Had my rotator cuff surgery June 13th. Since I have be introduced into " phase 3" which is strengthening, the shoulder hurts/aches all the time. Do not have my full range of motion yet. At about 142 degrees arm lift, 45 degrees to the side. I am just so overwhelmed with the pain and would like someone to tell me when I ought to expect it to diminish. Still have to sleep in recliner. I move into bed after wife gets up at 5AM. Sometimes I stay in bed till 9AM, but the longer I stay in bed the more things hurt. If I sleep on opposite side, it aggravates that shoulder. On my back causes pain all across shoulder , back and neck. Just would like info about when pain starts to get better and when sleeping can approve. Thank you.
I had rotator cuff surgery in August 2017. I slept on a recliner for 12 weeks too. Even after returning to my bed, I still had pain while sleeping. I would place large pillows under my arm to keep my arm elevated. That did help with the pain. Unfortunately, I developed a frozen shoulder which lasted for a very long time. I was just released from my Physical therapy in August of this year. Yes, one year. And finally I am pain free. Sounds like you are much more ahead of schedule than I was. Make sure you are doing your own part of the physical therapy. That is very important to do EVERYDAY. I also turned to this forum for help. You are not alone. This is a long process for recovery. Make sure you ice your shoulder after PT and exercise. Also, I bought "BioFreeze", which is over the counter. Really helped out. Unfortunately I did need to be on pain meds until the 16th week to help me sleep. This will take time but you will be fine!
I had my surgery on 12th June. I was doing well until about 5 weeks ago when my shoulder developed a click. This was about the time. I started using bands. I had to stop using the bands. I then rested it for 2 days and started exercise again but not with the bands as per instruction of my Physio
I was disheartened and felt my surgery had possibly failed. My surgeon had warned me that due to the condition of the cuff and bone it may not be successful. I have not done anything that would jeopardize it.
I am sleeping sitting upright in bed. Supported by 1 V pillow and further 3 pillows. I found it difficult to sleep upright but I am now used to it.
Have you cut back on the exercise ? I have been told if it is painful I should stop or pull it back.
I am pretty pain free at night. My movements is pretty good but I am lacking strength I am not able to lift the iron not been lifting the kettle for more than 18 months. I am seeing my Surgeon 10th October Still trying to remain positive BUT
Hope your situation improves What is your surgeon saying about it ? Sue
Mine was performed 2/13. I still hurt but not as much. Slacked off PT (DO NOT DO THIS) and had to go back and start all over. I sleep better on my couch as opposed to the bed. It supports my rt shoulder better. I’m still on pain meds and am in pain management. It’s a long road to recovery. At least a year but I’ve done a few things I shouldn’t (I’m a nurse) and I’m paying dearly with pain. Be patient. I know it’s difficult but it does get better. You should feel a lot better within the month. It took several months for pain to decrease and I screwed it ip by slacking on PT and doing too much. DONT lift, push or pull anything like I did. I’m telling you from experience. Hang in there. Let us know in a month how you’re doing
Thanks for the posts It encourages me to know that people are still having pain and I am not the exception Sue by
I see my surgeon in about 10 days. I did have to cut back on my exercise because I guess I was trying to do to much. I also have ulnar nerve damage in my elbow which has made my hand/wrist very sore and numbing. Seeing a hand surgeon and PT for that too. Just overwhelmed at this stage. Hoping for improvement soon. Thanks for responding
I saw my Physio today and she is pleased with me. I have very good movement always have had Pain and lack of strength are the biggest problem
She has given me 3 new exercises which I can manage In fact at the end of my session I felt I was managing and with reduced pain. I am seeing my surgeon next Wednesday 10th and see what he has to say.
