After Rotator Cuff Surgery-when will the pain end?

My surgery mirrors yours almost exactly. I'm sorry to tell you that it most likely won't by the time you get back to work in my opinion. I visited my surgeon last week at 13 weeks. I brought a list of symptoms I am experiencing with each include quite some pain. He said it was all normal that I was experiencing.  However,  I failed the test to put my left arm behind my back and raise it up my spine without the assistance of my right hand.  I'm in the gym almost every day doing the exercise and stretching that I learned in PT. It actually feels pretty good during the sessions. However, a few hours after my work in the gym I have to ice immediately. Most ache comes back after the icing with some sharp pains. I'm typing this in the morning now an hour after I got out of bed and it's not good.  Hopefully, the fact that you are quite younger than me you will heal more quickly. I was told 6 to 8 months of recovery. I'm beginning to think I'm just going to live with this. But that's my personality.  I'm not a patient person. Good luck hoping the best for you. 

Pain is still normal at this stage. So is weakness. Do you have a lot of pain at rest?

There’s a big difference, functionally, between 8 weeks and 12 weeks. You will improve tremendously from where you are now. That being said, you still might not have the strength or endurance to work as a hairdresser full-time at 12 weeks, but everyone is different. You’ll probably have to make that decision closer to that time. 

I’m currently 9 weeks, and I can pretty easily perform tasks that are well below shoulder level. For example, I can finally comb my daughter’s hair now, but only if she’s sitting on the floor and I’m on the couch. 

So I can see you being able to shampoo a head at the bowl. But you might have difficulty in the chair depending on how much higher you are than your client.  It’s all going to depend on how you feel when it’s time to go back to work. 

Best of luck!

Note to people who are suffering in pain. My neighbor has Lupus. She smokes medical Marijuana. She uses vapor and smokes in the house with zero emissions. I guess it works really well for her.  She has a expensive vapor pipe. I don't partake in pot since I was a teen. (many moons ago) I'm in Massachusetts. Beginning in July, pot is legal.  Smoke shops popping up everywhere. Even one at the end of my street. So as last resort, I guess it would be an option.

Well idk your age, lol but my age isn’t 26. I’ve been a hair stylist for 26 years. My worst pain is right on top of my shoulder and right where the bicep starts but I didn’t have anything done to my bicep. I have one anchor and it actually seems like I can feel it in there but my therapist assured me that I cannot. I also have random shooting pains that stop me in my tracks. By the way, this forum is great to hear from others in the same situation. 

I have pain constantly but it’s not the unbearable kind I had before surgery. It is however, sore to the touch, especially at the top of my bicep. My surgeon put me back on my Celebrex at 6 weeks for the inflammation. It may have helped some. I sure hope I can see a major improvement by 12 weeks. 

Yep, that pain seems normal. I am at week 14, have been there. Most of it is due to muscle weakness. I was shocked how much muscle the sling claimed. At week 14 I still get bicep pain at times, and, I know there's a very long way for me to go. The largest pain in the arm I had was around midway down the arm on the outside. I also have pain on the inside near the elbow. 

I hold my right (surgery arm) up in the mirror, and, it's empty skin. I hold my left arm up, and, it's not empty. The difference is muscle! 

Keep doing the exercises and as you strengthen, your pain should gradually subside with bouts here and there. 

If you have any concerns still, then you should ask your surgeon the next time you go in. I had around 5 follow up visits, and each time I asked him about this pain, that pain, this motion, that motion, and, every time he said it's perfectly normal. Starting at last to feel like he was right. This is a 9-12 month full recovery. 

Thank you! 

hi sfatula. A rule which seems to work. This is also a standard in muscle building community:

1 1/2 gram of protein per pound that you weigh per day. As you know protein must be taken with a good carb for the protein to be delivered to the muscle. Even if you are not yet doing weights, this will help reduce the loss of muscle while recovering.

p.s. Egg whites are a great way to meet this goal if you find that trying to get to this amount if too difficult with lean meats. 1 cup oatmeal; once cup egg whites; salad w/ 1 cup of egg whites....etc...

Well, I am not in that community. 1 1/2 grams per lb would be 270 grams/day, far outside of anything I can eat. At just over 2,000 calories per day, I find it absolutely impossible to reach anywhere near that. Surely the only way is supplements. I eat a lot of lean meats, and, they simply don't have that much protein. Egg whites do not either, as far as I know, a large egg white has 4 grams, meaning, I would need 72 per day. A cup of oatmeal has 14. 

So, how can you possibly reach that many protein grams! Speaking on behalf of those of us outside the muscle building community! I don't understand. I have definitely considered buying a protein powder. Not sure how to pick one though. 

