MUA yesterday OUCH!!

Hi I had MUA/arthroscopy/bone shaved and capsular release with my first frozen shoulder - I am now booked in for the same op on the 17th october with my other shoulder & I can honestly say it was the best thing I ever did! I did need a further mua several weeks later bit omg it is so worth it! I had physio at the hospital & also at home I did the excersises religiously for a solid 3months & got all my movements back! Its such a slow recovery but persivere it is so worth it   I'm willing the days to go fast so I can get my left shoulder sorted & I thank god that we have only 2 shoulders!!!! Best of luck to you & stay positive   

Thanks for your positive reply, Linda.   My pain is not too bad at the mo as long as I don't exceed my 'comfort zone', so I am hoping the post-operative soreness and physio pain won't be too bad.  I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain, but on the other hand I don't like popping too many pills.  Also, I have a holiday to Spain booked about 3 weeks after the surgery, so I hope I will be able to go and get some sun on my shoulder!  At least someone else will be doing the driving.

Best wishes for your treatment.

I can't wait.

The surgery is a breeze compared to FS pain, I'm 4 weeks post surgery and I was driving the week after however I do have an automatic, I can tie my hair up now and put my hand behind my back a little, physiotherapy twice a week and massage as well as exercise and finally back at work, I still have a long way to go but the results so far are pretty good.

Thanks for that, Dee.  I am reassured by your reply; you see so many horror stories on here!  I will stock up on pain meds and ice / heat packs, though!  Glad to hear you are progressing and found the surgery worthwhile.  I guess it's a case of 'short term pain for long term gain'.  I will report my experiences on here.

Mua so worth it. Less pain right away and more rom. My daughter's wedding was s month after and. I was able to dance and fully enjoy the day!!! You will definitely be able to enjoy your vacation !!!

Yes the sun will be a godsend   I went on holiday 1 week after my surgery and had an amazing painfree time! Good luck with it!!! Let us know how you get on.........

Well I had my surgery yesterday morning and shoulder area still feels pretty sore and achey. Have started doing exercises given by hospital Physio. At the moment my 'unassisted ' rom is less than it was before the op; however I can now raise my arm a lot further above my head using my good one. Determined to keep up the exercises even though painful at the mo to make the surgery worthwhile hopefully.

Richard, hope everything goes well! Keep us posted I am scheduled for mua and capsule release next month but I'm still trying to decide to have surgery or wait it out! So I'm anxious to see how you do? Hope you make a speedy recovery!

Hi Alison

Well I had my arthroscopic capsular release 3 days ago. Amazingly they did it with just a nerve block, I.e no general anaesthetic. I was concious for the op, though quite heavily sedated so I don't remember a lot of it. For the Physio afterwards I just had a chat with a therapist and was given a list of exercises on an A4 sheet. It seems it is up to the patient to get on with it.

Shoulder is still painful though manageable with meds. Doing my exercises regularly without pushing too hard. Can now raise my arm a lot further than before, using good arm to help. My 'unassisted' ROM is still a bit less than before the op but I am optimistic it will improve soon.

So far, I would recommend the procedure but I will have a better idea in a week or two.

I had it done a month ago my ROM is a bit better but it still hurts to put deodorant on. I think it's a long road to recovery with or without just slightly quicker with.

The hard part is trying to fit the exercises in every three hours and it's the exercises that help. You will have days where it's great and days where you can't do exercises because your shoulder is a bit sore. Good luck

Hope you make good progress.

. It's been 4 months for me. I can do my deodorant and a ponytail but feel like I'll never be able to do my bra in the back.

Thankfully that's one problem I don't have!!

Well it's now 8 days since my surgery and I am still rather sore.  In fact, last night was the worst I have had in a while as regards getting any sleep.  

I do have regular phsio appointments now, and have to do sets of home  exercises about 6 times a day.  I think I made the mistake yesterday of doing exercises just before bed, which may be why the pain was particularly bad that night.  Oh well, feeling a bit better today, although tired; may back off the exercises for a bit.

As you say, it will be a long road to full recovery; my main concern is that the pain will reduce a bit so I can enjoy my holiday in 10 days.  On the positive side, ROM has definitely improved slightly.

Anyway, enough about me; how are you coming along?

Sorry your recovery is a bit slower then you hoped for. Did they give you pain meds? If so take them. I took Percocet for first month then hydrocidine for about two months especially before pt to help with pain. Thankfully my rom continues to improve and yesterday I noticed I can reach a little further back. Good luck and even though it's slow you'll keep improving.

Did they give you a sling to wear at night ? I just remembered that I had that for the first two weeks after my mua. It was supposed to keep my arm in the proper position and I think it helped with night pain

Yes, the hospital gave me co-codamol and ibuprofen.  The former has run out, so I am just relying on ibuprofen and the occaisional Anadin Extra.  

I haven't tried an ice pack at night.  I have one of the gel types and think I will give it a go.  I removed my sling a few hours after the op, when the nerve block had nearly worn off and (as instructed) and not worn it since.  I might try wearing it at night only.  Thanks very much for the tips!

I'm sorry to hear you are still getting pain    Continue to take the painkillers regularly and keep up with the excersises it really will be worth it I promise! The holiday will do your shoulder the world of good! I found it much easier to excersise with the sun on my shoulder! Are you using a pulley? The physio gave me one that hooks over a door frame - I took it on holiday and carried on using it whenever I had the chance! The heat from the sun really did feel like it helped   stay positive its early days! Now start your packing!!!!

Thanks once again for taking time to reply, Linda.  Thanks to some advice from Juli I had a slightly better night last night - a good sleep makes a lot of difference!   I do intend to keep up with the exercises, even though they seem to increase the pain as the day goes on.  I do have one of those pulleys; I acquired it from eBay after watching a video on youtube and used it before I had any formal PT. However, I am not using it at the moment as it is not part of the exercise program given by my physio.   I intend to follow the PT's instructions as closely as possible as they are tailored to my specific needs.  Anyway, as you say, it is early days yet and I am looking forward to the holiday.  

I had a short drive for the first time since the op today with no problems, so there is some progress!

I hope you too continue your recovery.

Hi Richard have you let your Dr know you're still in a lot of pain, maybe you need stronger meds, I'm not sure how everyone else did I only really had pain when the block wore off after that for about three days it was minor. I hope you get some relief but I'd go see your doctor they might be able to give you something else, my Dr gave me Endone

Did you people have capsular release or MUA alone?  I am wondering if the post-operative pain is more intense for one over the other. 

I also had a rotator cuff tear but I haven't had that much pain, but then again I've had 15 operations so I'm pretty used to them now