An update to my fall last January that resulted in Injury to my right shoulder

[Desert grandma]

Hi DU Friends,
Here I am almost 9 months later, and my shoulder has gotten worse, not better. I have had 4 cortisol injections and have completed one round of physical therapy. I am currently going through another round of PT in the hopes I can avoid surgery. The last few weeks have been almost unbearable however, as the pain has interfered with my sleep. It seems that nothing has been able to diminish the excruciating ache. Does anyone have any familiarity with shoulder repair? I believe there is a rotator cuff tear, but other issues as well.
I am thinking about calling the surgeon who fixed by knee in 2016. He is with Taos Orthopedic group in Taos NM. I believe they were or are the physicians for the US Olympic Ski team. If there are any cutting edge approaches to shoulder surgery, I feel certain this group would know. They accept Medicare and it would be covered. Dr. Guttman and Dr. Marvel have very high ratings and I know that they do innovative surgeries which provide for faster recovery. My ortho here in Albuquerque is a very nice man and a good surgeon, but most likely not "innovative". I think he mentioned a 4-6 week recovery from surgery. Do any of you have any experience with this? Thanks in advance for sending good thoughts my way.

[Croney]

1. Both my shoulders are replaced, along with both hips and

one knee so far, because arthritis loves me.

Shoulder surgery will give you your life back. There's a recovery time of course, but once you're healed you can forget about it and be pain-free. Good luck!

[Littlered]

2. I have had three shoulder scopes.

I’ve have had two cuffs, and a slap tear repaired over the years.

The slap tear was the worst one of the bunch. I endured painful injections, and pt to no avail. The pain was almost unbearable at times.

I finally opted for surgery, and even after the numbing agents wore off I was in less pain than before. I was mad that I waited so long. Easy surgery, minimal pain after.

[Delphinus]

12. Welcome to DU!

Thanks for your stories of your shoulders.

[MiniMe]

3. Shoulder and knee are quite often different specialties.

A good knee surgeon isn't necessarily a good shoulder surgeon. You should get a local referral to a surgeon imho

[WVlaserguy]

4. Shoulder surgery aftermath

I had surgery on my shoulder on February 8. I had a full tear of the superspinitis tendon and one bicep tendon . They were repaired and reattached with screws. There was some other cleanup done. I spent 6 weeks in a sling, then 8 months of physical therapy.

It was painful and hard work. I now have almost 90% range of motion and about half the strength I had before. I still stretch and work out daily. I should mention that I’m 71 years old

[Delphinus]

13. Belated

welcome to DU!

And thank you for your story.

[woodsprite]

5. I so feel for you!

Sending gentle hugs your way.

A few years ago I fell and hit the curb. Dislocated and broke my shoulder which they set in the ER. I went through several rounds of PT, even a manipulation under anesthesia followed by more PT. No matter what they did I wasn’t rehabbing as expected. They finally did an MRI and found a 3cm rotator cuff tear. Did some surgery, placed a pin, and started from scratch with PT for a fourth time. This time I rehabbed back to 95% - much more than they expected and we’re trying to talk me into being acceptable.

All in all, injury to release from PT and ortho was just over 18 months. They would have been happy with me rehabbing to only 75-80% with no MRI.

[xmas74]

6. My dad did

And came through it well.

[womanofthehills]

7. I have a reverse shoulder replacement

Where a metal ball is in the opposite place of where it would be in your body.

About 10 yrs ago, I slipped on a cord at the top of my stairs (I stupidly had a printer on the top stairwell and didn’t realize it had moved) - I flipped backwards down 16 stairs - I had the sense to tuck in my head and basically rolled backwards down the stairs in a ball ending up at the bottom in a sitting position. I was surprised I was alive. Demolished my shoulder.

To the rescue was Dr Douglas Allen, ortho sports medicine specialist at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque. Because of severe damage, he put in a reverse shoulder replacement and I did my PT therapy all day long til I could lift my arm straight up. In fact, when I went for my first checkup after surgery, he called in his colleagues to show them how far I could lift my arm up. I think reverse shoulder replacement might give you more shoulder range of movement. I was good to go in about a month but I was obsessive about stretching my arm for range of motion throughout the day.

