After Rotator Cuff Surgery-when will the pain end?
Posted , 94 users are following.
I am a 56 year old female who usually has a high tolerance for pain. I had rotator cuff surgery on 12/15/16. I had one anchor placed during arthroscopic surgery for a full rotator cuff tear and bone spur removal. I'm having lots of pain, especially at night. I slept in a recliner for one week. Now I'm sleeping in the guest room propped up on pillows. And by "sleeping" I mean a few hours here and there. I miss my real bed and my real life. I'm weaning myself off Demerol, because I don't want to become an addict living in a van down by the river! No offense to drug addicts; I just don't want to join them.
Physical therapy is very painful, but I'm doing my exercises daily....well, not as many reps as I should because it hurts so much afterwards. About a week ago a "therapist" we'll call Hitler just about yanked my arm from my body. Things have been going downhill since, and it isn't me on skis!😣
I'm really over this whole experience!
I want my right arm back...the one I use for everything!
I'm hoping to return to school to teach 95 seventh graders in four days. Too ambitious? I did practice driving left-handed for a month before my surgery,
Thoughts? Advice?
5 likes, 413 replies
FooFighter TNteacher
Posted
Every patient is different. When your shoulder will be fine depends on many factors. How bad is your shoulder and diagnosis, type of surgery, which doctor is doing your surgery, your PT. Some people are perfectly fine within 5 months, some are doing ok after 10-12 months, some people need more time.
mary52512 TNteacher
Posted
I'm 58. I AM 6w2d postop rotator cuff tear with bone spur. I started p t at 2 weeks with some pretty hard core stretching. Weeks 2-4 were the worst. By week 4 I was down to a very bad ache that was pretty constant. The ache is now dull and intermittent. I can raise the arm all the way up with a little pain and have full 90 degrees flexion. Reaching up behind my back though is excrutiating and i only get snippets of sleep. Does this sound good? bad? normal?
christine_61665 mary52512
Posted
Sounds normal. I don't know if you've read all the posts or the other discussions on this site but the comfort you can draw is it takes a long time and you're not alone. Up the back took me five months to hook my bra. Sleep? it'll happen. Just keep at it. As the post above said everyone is different. I've come to thinks the doctors don't know how anyone will respond and just do their best. I'm almost 2 years and still achy in cold weather. Sigh. Luck!
rannap christine_61665
Posted
I am approaching the 1 year mark of my rotator cuff surgery. Injury occurred 14 months ago. I began PT 6 weeks after surgery (had a full thickness tear, and a bicep tendon repair along with all the things that go with that) My PT lasted 5 months, and since being discharged I have continued work at the gym on my own with the exercises given to me by the therapist. I am 56 years old, and still don't have complete ROM. Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for the almost normal movement and strength I have! It is still achey at times, and I tend to baby it by not lifting anything too heavy as a precaution. I still can't flatten it out enough to sleep with my arm under my pillow, and although I CAN do it, it's still a bit hard to lower the back car hatch with that arm. I said all that to say...... you are not alone. This forum has been so helpful to me, especially in the early days when there was so much pain. Shoulders are tricky and it seems to me that no two recoveries are alike. I still have trouble moving my arm behind my back -- my doc said it is a full year of recovery and that is the truth. hang in there and don't get discouraged. Most importantly, don't do anything to cause reinjury. in this race to recovery, it is better to be the tortoise than the hare! Wishing you good health! Oh and icing is your friend.....
christina38656 TNteacher
Posted
Thanks,
I appreciate your support. I had my first physical therapy session yesterday and stopped wearing the sling full time. Physically therapy was not to bad, but it hurts today. I was using my arm to tighten a bolt yesterday. I kept the shoulder to my side, mostly wrist action, but between that and physical therapy it really hurt today. I went for a mile walk at local state park and had to where the sling again to reduce the pain of my should hanging or swing while walking. I am always afraid I am going to harm it. I am trying to figure out what is safe and what is not. I am not sure I am going to fix the other shoulder, it needs the same surgery as well. I am supposed to have that surgery in November, but I am going to see how this one does. It feels good to be back to work and sleeping in a bed again. Grateful for the recliner and equally grateful to be out of it. I am living with the ice machine for pain and Aleeve. This is a long recovery journey. No kayaking this summer.
gtpd22 TNteacher
Posted
I had my rotator cuff surgery on 02/26/2019. I have to say, I had zero pain from the actual procedure. I believe the nerve block they put in prior to the procedure kept the pain at bay. Prior to leaving the surgery center they sent me home with a DVD of the procedure and scripts for pain pills and antibiotics. On the way home my driver stopped at the pharmacy and I actually walked in and waited while they filled my scripts. Again, I was in no pain at all. When I got home I took some of the pain medication to stay on top of the pain so I did not have any. Within a few hours I was watching the video. I counted 5 anchors they put in me, 3 white and 2 yellow (do not know the difference between them).
