rotator cuff decision, fix or not

[walter o]

what is with this "if you m are younger than 70 have it fixed"****? I am now 78 and refuse to give up . Last year November 13 had right shoulder operated on after 3 months of therapy . Cuff torn in 2 places and bicept detached . followed therapy and this month i can finally raise my arm over my head without an assist from the left arm. Kept complaining and they kept telling me it sometime takes a year to get full movement back . I have to admit it was a pain in the arm ,but kept moving and doing all kinds of moving ,little by little it has come back to normal use. It is worth the struggle YES

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

GET'er Done

I tripped cpming in from the garage and fell against the door jam. 3 months later it got so bad I was having trouble driving. Got the bad news and got it fixed. I understand recovery is touch and go for some people and some never fully recover. I was one of the lucky ones. Take it easy on recovery and just suck it up far as the pain goes, it will be worth it. Not driving was not an option for me. Not at all.

 

[Straightshooter2]

Get it fixed. I tore my rotator cuff lifting a bucket of water in Ireland (don’t ask) in 2008. I tried to grit it out but after my wife rolled over onto my shoulder in the middle of the night and I woke up screaming she made me go to the orthopedic surgeon. He ordered an MRI and when they locked my shoulder down, I had tears running down my face the entire time I was in the machine. The MRI said I had a complete tear of the rotator cuff but when the surgeon got in there, it was a partial tear with a lot bone spurs under the bone over the shoulder joint which were irritating everything. What was supposed to be a simple surgery turned into a more complex one with him doing a subacromial decompression also. Yes, physical therapy will be a long and painful experience although the electro-stimulation of the shoulder seemed to do wonders. My joke about therapy was during the manipulation of the arm up behind the body, I confessed to kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, being on the Grassy Knoll in Dallas and told them where Jimmy Hoffa was buried. But after it was all over, it was worth it.

 

[cougar14]

Thanks for all the great advice.

I didn't mention I'm on blood thinners due to a bilateral pulmonary embolism last winter, so not only can I not take any of the type of pain medication most could get, I have to go off them for the surgery. Just more complications. Oh well, it could be worse, I could be eaten by an alligator.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Fix it or be ready end up with a "Frozen Shoulder". In the interim, exercise it to the limit that does not hurt to keep what mobility that you can. Been there, definitely could be worse.

 

[model70hunter]

My brother was very active, team roped as the heeler, still farms, worked a hard day job and hunted. He hurt it roping several years ago and quit roping.

He is 65, he had to quit bowhunting. He is now able to use a cross bow and has killed a few deer over the last 3 years.

He doesn't have much power in his right arm. I told him he needs it but now doesn't have regular medical insurance and is toughing it out.

Seeing how it has impacted him if it ever happened to me I would get the surgery. And I too am on blood thinners.

Get it done, not having it done detracts from your quality of life.

 

[amazingflapjack]

Lidocaine and Capsacion is what I use along with I Peter 2:24 and others. I have bone on bone in left shoulder, and must sleep on my side due to apnea/c-pap. So an operation would not work for me. I do better when on my left side- on that shoulder; pushes it together. Don't/won't use pain killers-been there, done that. He is my answer for pain-Isaiah 53:4-5

 

[rbrbrb6]

Without a doubt, get it fixed. I have had 3 surgeries on shoulders and while fixed is not like new, it is better than unfixed and unstable. Getting ready to have a knee scoped in a week or two then a total hip in a month which is just to say, don't fear the operation or the rehab. It is just something to get through then back on with life. Also, like said I said above, realize that "fixed" results in a new normal and life goes MUCH smoother if you learn that. Not accepting that is why I have so many scope scars on my shoulders.

 

[Ed Fowler]

I had no choice when it came to surgery, a Mumford procedure was absolutely the only fix possible. First two physical therapists were worthless, did not have the experience to judge them, then by accident found a very good one and immediately she recognized the problem and after 3 years I am almost healed.

A good message therapist is a true blessing.

 

[Lt JL]

I had both of mine fixed. The first one was the long incision type, the second was the three or for holes type. i really needed them done. one went, and ten years later the other one went, along with a ruptured bicep. surgeries went fine. One shoulder is 100%, the other is about 90%. Do what you are told, listen to your physical terrorist ( I named mine Wicked Wanda) and you'll be about as good as new. It only really huyrts for three days after surgery. I was back sleeping in bed in a week.
I was coming up on qualification time, and wicked wanda spent the better part of a weekend making me a replica 870 that she could adjust the weight on.

 

[moralem]

I am one of those that had a torn rotator but I passed on surgery. Doc said that post surgery recovery was going to be as painful or worse than what I was experiencing. It took me a year of rehab but my shoulder is back to where it was pre rotator tear. I am glad I did not undergo surgery. Doc said if I was young he would have done surgery. But at my age then 58 he said no sense to it. Let time heal and it did.