I’ve come to realize that some people heal fast because they had smaller tears. i was told by the physical therapist that there are small, medium large and massive tears. He said mine was massive, tendons all torn off the bone. So I had 7 incisions spots on shoulder and 3 pins put in. Friend I know saw me and said , " Oh, I only had a few incisions on back of my shoulder and physical for a couple weeks." So I guess with massive tears it takes about a full year to get back to normal. Right now I’m into 10th week after surgery. Its 5:30 in morning and writing this cause pain stiffness and cant sleep. I know to be patient but this truely is a torture. Some days after PT I come home feeling hopeful but its so frustrating when your home and cant do all you’d like to. Last week was first time I drove myself to my PT. appt. Left feeling positive. The next day I fell while running on our sidewalk. Thank God I did not hurt my shoulder but hit my chin , Bad on a cement edge of step , hurt right hand, right knee , which had been broke yrs ago. Wow ! So THIS IS NOT my year. Did not need this on top of shoulder stuff. Now just Thankful things were not worse !! Good Luck to All. 
Goodness Antoinette you are right, it really isn’t your year! Hopefully it will improve. I’m not sure I agree that smaller tears heal faster. My first shoulder surgery was a rc repair 3cms and it was a good year before I could say I felt near normal. This time, I am five weeks out of surgery, no tear and arthroscopic subacromial decompression and AC joint excision, so you would think the pain would be minimal. However, this is horrendous at night and I end up changing over ice packs every few hours until morning. Although trying to comply and increase the exercise regime, like you, the stiffness and pain makes you wonder if it is doing more harm than good. I find it strange that whilst my ROM is pretty good- almost as good as the other shoulder, the pain isn’t subsiding at the same rate - in fact the better the ROM, the worse the pain seems to get. According to the physiotherapist this is very common and quite normal but it doesn’t make sense to me. I have come to the conclusion that unless you have experienced shoulder surgery, you cannot understand the degree of pain and discomfort we go through.
In 2 days it will be 10 months since my full thickness rotator cuff repair, subacromial decompression and distal clavicle resection. jaycee you are so right that if you haven’t gone through it you cannot understand the lingering discomfort and limitation. However, I must admit that my family is still at times over protective. My care team has been consistent with the 12-18 month recovery. From day one my surgeon let me know the process can’t be rushed. I think on some level we don’t believe it, thus we get depressed or frustrated when it plays out pretty much the way they told us! So, Sunday was another pull over rather than back zip dress.
Wee tip when you travel. Take your sling and put it on when in large crowds so people give you a wide berth, you don’t need someone bumping into you. I learnt this when I travelled at 6 weeks post op.
A note of caution on travel and being in crowds in general. A sling doesn’t mean much in a huge, busy airport such as Atlanta. People are generally distracted, rushing and not looking where they’re going. Barely see you, never mind your sling! Best bet is to walk along the edge so that your surgery side is away from the crowd. I used to wrap my good arm around to my shoulder-in a self hug. ABSOLUTELY don’t have your surgery side on the aisle on an airplane!!!
I noticed that when you’re in a sling people assume the problem is your arm or hand so they grab you by the shoulder! Lean towards them with the bad side.
Hi, I am new here, I found this forum searching for how long post op pain lasts from rotator cuff surgery. I am 6 weeks post op and still struggling, especially where the biceps tendon was re-attached with open surgery. My PT is twice a week and I must take pain meds afterwards. However, the ROM is improving rapidly. I Just need to vent a little to people who understand that no one said–hey in addition to a nine to twelve month recovery you are going to be in a lot of pain for months!!! Why don’t they prepare us up front?
Good question. Maybe because they don’t want to scare us, or because everyone is different and they don’t know. I really think they don’t know. How ignorant I was, I didn’t know what a nerve block was, and no shared that it would wear off. So I thought this isn’t so bad and didn’t take the meds they gave me until about 16 hrs later when all wore off. Ow!!. Then after 3 mos I was told no more meds because that’s our protocol. I didn’t take all the time but occassionally when my patience wore down. This forum cheered me up, I wasn’t crazy. I’m still replying 2 years later. Keep at it, don’t try and be tough. My neighbor just had this surgery and he’s doing way too much.
It will improve. Best!
I think my surgeon was forthright from day one about pain, limitations and recovery (he said 12-18months!). I think we all have a tendency to hear and not hear or hear what we want to hear. Example: I was sure he told me I would be going to pt for four weeks/a month, when what he said was I would need someone to drive me to pt for four weeks/a month! I went to pt twice weekly for five months but I could drive myself after the first month! Also, sometimes we see ourselves as the exception or think that it can’t be that bad even in the face of what we’re told.
I’m ten months out from my surgery. I’m still limited to 8-10 pounds lifting and that’s pushing it. That is my major limitation though I still have an achy, tightness in my shoulder and soreness in y bicep almost daily. That’s more of a reminder nuisance than anything.
Another thing my surgeon told me early on was that the recovery is slow and can’t be rushed so be kind to myself.
" I think we all have a tendency to hear and not hear or hear what we want to hear."
