<p>My [url=http://orthopedicsurgerysandiego.com/]Orthopedic Surgeon[/url] says the surgery is "a piece of cake" but i know from past surgeries (not on the shoulder) it never is. I think I would be far more comfortable waiting at LEAST 6-9 mos of not responding to ANYTHING before jumping on the operating table.</p>

Hoping to bring back old thread.

have had 2 prior injuries on my shoulder dislocation in 1997 and then 2008 was told after MRI that labrum was frayed after an injury. Since that point i have had pain and stiffness constantly.had several cortizone shots over the years with only temporary relief lasting week or two. xrays and MRI all negative.
Recently told by 5th op that its scapulathoratic bursitis and no doctor in immediate area works with this he advised going into manhattan. doc in NYC explained scapula bursectomy first as the snapping was clearly audble across the room.
Had arthrosopic scapula bursectomy and bone spur removed 3 weeks ago felt great until first p/t session. Actually feels worse than right after surgeryhavent slept since. wondering if anyone can advise what therapy excerises they started out doing.
Guess im nervous that p/t is wrong after 30 min of learning exercises (tearing up the entire time) therapist said "your portals are in your back" she said that she had never sceen this before and explained that usually the portals are near the shoulder joint for a bursectomy.
I cant seem to find any info on what p/t is like after post op is it the same excersises for scapula as shoulder?

please excuse typos and spelling

hey....
I am now 28y.o. - and had impingement surgery in 2005. It was hell, honestly..
I didn't get into PT until 6 months post-op.
I had to sleep sitting up for 3 months, and couldnt drive until month 5. I could hold my cell phone in my left arm until then either.

I am currently getting ready for a SLAP surgery to relocate my Biceps tendon.
Due to the fact that I have hyperextendablilty (my should pops out of joint just opening a window or folding laundry), I am looking at about 18 months of initial recovery....

I wish all the best to you, and hope your surgery helps you greatly. I wish I was so lucky.

Keep in mind that the people that write on boards such as this are usually only people that have had complications. People that sail through surgery don't usually write.

I've had five shoulder surgeries, four on my left and one on my right. I can honestly say that it really wasn't all that bad for me. I've had a bursectomy, Mumford procedure, subacromial decompression, labrum debridement and rotator cuff repair, etc. I think the Mumford was the worst in terms of pain. The first couple of procedures involved removing bone spurs and general cleanup. There was no repair involved. I was pretty much back to normal within a month with full range of motion. Unfortunately for me, my bone spurs keep coming back and because I'm a swimmer I did serious damage which included tearing my rotator cuff. The recovery for that sucks. Not that it's horribly painful but you can't use your arm for a long time. Since I'm on my second repair and only 6 weeks post-op I'm still in a sling and only allowed passive motion. I still have two weeks before I see my doctor to see if he'll let me out of the sling. My PT says to forget about swimming any overhead strokes again. My doctor hinted at the same thing but said he "might" let me swim in August.

When deciding to have surgery you have to ask yourself if you want to feel the way you feel now forever. My first surgeries were very sucessful and had I not gone back to swimming I might not be in such a mess. This isn't to say it wasn't painful. I've had my knee, ankles and shoulders scoped and shoulders are the worst. But for me at least, the worst of it was over in 2-3 days. Early on it's important to take your pain killers before the pain starts and to take them at the prescribed intervals. The other thing you need to realize is that shoulder problems tend to get worse and the more damage you do the harder the recovery is going to be. I'm a big advocate for taking care of problems early. For one thing, you can schedule your surgery at a convenient time instead of waiting for your arm to explode.

I don't own a recliner and have survived surgery just fine. I do have a backrest that goes on top of my bed and leans against the wall. It has arms so I can prop my arm up. But I've never slept in it at night. Sleeping is going to elude you no matter what anyway.

Oh boy.
I'm scheduled for surgery on June 26.
After reading the posts here, I'm about ready to bail on surgery.