1 cup of egg whites has 26 grams of protein. Which is allegedly the most protein the body can absorb in at one time. So, three cups of eggs whites a day with a good carb at each sitting and that combined with turkey for lunch and chicken for supper will really help your muscles grow or maintain regardless of the fact your not getting as much as you might need. In most cases more is not better. But in this one it is.

p.s. protein powder is much less effective due to the process in which the body breaks it down. Your body discards it quickly and you get much less benefit.

brandi, my surgery was a little over 8 weeks ago also.  complete tear, plus bicep tear, etc.  it was a mess!

my doc was very clear about starting PT at 6 weeks post op. ( he did have me doing what he refered to as "gentle PT" which was basically just dangling my arm a few times a day at post op day 3). I still have pain as well, but NOTHING like the surgical pain, or the crazy discomfort brought on by that sling.  I have gotten a little range, but still no strength.  I've had only 2 weeks of REAL PT so far, but it seems I get a little more range (and I do mean a little) each time.  The pain is inconsistent in intensity, but always there at some level.  It seems to be worse (obviously!) following any new PT exercise, but there are good days where I almost feel normal again.  I went back to work (desk job/typing/phone/office stuff) on day 8, but it was ROUGH.  I certainly feel for you in your profession as I haven't had a good hair day since my injury.  LOL

Hoping you have some reduced pain days ahead.  It is always helpful for me to revisit this forum.  Hearing all of the experiences of folks are both encouraging and validating.  and yes.  this has been the worst physical pain I have ever experienced. 

hang in there! 

I've read somewhere, recently, that exercising your good arm actually helps strengthen your bad arm. I told this to both my physical and my massage therapist and they both told me that this was old news.  So try exercising your other arm. 

Like you, I didn't partake when I was a teen. Believe it or not, this is the best treatment I've found for GERD. CBD oil on my shoulder for my recovery also really works. 

Pretty sure this post is going to go into moderation. 

I find it so strange how different surgeons approach PT. Mine had me start 3 days after surgery but it was passive motion for 6 weeks. I wasn’t allowed to lift it at all. Now I’m raising it but still no strength training allowed. I think he’s going to allow that at 10 weeks. 

I find the same! To me, I don't see how it can possibly be a good thing to wait. When you keep that arm in a sling for so long and do not do passive motion exercises, how can the shoulder not become frozen with all that scar tissue growing while motionless? How can you possibly come out with any decent range of motion? I am not a surgeon, perhaps there is a good answer, perhaps it depends on what exactly was done, not sure. But it is strange! I feel glad that I like you had early PT. Mine was a bit late, it was just under 2 weeks later due to insurance. But the surgeon wanted me there 2 days after. The people who were earlier than me did better than me, I was always behind in the PT sessions to the day I no longer needed PT. 

I did mean just passive motion exercises, but, assisted (by the PT) motion to keep the scar tissue from forming or breaking it up early. 

My surgeon had me wait until 5 weeks because this was my second surgery. I didn’t have much difficulty regaining motion. At 9 weeks, I have full external rotation and near full in all other planes. I’m not behind, and in fact, I’m a bit ahead of schedule, or so my PT tells me. 

Even with my first surgery, he had me wait 3 weeks because there was more damage than anticipated. 

My surgeon told me that he makes the PT decision only after the surgery, after seeing what’s going on and how much repair is needed. 

Thank you for that explanation. I am sure there are reasons, just didn't know what they were. I know in some cases, the PT told me surgeon X was more aggressive than surgeon Y in general, but that couldn't possibly explain all of the difference. 

I have full rotation, as much as my remaining shoulder arthritis allows. Actually better then before surgery in most planes. Only problem is weakness that continued and endless exercise will resolve!

I did my first shoulder press (no weight) and my first chest press (little weight) in the gym yesterday just to see if I could do it, and, what the result would be the next day, very conservative. Am doing ok, so, will continue on, only as much weight as I can tolerate without losing form, probably a little less than I can tolerate. I'll just keep increasing reps if I feel ok over time. This time, I did 15 minutes of hard rowing, and, that has turned out ok also. My aerobic health has degraded as well! 

I think you’re right that some surgeons are just more conservative or aggressive than others in general.

When I was in the sling, I was definitely jealous of those that were able to start right away, lol. 

Matches my experience exactly! I kept saying why won't you let me do that, etc. But I knew why, insurance. Was still jealous.

I so hated that sling. It caused me so much extra pain where it met my torso, etc. Of course, I am sure I needed it, but I still hated it!

I think you may have a point here ! I was in a sling for 6 weeks and only allowed to do a few elephant trunks a day. I developed frozen shoulder and had to go back to theatre to have it all released, I then had a window of two weeks intense excruitating therapy so it didn’t freeze again but I got there. I am now 2 years post with pretty good rom but still aches sometimes. I found the whole thing pretty horrible from not being able to sleep for weeks, that in itself messes with your head along with the heavy duty drugs to kill the pain. I wish I had found this thread when I was going through it. All these questions are so familiar.