The next morning I had my first PT appointment. While there they changed my dressings and had me do some very light exercises. The surgeon walked by and told me to make sure I stayed in the sling. I asked if the tear was bad and he said "yes, very bad". He went on to say that a normal procedure usually require 2-4 incisions, I had 7. Again, I had zero pain though. I left PT with directions to make an appointment to get started with PT. I never had one lick of surgical pain and was completely off pain meds after day 3.
I work about an hour away from my home and the PT center is about 3 miles from my work. I returned to work after a week (I do IT work) and made an appointment for PT for the following day. I started doing light exercises at PT while staying in the sling. I continued doing the same exercises until I went back to the surgeon for my follow up (about 5 weeks post op).
On week 4 I was walking out of my house into the garage to walk my dogs. Not sure what happened or how, but I ended up slipping on a step and the next thing I know I was on my knees. My left ankle was in severe pain and instantly swelled up to the size of a baseball. I drove myself to the emergency room where the told me I had broken the ankle. (Try hobbling into the ER with a sling on your right arm and a broken left ankle). They sent me home with a boot (could not use crutches due to the rotator cuff surgery, obviously). Luckily I did not try to extend my right arm to break my fall as I am sure I would have tore every bit of work that was just done.
I go to my 5 week follow up and the surgeon asks what happened to my ankle and asked if I thought I injured my arm at all in the fall. I advised him I did not think so because I didn't try to extend it to break the fall, I just went down. I took the sling off and he did some motions with my shoulder. He told me to stay in the sling for another week (6 weeks in total) and then I could come out of it. I had stayed in my sling about 99% of the time and I was just not mentally prepared to come out of it, however, I did.
I have been out of the sling for less than a week and a half and I can say that I am in quite a bit of pain. I don't know if it is because my arm is used to be supported by the sling, if I am using it too much and I am not aware of it or if it is from PT. I missed one week of PT due to my broken ankle but continued doing my exercises at home. During the PT they therapist is stretching my arm. She constantly tells me to relax my arm because I am so tense. Well if it were only that darn easy I would. It hurts ALOT, to the point that I am almost in tears. It doesn't hurt where the shoulder and arm meet, it hurts just above the crease in my shoulder where your arm pit starts. It feels like it is just a ball of muscle that is wound so tight its on the brink of tearing.
I am now doing the pulleys where I hold on with my right hand and try to pull it up with my left. I am now roughly 7 weeks post op and the furthest I can get my right arm up is to my eyes. It hurts BAD!!!!! Its to the point my therapist asked if I had done anything to injure it. If I have I don't know how. She also suggested that instead of just quitting the sling cold turkey to gradually get out of it. She told me not to wear it all the time, but when it hurts to put it on for about an hour at a time.
This is by far the most difficult thing I have had to overcome in my life. Not only is it a physical challenge, the mental challenge is very tough! As I write this I am almost tempted to make another appointment with the surgeon to see if I can get an MRI to see if something is damaged.
jake123456 gtpd22
Posted
Hi...
I've had 2 major rotator cuff surgeries on both shoulders and I am glad I had it done. The pain and discomfort and rehab has been worth it to regain range of motion, strength, freedom from pain, and as close to a sense of normalcy as is possible.
Some therapists push hard causing patients extreme pain, my therapists stopped when I told them the pain was too much. In fact, with both shoulders, I received a long (what I'd label as pleasant) rehabilitation of electro-stim, massage, ultrasound massage, ROM and strength exercises and manipulation that stretched out over 10 months for BOTH shoulders amounting to 20 months of therapy 2-3 times a week! I'm on my 10th month for my right shoulder and still going to therapy.
If you look at the various studies they've done, it seems that both the aggressive and less aggressive therapeutic approaches seem to produce the same results. So don't be afraid to tell the therapist the pain is too much and that they should back off and let you heal and recover at a more tolerable rate.
The 1 year after surgery date seems to be where everything evens out. Some may take 18 months or even more. My ROM on my left shoulder was still gradually improving at the 18 month mark, with decrease in pain and increase in strength as well.
The right shoulder which I'm still going to therapy for 1x a week is still stiff but if I press it like up against a wall it meets the normal ROM mark so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, because each week it gets easier, less painful and the ROM extension improves.
The therapists told me it's a gradual process. One of the better therapists told me that recovery is like a sawtooth progression and like the teeth on a saw the progress may go up and then back down, but the overall progression is upwards.