Onset of symtoms was 6 months ago.
woke up one morning and couldn't move my arm or shoulder at all.
One week later saw orthopedist, was given cortisone injection into the
shoulder joint, was moving it back and forth pendulem style within 5 minutes.

The past 6 months, I've been in PT, using Heat, Ice, Pain meds,
Anti inflammatory meds, another cortisone shot, and finally MRI after the 5th
month.

Doctor initially said I had impingement with possible rotator cuff tear and/or
bursitis.

MRI showed 2 labral tears Superior and Posterior, atrophy of the teres minor
and inflammation of the bursa and some other medical terminology I couldn't decipher.

Surgery wasn't suggested after the MRI, I was referred 2 follow up visits later in pain,
and even seeing the surgeon it wasn't immediately offered, first option was to see a myofacial
pain therapist but the surgeon said he felt the pain and symptoms would come back after
discontinuation of therapy but it would buy me some time.

I opted to do surgery and by pass the myofacial therapy because the pain has
been so long and ongoing, and I need to be able to do my job and live my life.

I have been looking for some online forum regarding these types of injuries and surgeries
and that is how I found this group.

I don't know exactly what my surgery is to entail.
I was told by the surgeon that he will go in and do a bursectomy arthroscopically
and debridement.

He said he wouldn't likely address the labral tears because he doesn't think that's the problem.
But I just recieved my pre op stuff and all it says on the pre op form is arthoscopic shoulder RTC
which I presume that means rotator cuff or maybe not.

I don't know what to think.
I have pain in the top of my shoulder to my bicep and to my elbow,
with painful knots in the bicep.
I have pain from the bottem of my right shoulder blade to my neck extending
from my collar bone to the shoulder and somewhere deep in the shoulder
kind of under my arm in the back.

I have some popping and clicking and a few times, I've woken up with limited
range of motion - but right now, If I sit very still, it doesn't bother me at all.

My right upper arm is twice the size of my left unaffected arm and has been that way
for over 6 months.

But it doesn't seem like surgery is a quick fix for sure.
And I previously felt like I had PT from he**.
Sadistic bunch they were.

I don't know if I have the tolerance to deal with those
people again especially if I am in more pain than I am in now.

Tho, I did buy a recliner this weekend, just in case because No Body
told me that I might need to sleep sitting up.
Actually.. nobody has told me anything except that I would likely
be able to move my arm pain free and with the range of motion I had
after the first cortisone shot and 80% range of motion from normal is the expected
result.

So, I'm really glad to have found this group and been able to read the posts here.
Forgive my long winded first post and hope to read more on what to expect.

Hi Jess,

Yes I was fairly active before my surgery. I did return to work 3 days after my surgery but my job is very sedate so that wasn't much of an issue. The OS seems to sugar coat the surgery because mine told me the same thing "a piece of cake" and here I am 9 week later and still having bicep pain. I hope you can get some relief but without surgery I think it is pretty unlikely. It's almost like comparing it to the lesser of the two evils and the surgery is the best option in the end, at least for me anyway. I wish you the best.

Jess - also wanted to tell you that when I did my PT prior to surgery, it actually made the pain worse. When I finally saw this third doc -the one who actually did the surgery- he said the same thing... that PT just exacerbates the situation by causing lots of inflamation. There are other schools of thought, though, that say that strengthening the rotator cuff and muscles around the scapula can actually help. I didn't find that at all... it just made me more miserable! (But my therapist was cute! )

Sue

Hi Jess! I went for massage therapy last week... thought maybe it helped a little at first, but I'm back to being inflamed and sore. My PT says that my biceps tendon is extremely thickened and inflamed - don't know how to get that to calm down. Plus, the massage was very deep tissue - was quite painful and left me very bruised. I've learned that that shouldn't have happened and that the therapist probably didn't warm the tissue enought prior to going that deep. So, back to the drawing board. Now that I'm thinking back, I had lots of pec soreness too, and thought that I had actually damaged the pec tendon somehow because I have had (and still have) so much pain with internal rotation. My surgeon told me that he actually ablated the CA ligament - just zipped the whole thing right out. He said some surgeons just cut it and leave it, but that can cause problems. Removing it provides additional space for the rotator cuff to function.