Yes! I believe this is very true. I know my surgeon told me, but I was sure it wouldn’t apply to me so quickly pushed it to the back of my mind, I was, er, wrong.
I am 18 months out, and, my arm still aches, and I do not have full ROM, but close. It’s also much weaker than it was before surgery, despite the gym, handgrips, etc. I suppose that will eventually come back.
The good news is the ache doesn’t bother me anymore. The bad news is it’s because my other shoulder is starting to badly hurt, suspect my osteoarthritis is tearing things inside me.
Honestly, no one told me. The closest I came to hearing about the recovery was when the nurse in pre-op said " you have rough 12 weeks ahead off you". Before I could reply I was out. I was anxious to have it repaired as it had been 6 mos and the first GP I went to blew me off. I didn’t ask enough questions. Then the first time I saw my arm out if the torture sling, oops I mean immobilizer, I knew it would be awhile. That timetable was the best and worst info I got from this site. It takes time.
The pain can be relentless! Had my surgery in March of 2018, November of 2018 I slipped in the shower and fell out on the floor and broke the ball on my humerus. So here i am 9 months later and MRI yesterday and looking at a revision on my shoulder…ugh. Not looking forward to this, knowing what im look at.
WOW!! That must be depressing and frustrating piled onto the pain! I’m so afraid of a fall. I know it can be devastating especially at my age of 74. I do pray the best for you on your journey.
Thank you, I knew when i hit the floor it was bad. So very painful, never had a broken bone before . I guess at 55 im luckey. Just not looking forward to another surgery. I’ve never been in so much pain. I had my neck fused 3 through 7 and rotator cuff surgery was by far much worse. I say just hold on and take meds when necessary, especially before or after pt.
Oh no. You’ve had a time of it. I’m so sorry. Keep us informed.
Last week I took our very badly leash trained 65 lb dog to the vet. Not thinking I had her leash in my hand on my repaired arm and reached for my purse in the car. She took off like a rocket and really jerked my arm. Wow. But nothing happened to my shoulder. Whew. I guess the repair worked. 27 months later. But who’s counting?!!
wow, ao lucky. Makes my arm hurt just to think about it…ouch !
This site is invaluable for those of us still in the throes of post- shoulder surgery. It confirms that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though it can be a very long tunnel! I am almost seven weeks out of surgery for subacromial decompression on my right shoulder. I had a similar surgery on my left shoulder four years ago and I have never experienced pain like it. Even with childbirth there is an end in sight! Therefore learning that this time I didn’t have a tear and it was arthroscopic rather than open, I hoped I would be in for a easier ride. The consultant did say to me post op, that although the incisions were less, there was still the same work done inside to sort the impingement. I think I heard this but didn’t really take it in. In fact, the first couple of weeks I thought it was going to be a breeze by comparision. The physio at two weeks post thought I had done really with with ROM and was definitely ahead of schedule. She gave me more exercises, stressing not to overdo them, and I thought I was on the home run. At this point, with the increased exercises on board, the pain kicked in; horrible aching and night time throbbing and a real feeling of tightness when going through normal movements that up to that point I felt were not too problematic. When I mentioned this at the next physio appointment she said it’s very common to have increased pain when the exercise schedule is steppped up. I was obviously way too complacent and very disheartened. I have had to accept that last time it took me a full year of recovery to be able to say I felt so much better, and if it is less than that this time, then it’s a bonus. I think the hardest thing is trying to live a normal life when you spend half of the night awake and changing over ice packs turning you into a daytime zombie. I’m going to the gym twice a week - no weights or shoulder work obviously - as even if it doesn’t do much fitness wise it keeps my head sane.So grateful to the posters on this forum sharing their experiences - especially in the early hours when things seem very bleak.
Have you considered an ice machine? If you’re changing ice packs during the night it may be worth the investment. I found one on Amazon for about $125. However, it malfunctioned and rather than wait for a replacement I borrowed a Breg Polar Care Cube which was easier to use. It runs continuously and one fill up will last through the night!
Seven weeks post op for me was right around Thanksgiving last year. I wasn’t having a lot of pain but i cried because i didn’t have enough strength to snap the beans for dinner. ME who almost single handedly did our holiday meals! By Christmas I could snap beans but couldn’t peel fruit for ambrosia…but it was progress!
HI Gwen. I did think about an ice machine but when i checked on Amazon it said they are no longer sold to non professionals. I was hoping at seven weeks post op that the night time pain would start to diminish a bit . However if it doesn’t improve soon I may have to look into a second hand one physio told me today that it is still inflamed at this point Glad I only have two shoulders Couldn’t be doing with this every few years!
Hi. You might also try a medical equipment supply store. I hope it soon gets to a point where you don’t need it. Some how over the last week or so I have managed to strain the upper trap muscle on my surgical side. Thankfully there’s no pain/discomfort in the shoulder. It just makes me even more cautious in using it and that probably adds to the spasm like tightness. My chiro worked on it today. It’s Aspercreamed down and I’m applying heat. To your point about two shoulders, if this hadn’t been my dominant arm I don’t think I would have done it.