I liked that he’s a sports medicine guy and after surgery he told me - it was really fun figuring out how to put your shoulder back together. My shoulder is basically good - sometimes at night it bothers me to sleep on that side and it aches occasionally but basically very good.

[ms liberty]

11. My MiL is going to be having that at Duke Medical Center soon

We were told that it is the only effective choice to get full range of motion when the rotator cuff is gone. Her shoulder is a mess, really bad. I appreciate hearing about your experience!

I agree about getting a shoulder guy. That's why she's going to Duke; the first surgeon we saw (who was recommended by the guy who successfully repaired my rotator cuff) said "I'll give you a shot, but I won't do your surgery. You need someone who only does shoulders, and does them every day." Duke Orthopedics treats a lot of pro athletes, and trains a lot of medical professionals.

[DET]

8. My Experience

I somehow injured my left shoulder almost a year ago, and it still hurts. Went through two months of twice a week physical therapy, with no results. PT finally recommended an MRI, which was approved by my MD and insurance. MRI showed numerous partial rotator cuff tears, bursitis, and a number of other issues. PT said surgeons won’t operate. Saw an orthopedic surgeon and, sure enough, he won’t operate. Apparently they won’t operate (around here, at least) unless you have a full (not partial) tear or the shoulder is in truly awful shape, despite the pain. Was offered a cortisone shot, but passed since it did nothing for my arthritic knee with torn meniscus.

I continued at home PT exercises for another couple of months. Didn’t help, so I just gave up - which, ironically, helped. I think the shoulder needed rest to repair itself. The worst of the pain - an excruciating stabbing sensation halfway down the upper arm - has mostly gone away. I can live with the rest of the pain, which is slowly getting better. Ibuprofen and a muscle relaxant help, as does not lying on the arm or lifting heavy things.

Please keep us posted on your progress. I wish you the very best.

[Hekate]

9. I had 3 shoulder surgeries for calcifying tendinitis in both shoulders. The relief was amazing

Yes, the surgery created pain of its own and I needed PT, but the continual grinding excruciating pain from the calcification was gone. I didn’t need a joint replacement, just arthroscopic surgery.

My first line for referrals was always my neighbor, who was a nurse at a well-regarded clinic in town for 35 years, and knew everybody. She said Dr. R “had no personality, but was very good”. He had big Olympic swim team photos in his waiting room autographed with things like “Couldn’t have done it without you, Doc!” So — he was in fact quite good at his job. (My neighbor was from New Jersey — she really had no qualms about saying what she thought )

Couple of decades later when I needed my knee replaced, the guy I was referred to was Dr. R’s new partner — again, very well recommended. I was really scared of that surgery, because I knew a couple of people who had bad results — one of whom chose based on lower cost rather than taking the advice of her own sister in law who was Dean of Nursing at the University. I had a bit of rough recovery and rigorous PT, but again, ultimately what a relief.

I think you should definitely do inquiries at Taos Orthopedic — Olympic Teams take only the best. Ask a lot of questions, including whether they have a doc who just does shoulders. Get in for that consult/second opinion soon — unremitting pain just drains your quality of life away something fierce.

Best of luck!

[moonscape]

10. I took a nasty fall on concrete and got a

labral tear and other things I don’t recall now. If important I can go online, find out, and let you know. Mostly I remember my surgeon remarking that I had a very angry shoulder!

The most brilliant part was getting a continuous nerve block. I was sent home with a contraption that delivered numbing via catheter to nerves for 2-3 days and I had no pain! No dopiness! Did not have to take opioids and healing was incredibly enhanced. I asked the anesthesiologist who checked in on me at home why this wasn’t routine as it was so brilliant, and he said because it takes resources and in my area only Stanford and UCSF (academic teaching hospitals) offer it. That was several years ago.

For anyone able to have shoulder surgery at a hospital that offers going home with a continuous nerve block, highly recommend. Made a world of difference.

My shoulder is pain-free. Am 73 and had the surgery about 3 years ago I think it was.

[Ms. Toad]

14. Not a quick fix,

but what has worked for me is a body-sized pillow and never sleeping on the sore shoulder.

Rotating the arm across the body while sleeping was one of the biggest drivers of continuing pain. Once I stopped sleeping on the sore side and propped my arm up so that it is floating on the pillow at shoulder height I started to get some relief. But it took most of a year.