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Supraspinatus full thickness tendon tear - surgery

Posted , 4 users are following.

sparkery
sparkery

Hello, I injured my shoulder about 18 months ago and suffered a full thickness tear to the supraspinatus muscle, The surgeon is going to attempt a repair but said that part of the repair will be the cutting of the biceps tendon to avoid further pain later on. He said this doesn't reduce functionality but I have done some research and there will be weakness in that arm. Is this step really necessary? Grateful for advice.

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  • sparkery
    sparkery

    Posted

    I had my operation two days ago. I had a biceps tendonectomy and a supraspinatus tendon repair. I am in the public system and they don't do a tendonesis for anyone over 40. I am 67 years old. He said all went well but the pain last night (first night home) was terrible. I found the reclining chair offered the best comfort for me. The pain is not so bad this morning. Don't let the pain get away from your control or you'll have trouble getting on top of it. I haven't had the sling off yet as I don't want to go stirring things up. I have to see him in 2 weeks and physio starts about that time too. I am going to put on weight now as    I won't be able to exercise much and wifey hates any diet.

    • sparkery
      sparkery

      Posted

      4 days later and things have improved greatly. i have cut back on pain relief and I am feeling more confident about the operation. i will have the sling on for 6 weeks. The pain relief consists of a 2 per day long acting morphine/naloxone tablet supplemented by paracetamol and at night I take 2 endone (morphine 5mg each) to help sleep. Washing is a basic flannel/basin affair but I think I might try and shower tonight. I always keep my arm supported when out of the sling for changing etc.

       

    • sparkery
      sparkery

      Posted

      Well it's been a week now and there has been gradual improvement. I can shower (but i replace the sling with a cotton one for the shower). I still take the long acting morphine/naloxone and the endone for sleeping but virtually no other pain killers. I have continued sleeping on the recliner as I think laying down would aggravate the injury. Today I was able to put on a shirt by myself.

  • sparkery
    sparkery

    Posted

    Today was the first day of physiotherapy. I have been giving myself time out of the sling for the past few days but the extent of movement of the shoulder was very bad. The physio said it was normal though. Anyway, I went through a series of exercises with him and even 4 hours later it is still aching. I go back again in a fortnight but have to do the exercises at least once  day. 
    • sparkery
      sparkery

      Posted

      The day after..............much improvement in my range of motion and the ability to do the exercises. I did them again this morning. Still get some pain which is annoying but nothing to compare with the pain that some of the poor sods on this forum have to endure. I am gouing to do them twice a day as they don't take long. I only stretch until the pain starts up. They're simple exercises like the "wall creep" with fingers. There are six different onesto do. I go back ina fortnight to get assessed again. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to do a little more incremental stretching of the shoulder today. I even started working on my infernal line trimmer today-something that I couldn't do a week ago.

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