I am encouraged and positive again
Good luck Sue
I can relate because I have my own ortho issues. Ya have to keep moving. Old saying, you stop moving n game over. It’s true. If you have access to a pool I highly suggest it. Water therapy is fantastic. When your surgeon says you can get in the water easy movements are great for the shoulder. I’ve been a lap swimmer n surfer for a long time. I won’t be swimming freestyle for awhile or surfing but that doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying
Hi Bill. When pain diminishes differs with each patient. I have taken 1.5 years to heal from my last shoulder surgery and still have 24/7 chronic pain and flare ups I need steroid injections and meds for despite having had two sets of shoulder surgeries between 2015 and 2016 ....we are now of course almost at the end of 2018! Give yourself time to heal, and lot's of it! Keep expectations low even though you want to get back into living a productive life as soon as possible . Don't look too much on the internet for recovery times and symptoms and listen to your doctors, as you will only get frustrated by trying to set time gauges for yourself. Often times for any surgery, it says 6 weeks to 6 months recovery, but so far, I have not known anyone to recover quickly from shoulder surgeries! Most are 6 months and up to 1 year from what I have heard from other patients, (including myself) equally frustrated by seeing much lower recovery times offered by doctors and on-line. Mine was much, much longer and I am still struggling day to day. Often times, people re-injure so it is important to be extremely careful with what you do in recovery as well as do all the physical therapy and report any complications immediately to your supervising physician. Here is my story: My first shoulder surgery was in Dec. 2015. It was a SLAP tear repair ( because the labrum was completely torn from the bone, causing my shoulder to wobble all over the place, further injuring tendons and muscle) , debridement, clavicectomy, bone spur removal and acromial decompression. My second surgery was due to the first one failing ( re-torn the labrum after just 4 months post-op lifting only 5-10 lbs of paperwork and books from a recently deceased parents' home- had to do what I had to do and my doctor said I should be able to lift that much- Nope! I ruined my first repair that way! ). also had two torn rotator cuffs, which were already there before my first surgery, but for some reason, my first surgeon did not repair them! Go figure on that one! Lol! So, I had 1 of the 2 cuffs repaired as well as a biceps tenodesis on my upper arm ( relocation of the biceps muscle- something surgeons do when a SLAP tear fails or a patient is older), plus removed more bone spurs that had developed since the first surgery. My second surgeon also did a second decompression and debridement.... Anyhoo, I was not one of the lucky ones. After two sets of surgeries and over 2 years later from my second shoulder surgery, I still have 24/7 bad chronic pain in my shoulder and sometimes excruciating flares from both inflammation and repeated impingements. I can no longer work at a job and have to limit use of my dominant arm/hand to only daily living tasks that involve no reaching up over my head, and no more than 3-5 lbs of lifting and only when absolutely necessary, no house work where I have lift/drag/push/carry more than 2-3 lbs for only seconds, or press down hard, no handwriting ( it's terrible now!) and no more than about an hour typing or texting per day and not even every day at that, since when I am in flare, doing so is almost impossible! Surgery only resolved about 30-50% of my issues and pain was not a big part of this relief at all, much to my disappointment, but hey, I can wash my hair myself and my shoulder is at least a little more stable, but that other torn cuff is still not repaired. I was told that I can get it repaired with a 3rd surgery at any time, but given my bad experience so far with the results of 2 surgeries on one shoulder, I am not exactly keen on going under the knife again, with a declining success rate with each successive surgery. Something to understand: surgeons consider surgery a "success" at 50% improvement of functionality. We as patients always expect more than that and we want guaranteed relief from pain. Surgeons are there to cut and repair, not solve all of our pain issues. I learned this the hard way. There is no guarantee your pain, other than perhaps the most severe of post-operative pain, will go away as it differs for each person, which is why surgery is a last resort, not first line of treatment, even for rotator cuff tears. Sad, but all this is the truth. Just go easy on yourself! Like yourself, my pain goes all the way through my back, neck, arm and even my hand... and that's on the shoulder I have had all the surgery on. I have issues of impingement also with my non-dominant shoulder as well. What might be helpful, if you have not done so already, is to get an MRI of your cervical spine to rule out a neck issue. Same goes for follow-up MRI to see if your repair has been compromised. Keep in close communication with your doctors and explain how this is negatively impacting your day to day functionality. If you cannot sleep ( yeah, my sleep gets all messed up too) then ask for more pain meds and a sleep aid from your doctor. I have found that medical cannabis also helps a lot for sleeping through pain as well as being more effective for nerve pain than anything else. Hope you heal swiftly and your pain goes away fast as well! Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope things improve for you as well with time.
I feel very depressed when I read your post Ells888 I am sorry that you have travelling such a rocky road since your surgery.
