Rotator Cuff Tear

[tim73]

Gday all

Back in September I went over the bars and damaged my shoulder. I have recently had scans that has revealed a 70% tear in my Rotator Cuff tendon as well as a floating 5-6mm bone fragment. I am booked for an MRI and booked for surgery in a couple of weeks. Has anyone had similar surgery to a torn Rotator Cuff, I have had two opinions now both stating that anything over a 50% tear needs to be operated on. I am hopefully going to hear some good news stories not horror stories.

Cheers

Tim

 

[retro racer]

I am 2 months into a shoulder reco, very long process. Roto rcuff should not be as long from what they told me. Good luck

 

[Comic Book Guy]

My wife tore her rotator cuff nearly all the way through after tripping on a tent guyline. Her surgery went really well and she only had to stay in hospital for one night. She has made a full recovery and her shoulder works well now.

Just keep in mind the recovery process can take months and may require a lot of physio. Make sure you take the advice of your doctor/physio and don't try and do anything before you get the all clear.

Best wishes for the op and your recovery.

Cheers,
CBG.

 

[jdog73]

Should not be too Bad

Gday all

Back in September I went over the bars and damaged my shoulder. I have recently had scans that has revealed a 70% tear in my Rotator Cuff tendon as well as a floating 5-6mm bone fragment. I am booked for an MRI and booked for surgery in a couple of weeks. Has anyone had similar surgery to a torn Rotator Cuff, I have had two opinions now both stating that anything over a 50% tear needs to be operated on. I am hopefully going to hear some good news stories not horror stories.

Cheers

Tim

Tim,

As stated above it should not be too bad. I had a reco done for a stage 5 AC joint rupture 3 years ago. It was a big op that was very painful at first. I had no movement for around a month but I could ride again after 3 months. Yours will be much less drama from what I have heard. Following your physios instructions carefully on recovery exercises is the key to getting back to normal as quickly as possible. Good luck.

 

[Anarchist]

As with the above posts I can recommend that you follow the physio instructions and do the rehab work, even if it seems "pointless". Teaching the muscles to work properly again is part of this process. I have had a traumatic shoulder injury a couple of years ago and recovery is a long process, but not insurmountable. The rotator cuff muscles are very important for shoulder stability, so if they aren't working properly the chances of injury are much, much higher if you take even a little spill. Proper shoulder movement and rotator cuff function is vital to prevent all sorts of joint and back dramas later in life also. If surgery is required, get it done early and look after yourself during the recovery and rehab. It is amazing how much function you lose by being in a sling for a few weeks, but the alternative is much worse.

 

[cressa]

Mines a bit of a horror story

My shoulder was screwed. Joint was incredibly loose and wanted to dislocate just looking at it. Tears and holes to the front and back sides of the capsule. Dislodged cartilage all over the show and 10mm chunk of bone chipped off the glenoid (socket). Before surgery the bone in the joint had started to show signs of degeneration. I had 6 weeks in a sling, no movement and about 6-8 months of no heavy lifting etc.

Three years later and I have a solid case of osteo arthritis in the joint (yay) and still pretty limited range of movement. BUT. It is a crap load less painful then it was pre-surgery and doesn't really hold me back any on the bike. I don't think I will ever play tennis again though.

 

[MTB Pilot]

Really sorry to hear about your shoulder Tim. My Dad has rotator cuff repaired a year or two ago, and he was very ginger with it (as you would be after any surgery) but he did exactly as he was told by the specialist regarding his recovery, and did what the physio's told him to do, and he's going great guns now. He was 74 when he had the surgery, so you've got some age on your side for a healthy recovery. (Unless you're a really old mountain biker! LoL!)

What my ortho told me after my knee reconstruction is also relevant to your shoulder recovery. I was amazed how much more stable my knee felt, even after a little bit of physio in the few weeks after surgery. Even though it was very early days, I could tell things were going to work out fine. When I went back for my post op review, I thanked the specialist for what he had done for me, and instead of gloating or looking proud about his skills as a surgeon, he simply told me that how people think about how they will recover post op, has a lot to do with the end result. If people are of the opinion that they'll only be half as good or whatever after the surgery, then that's probably what they will be. If people are confident that the surgery went well (if that's the case!) and they have a positive attitude about how their life will be improved compared to pre op, and they do what they're told by the physio's, then the recovery is often much better for those patients. I was always confident in my surgeon, and in the recovery process, and everything went really well for me. I don't notice anything different about my knee know. It's feels and acts just like it did before I was run over by a drunk driver at 80kph! I had total confidence in my surgeon with the whole knee reconstruction. The surgeon I had is invited all over the world lecturing other ortho surgeons.

All the best with the op and recovery Tim.

 

[Jklein]

Torn my 3 times. Number one thing is not to rush your recovory. After the last time i did mine i spent a lot of time in the gym working my rotator and then building all up all of my delt heads around it to support the rotator. Also be very careful, once you have done it its very easy to do it again due to the hard scar tissue.

 

[tim73]

Thanks for all the great responses, I will definately heed the advise with a thorough physio/recovery program. Appreciate the effort to respond.

Cheers

Tim

 

[nzblakis]

Thanks for the info, im sort of in the same boat at the moment...

Bit of a long shot but do you know of any decent physios who are also riders in Sydney or even better, do you know of any ride-orientated exercises rather than that stretchy band stuff im already doing.