A second opinion is a good idea... It always helps to hear from another doc to help you make decision. I actually saw three surgeons before I had my surgery! Keep smilin...

Sue

quote:

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Originally posted by: MetsFan
Hi Jess - I had my SAD/spur removal/bursectomy/clavicle debridement/removal of coracoacromial ligament on 3/3 - it's almost 12 weeks and I'm still having problems. I thought this would be a piece of cake (surgeon didn't say otherwise, either), but it's been a rough ride. I injured my shoulder last July and saw the orthopedist a month later. X-rays showed spurring and the MRI showed a very narrow subacromial space. I had a lot of pain with abduction and with anything that involved reaching. Also couldn't sleep on that side. My biggest pain producer was anything that involved the biceps. I was told that the biceps tendinitis was compensatory due to the degree of impingement I had, but my biceps still continues to bark at me on a daily basis. I waited for about 7 months before opting for surgery and finally decided to bite the bullet because it was affecting everything I did - my job, sports, and just about anything else, even simple things like pushing my car door closed! I went the conservate route - PT, ice, NSAIDS, cortisone, acupuncture - really trying to avoid surgery. I was very active before my injury, and I sort of feel like bixa and many others - fed up and frustrated at times. I'm not sure if I'm a good gauge, though, because I think that I still have a problem with my biceps that wasn't addressed by the surgery. Still hoping to get that figured out and get back to my life! I hope this helps... it's a tough decision to make because surgery can be a long road with lots of ups and downs. Hope you can heal without it!

Sue

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Hi Sue!
Thanks so much! Everything I am going through makes so much sense to me when I know it's not completely random. My problem started (or so it seemed) as bicipital tendonitis. BUt most likely, that was bc my shoulder was impinged and i wasn't aware of it. So I am still dealing w/ some of that, lots of pec soreness and setrratus. Did massage help you much? How exactly do they remove the coracoacromial ligament? Or did they just smooth it out? I am so distraught. I definitely want to wait as long as possible before surgery. My OS didn't mention anything about spurs, but but my subacromial space is extremely small & inflamed. I haven't done PT yet...he says it won't help. I am getting another opinion in the beginning of June.

Thanks again Sue!

Jess

Hi Jess - I had my SAD/spur removal/bursectomy/clavicle debridement/removal of coracoacromial ligament on 3/3 - it's almost 12 weeks and I'm still having problems. I thought this would be a piece of cake (surgeon didn't say otherwise, either), but it's been a rough ride. I injured my shoulder last July and saw the orthopedist a month later. X-rays showed spurring and the MRI showed a very narrow subacromial space. I had a lot of pain with abduction and with anything that involved reaching. Also couldn't sleep on that side. My biggest pain producer was anything that involved the biceps. I was told that the biceps tendinitis was compensatory due to the degree of impingement I had, but my biceps still continues to bark at me on a daily basis. I waited for about 7 months before opting for surgery and finally decided to bite the bullet because it was affecting everything I did - my job, sports, and just about anything else, even simple things like pushing my car door closed! I went the conservate route - PT, ice, NSAIDS, cortisone, acupuncture - really trying to avoid surgery. I was very active before my injury, and I sort of feel like bixa and many others - fed up and frustrated at times. I'm not sure if I'm a good gauge, though, because I think that I still have a problem with my biceps that wasn't addressed by the surgery. Still hoping to get that figured out and get back to my life! I hope this helps... it's a tough decision to make because surgery can be a long road with lots of ups and downs. Hope you can heal without it!

Sue