I do hope that with time your situation might still improve I think that you may have been very very unfortunate.
I am still optimistic that I have time for further improvement
Seeing my surgeon tomorrow
Good luck to you Sue
Susan, Let us know how your appointment goes. I am seeing my surgeon a week from today. I have a lot of questions for him.
Will do . I saw. my Physio last week and she was not overly concerned..Just adapted some of the exercises I was doing. At the end of the session my pain on moving the shoulder had diminished Just doing the exercises and see whst my Surgeon has to say.. Sue
Bill saw my Consultant and I think he is disappointing with my progress. My right arms shoulder are considerably weaker . I am to carry on with my Physio and he wants me to have a scan. He will see me again after that. I am in the UK and with the NHS probably a few weeks wait. I am not concerned by this as I am working with Physio in the meantime.
Hi Elle, did you got a follow-up MRI to check the labrum? are you sure that didn't failed again? are the pain worst now then before the first surgery?
My experience has been very similar. I am at 7 months.
If you are like me, strengthening is going to hurt until your shoulder gets strong again. It can be excruciating. As you go along, it's going to hurt less and less. Your range of motion is going to come back on it's own schedule. It doesn't matter what your surgeon or your physical therapist says. I am at 7 months and almost have full ROM. It takes up to a year for some people to regain full ROM. My P/T and doctor expected me to have it at 3 months.
It sounds like you are having some cervical pain. Try some of the Alexander techniques on youtube to help with the cervical pain (just look up neck pain exercises Alexander technique). I have come to believe that stiffness in this case is your friend. It tells you when you are going too far. If you try to push past it instead of pushing up to it, you will have cervical pain because you are actually using your neck and back to lift your arm, not your shoulder. Stiffness is telling you something.
Whenever I have cervical pain, I find it best to rest until it went away. So my advice is a little different from that below because your situation is like mine. If you continue to do the exercises every day while you are having neck pain, the pain will get worse. Do stretch and do pendulums. Lift some light weights without using your shoulders at all. Don't wall walk too far past the stiffness if you must do it every day. You don't have to run to the finish line. You do have to keep your shoulder lubricated so that it doesn't freeze up.
I find myself a little bit stronger each time after resting. Gradually I find myself doing things like resting my arm on the back of a chair or reaching for something that I couldn't reach before.
Keep stretching as much as you can, put both arms on a chair and, holding them straight lean in until you feel the stretch. Lastly, consider asking for some dicyclomine gel for the pain in your shoulder, back and neck. It would replace any anti-inflammatory you are currently taking. A balance ball can also help if you roll it back and forth. Pendulums are good. Massage therapy, if you can afford it, is good. Make sure you have someone who is familiar with shoulder surgery. They should ask you questions about what kind of surgery you had. familiar with Myofascial release is going to be very helpful with the cervical pain. Exercise your legs as much as possible by walking or using a stationary bike to keep your body strong on your off days.
Thanks for your input. A lot of what you say makes perfect sense and very well applies to me. I really don't have so much neck pain as i have upper to mid back pain. Years of having a job sitting in front of a computer i am sure have contributed to it. Plus i have been diagnosed with spinal stenosis in the cervical area. My PT has given me some exercises to hopefully help with that. My biggest hurdle right now is a flared up ulnar nerve that has cause numbness along with significant pain and restricted movement in the wrist,hand and fingers of surgically repaired shoulder. This was a result of being in the sling although i had some numbness prior. Had to see a hand surgeon and may require surgery.
I am feeling a bit dejected at the moment. Quite a bit of pain just struggling with the physio.. I will be glad to have my scan and know just exactly what is going on 9th November so another couple of weeks. So many of us in the same situation Sue
Hang in there Sue. You and i are only a day apart 6/12 and 6/13. PT can be very trying. Hope the scan puts your mind at ease. This surgery is tougher than i ever imagined. No one can describe it to you properly until you experience it. Please keep us posted.
Thanks Bill today is a new day. You are right it is challenging. I have to just carry on in the meantime . If I knew my repair is holding this would reduce my anxiety. I think my anxiety is due in fact to my Surgeon warning that it could fail so I am expecting the worst Sue .