I put this off as long as I could.

I am fully committed to healing and gaining strength and ROM back.

I appreciate hearing what others have gone through, and am thankful for your encouragement.

Try to find a therapist that will work with you remotely. I have been doing that via Zoom 3x per week and she has helped me increase my ROM greatly. My surgery was December 3rd and I am about 80% recovered. Those first 4 months postop were really rough and I finally see progress and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for taking the time to send me that link. I will certainly take a look.

Hope I am replying in the correct spot! I am just past the 2 year mark from my shoulder surgery. It was brutal, and the most intense pain and discomfort I have ever felt in my life. The surgery was the result of a bad fall, so there were a couple of different things repaired. You mentioned the doc being sketchy about the recovery time, and I do get that. I have heard every kind of different story of recovery from this -- some had almost no pain (good for them!) and some like me had lots of pain and a very long recovery. The doctor kept telling me "you had such a bad tear" that it would take time. Which it did. Had 2 months of only taking the sling off for showers and to dangle my arm for extremely light PT at home, and then after that 5 months of PT. sometimes 3x a week, plus working at home, and then weaning down to 2X a week. PT almost killed me, but it saved my ROM for sure. Even after the PT ended, it was every bit of a year when I felt I was even close to normal. Now, at 2 years post surgery I actually go several days without noticing anything about my arm. I will always be careful with it, but that's just me. I had to do the surgery because it is my dominant arm, and I had completely lost the ability to raise it due to the accident.

My reason for posting, is that during the early "dark days" post surgery, when I was up all night trying to get into a comfy position, or in tears because of the pain -- I found this forum. And I didn't feel alone. I had a fabulous support system and husband who was AMAZING throughout this process, but there were just some very specific things spoken about here in this forum that made the recovery more bearable. It was someone to compare obscure medical facts with that had helpful solutions, or a word of encouragement. So thank you to everyone that anonymously walked the path with me. I check back every so often just because.......

Hang in there to everyone healing, this too shall pass. Hopeful for you all!

i agree! this forum kept my sanity because friends and family didnt understand why the recovery was so long and slow, like there must be something wrong with me because i wasnt back to normal within a month! Only those that have been through it truly understand and can provide great comfort and encouragement through sharing on forums like this.