Shoulder arm wrist back

ICE is sooo important!!  Drinking lots of water, soup, and trying to eat lots of fruits helped with my recoveries and rehabs (re constipation).  I used the Oxy 60 of them but they did not really touch the pain.  They did make me feel like I stopped breathing which was freaking me out!  I used ice and iced endlessly throughout the day and night.  Frozen cans of soda, water bottles, veggies, gel packs, anything to keep it cool and push back the inflammation.  GOOD LUCK and keep your chin up as you go through the highs and lows!!  

 Thank you so much for your  response. I am nine weeks today postop. I’ve been to three PT sessions. Each time when I leave I feel zero pain. I don’t know what she does, but she works on my muscles in my armpit, in my neck, under my wing bone, and slightly down my back. She has me do exercises, she has me on electrodes and ice at the end. All I know is every time I go to PT I feel 100% better. I’m literally sitting in my front yard right now with zero pain. Of course I cannot raise my arm passed my shoulder yet 

 But the exercises that I’m doing, she has said, I have come so far in just one week. I try to do power walks when I can, run errands as much as I can. I think sitting on the couch and moping and watching TV is the worst thing. If you can walk as much as possible that helps the endorphins and blood flow through the whole body. Even my PT told me that today. 

Best of luck... I’ll post a new post @ 10 weeks!

 What is going on I can’t believe that it’s been three years? 

 I’m no nine weeks postop. I have a little ache not a lot of pain and I’m trying to be as active as possible if I have a lot of pain, I take Tylenol and Advil at the same time lots of ice and Jacuzzi  Every morning. 

What’s happening to you?? 😔

Oh gosh....that was me but i didn’t have to wait to find out how big the tear was. Just how my dr works. 

Get plenty of sweats. That’s what you will be wearing. Make sure you have someone taking care of you 24/7 for the first week.... maybe 2?

The first week for me personally was the worst pain.... and it is indeed a S L O W process. But it will get better in time and better for sure than you  are now! Good luck with it all!

Depending on your situation, anything you can do ahead of time helps.  Make and freeze some meals etc.  My husband is not a cook in any stretch of the imagination..  So when I made dinner, I would make double and I bought these TV dinner trays at Walmart.  They have 4 compartments.  I used those to freeze dinners.  Made soups and froze those too.   Make sure you have some slip on shoes, some blouses that button so you can leave them open.  I bought camisoles with built in bras that you can step into and pull up and then a blouse over that, with it open.  Stretchy pants are a must, forget about socks.  If you have a recliner you will be spending a couple of weeks sleeping there.  If not, get a wedge for the bed and have  lots of pillows.   And ice packs...more than one.  If you get a nerve block, and you probably will, it wears off in about 24 hours or less.  Start taking your  pain med BEFORE it wears off.  I made  that mistake before and ended up in the emergency room getting morphine.   Learned my lesson, and for this surgery it went smooth by taking pain meds early.  Speaking of that, start taking stool  softeners the day before surgery and  keep taking them while you are taking pain meds.  Try not to worry too much, you are on the way to feeling better and being out of pain.   Take is slow, don't overdo anything especially the first couple of weeks.  Good luck to you.

Thanks grammie. 

Wow.. we obviously have totally different Drs

 I Never touched a bandage..  I went  I the day after,  The doctor removed the bandages put on new ones and I didn’t see him again for three weeks. Also as far as the constipation. I found absolutely nothing helped the only thing that helped was stopping those pain medications. Which didn’t really take the pain away anyway all they do is make you loopy constipated and nauseous. 

The night of my first repair surgery - I ripped two tendons completely off the humeral head (the ball) and ripped a third halfway off the ball in a goofy accident - the saline solution oozed out through the five incisions along with blood. I called my Dr at 945 pm and he calmly talked me through. it's ok saline solution is draining. Day three the bandages come off. My 88 yr old mom a retired registered nurse and nursing instructor at a local college assisted me with the removal. She gasped as we removed the huge compression triage bandage. The bandage looked like it was removed from a ww ii wounded soldier. The incisions were fine. Black, blue, green colors. I took my shower after drying off covered the incisions with bandaids.

The revision surgery five months later the result of one of the repaired tendons ripping off the ball, did not have the icky bandage. The same type of bandage but it was clean as a whistle white on day three removal.

In any event shoulder surgery isn't any fun. It's a journey of wits, tears, cussing. I never had shoulder issues. Currently, ten months out of the revision surgery I am pain free with full range of motion. Strength is returning. I'm still tentative with overhead lifting but improving.

Holy cow! That’s a horrifying story.  I guess  I should have said  I had orthoscopic surgery !

So just 4 tiny “dots “ as incisions and now you can’t even see a scar.

Sounds like yours was MUCH more invasive.

It’s amazing now what surgeons can do now.

They used to cut you open for repairs like  I had.

Glad to hear in less than 1 year you’re so much better! Gives me hope 

Ugh I  would have hated to go back to the doctor the day after.  It's a little over 1 hour drive each way.  I was instructed to remove the bandages 2 days after surgery.  It was pretty shocking.  I had arthroscopic too but a couple of the holes had to be enlarged and required sutures.  I agree with you about the pain meds.  I took them the first 2 days and that was it.  Not that I wasn't in pain, but the pain was better than the side effects.  Ice was my best friend.

Oh my goodness...that would scared me half to death.  My first surgery wasn't so messy, but this one was as he  had to enlarge a couple of the little holes to get the instruments in and put in a cadaver graft, so it was a little more extensive.  The bandage was disgusting and made me gasp too.  Glad to hear you are better.  I'm being extra cautious this time cause, like you, I've had surgery 2 times in the last year.  I never want  to do this again.

 It wasn’t a big deal at all. My doctors only a couple miles away, and my daughter drove me I was still in my hospital gown! Ha ha

 Yes I’m still doing ice quite often. 

 I think the dressing was a little bloody but I have no sutures at all I had Steri-Strips. My doctor is extremely articulate and wants to make everything easy. Thank goodness