Hang in there, you're not alone and not the first, may have gone before you and are going through the same thing now as you are. Do the exercises regularly, use ice, use a TENS machine if you want, they are only $35 on Amazon, keep as positive attitude as possible, communicate with your therapist and specialist about your progress, concerns.
mary52512 jake123456
Posted
This was a great help to me and gave me hope. I'm at 7w2d and supposedly done with therapy. I had aggressive therapy starting at 2 weeks. I can raise my arm all the way up but behind my back is awful. My therapist has me doing excercises at home daily so i havent given up. The pain in weeks 2-4 was unbearable and i think at night there were times i passed out from it. But I'm down to a dull ache and only 2 pillows at night and catching a few hours of sleep in one stretch. Thanks again for the good reminders and encouragement.
jake123456 mary52512
Posted
Hi,
The rotator cuff injury and surgery was traumatic for me. The best part of all of it was the rehabilitation. I actually loved going to therapy and got to know the therapists, aids, assistants pretty well. It has been a journey that I'd like to think helped me to learn and grow.
A few things I learned that I'd like to share with everyone:
During the first weeks post surgery an ice machine is invaluable. They may be covered by your insurance, the hospital may supply you with one or you may have to buy one on your own like I did through Amazon. Basically you fill them with water and ice and they circulate it through a tube system and pad that you can lay or attach to your affected body part and it really numbs the pain. Instead of ice I used those refreezable gel packs as they seemed to last longer than ice in many cases all night long 7-8 hours.
Biofreeze - This liquid gel in a bottle is widely used by therapists you can find it at your local Walmart. It has a cooling numbing effect and might help you deal with pain. I also like Capzasin but some find the pepper gel burns too much for their tastes.
Pillows - You mentioned sleeping with extra pillows. Great idea and I put a pillow under my arm when I slept on my back or under my arm when I slept on my side to give the arm support. Definitely have a number of pillows on your bed or recliner to grab and use for support.
Communication - It's important to coordinate your at-home/gym exercise and rehab efforts with your therapist and surgeon. You firstly should have a good relationship with both your surgeon and therapist. Some are more friendlier and have better bedside manner than others...don't be afraid to switch therapists if you don't feel comfortable with them. You should not dread seeing the surgeon or therapist. You should feel eager to do the exercises and know that you are helping yourself.
Each therapy or doctor visit you should update them with any progress, problems, etc. They in turn should reciprocate with additional advice and encouragement.
Electro-stim at home. I can't say enough good things about the small tens machines available for home/personal use. They are cheap and quite effective. They won't be as powerful as the machines used at your therapy, but they come in handy for those days when you wake up the next day and have an ache that you want to address quickly and safely and make the rest of your day tolerable. My unit only cost $35, came with 2 wires that each have connections for 2 pads (4 total) that I can literally use to surround my pain area. It works! Take the tens machine to therapy, let the therapist suggest or adjust setting for you and give you recommendations on use, pad placement, etc.
Patient support. I've found a network of patient support both in-person and online. I communicate with other patients at the doctor's office (one of the nurses had shoulder surgery), at therapy (a few of the therapists had shoulder surgery as well), even my pharmacy where one of the pharmacists ended up going to my surgeon on my recommendation. Online I've found support in forums such as these and also with people who have had surgery and share their experiences on places like youtube. The support comradarie helps! You feel better knowing others who have gone through what you have gone through and you share tips, experiences, and you grow in a postitive way.
I have grown to view my experience as a journey of learning and growing stronger and I wish the same for all.
mary52512 jake123456
Posted
This has been SO helpful. Thanks so much!
rannap gtpd22
Posted
So sorry you are in pain. PT is brutal, but necessary. I cried during PT, as did others around me. A good PT knows haw far to push without taking it too far. Hope you were able to settle whether or not you had reinjured your shoulder. I'm now just past the one year post surgery mark and even this week, have noticed more and more ROM. I was in a car accident a few weeks ago and had a pretty wicked seat belt injury. HOWEVER, nothing touched my surgery shoulder. Thank God! Hoping your ankle is recovering as well. hang in there!
gtpd22 TNteacher
Posted
mary52512 TNteacher
Posted
I am in warmer weather at the moment where there is a pool and was told i could work my arm/shoulder in the pool. And while it has felt good to do so i don't see any improvement in my range of motion.
kim15565 TNteacher
Posted
I had my left shoulder rotator cuff done on 04/Jan/19.
It is horrible!
Thank goodness for a discussion like this.
I know that I am not the only one going through this and find this somewhat comforting.
Clearly I am going to take some time to be right!
On the journey with you all!
mary52512 kim15565
Posted
I was in no way prepared for the pain/lack of sleep. Best of luck to all!