Shoulder pain after surgery

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purple wrote:

Can someone pls tell me how much time a day they do exercises and stretching. Also how long until I should have little to no pain.
Reason why I am asking is I had rotator cuff surgery over 5 months ago and physiotherapist said to do 15 minutes of stretching and 45 minutes of bands and weights 3 times a day. This = 3 hours of stretching and exercises a day. I believe this is to much as I am in pain. My ROM is great and strength is increasing but the pain is the same as it was 4 months ago.
Pls respond.
Thank you
I had surgery 6 weeks ago and I am in PT 2x a week. I do some strengthing exercises at home but no more than 45min in total. i think you are doing too much. I am in agony after PT and most of the time at home. I too am out of pain killers. I was taking stronger meds before the surgery but I cannot get into the doc until Dec. My pain is the same or at times worse than before the surgery. I had a decompression and debriament(not sure how to spell.) I still have no range of motion over my head. It sucks.

Thanks Purple! It's a roller coaster ride! Looking for the day I will be completely pain free!!!

Courtice wrote:

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What is roto rooted? if rotator cuff surgery or impingement you need to do physio! I am 5 months post op and still in pain. I am trying to find out how much physio everyone is doing on their own. I have slowed down on physio, I believe I was doing to much!
But again, you need to find a physiotherapist for help!

They went in with the little drill bits, like in the dentist office. It reminds me of the Roto-Rooter guys who clean the drain pipes. Bursectomy, debride biceps, acromioplasty - basic impingement.

I am 6 weeks out of surgery now, no pain relief. The stabs from the arthritis spurs are gone, but now the joint crunches, and boy does that hurt! Can't reach behind myself at all or put on seat belt. Getting dressed is hard. NO PT ordered except the arm swings and "wall walking" which I can't do. I have the range of motion, not frozen, but it hurts! I can get my hand up thw wall, but have to bring it down with the other hand. I can't just go to a PT on my own, need a prescription.

wendybird wrote:

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They went in with the little drill bits, like in the dentist office. It reminds me of the Roto-Rooter guys who clean the drain pipes. Bursectomy, debride biceps, acromioplasty - basic impingement.
I am 6 weeks out of surgery now, no pain relief. The stabs from the arthritis spurs are gone, but now the joint crunches, and boy does that hurt! Can't reach behind myself at all or put on seat belt. Getting dressed is hard. NO PT ordered except the arm swings and "wall walking" which I can't do. I have the range of motion, not frozen, but it hurts! I can get my hand up thw wall, but have to bring it down with the other hand. I can't just go to a PT on my own, need a prescription.

Phone your Surgeon and have him fax prescription note to therapist. Here in Onterio I don't think you need one. Mine never asked even though I have one. You do need physio! Try and call a physiotherapist and see what they say.
For now keep your arm moving to prevent it freezing up.
5.5 months and I am still in pain. Tried to reduce exercises but still painfull. Hopefully it will settle down. At the 3 months stage I felt like I started to get better, than I over did my exercises and have been in pain. Fustrating!!!

In the past 5 years i've had three shoulder surgeries! I'am begining to think its a bunch of
B.S.right shoulder two operations,left shoulder
one operation.they are worse now than when this
started.I have a WARNING buyer beware; the Doctors
I have seen; Seem to think this can be fixed make sure your doctor has a lot of experence with this.Do a lot of research on your own the percentage for good as new is very low!

I had shoulder surgery two weeks ago (shaved bone to remove spurs and shaved frayed ends of muscle -- no pins; three incisions). I was out of the sling the next day and in PT in two days. There was and still is pain, but I think I have overcome the worst part. What I did was to install a pully system in my garage and after the second PT session, I went to the the pully (pull up my arm with my good arm) and started blasting through the pain moving my arm in every configruation possible. It hurt, but I was told that I could not really injur it again doing this, it was just a matter of bearing the pain. I do that twice a day or so and it has produced great results. I have full range of motion now, am now lifting small weights and expect to be swinging a golf club in three weeks. There is still the dull bone ache but that will hang on for a while. I adpopted the mantra that I needed to move the arm to the places where the pain was to ultimately make it go away. This may be wackey medical advice, but it works for me and I am a poster child for quick recovery, as the PT people tell me. Golfer --

Carol wrote:

I had Impingement surgery and a bone spur removed n 5/07. My shoulder is still swollen and my pain is getting worse. I am unable to lift my arm out to the side and in front of me. The only thing that helps is if i sit quietly and not move my arm it feels a little better but I can't live that way. Does anyone have any advise on what I can do to help the pain.

Amy wrote:

I am having shoulder surgery on the 28th. How long do you have to keep it in the sling and how long before you can drive?

Hey, it depends on what kind of surgery you're having. I had AC joint surgery last May. I was supposed to be in a sling for no more than 5 days. They try to get you out of it as soon as possible so your arm doesn't go into atrophy. It still aches with changing weather/temperature. But, it all depends on how well you stick to what your ortho and PT tell you to do. It took me a few months to regain range of motion in the shoulder. And they shaved parts of the humerus and the acromion. They pulled bone shards out of the surrounding muscle tissue from the spurs. It's a rough spot to have surgery on. But, stick to your exercise and stretch plans and you should do alright. I was driving my manual transmission again after a week.

I had acromioplasty (bone spur removal,'cleaning' of joint, etc.) on right shoulder in April '11. It healed beautifully. So, when I needed it done on the left shoulder I quickly signed up to get it done in October. Well, this shoulder hasn't recovered like the first. It got to the point I had to go to Emerg for pain meds, it was hurting so badly. And a few weeks ago I had a cortisone shot because I couldn't take the pain any more. One of the surgeons I saw (cos mine was away for an extended period) said "Shoulder surgery and recovery can be very painful." Oh, okay.
I am feeling a bit better after the shot but that took a few weeks. Thankfully I kept the original January appointment so I see the surgeon again in two days.
I think the thing to remember is that every surgery's different, even if it's the 'same'. I've had two synovectomies on my right knee and it took much longer to recover from the second. Much. And who knows what other mitigating circumstances there are (e.g. undiagnosed issues)?
Good luck to everyone. I'm pretty sure there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!:-)

Sarah,
Same thing happened to me after appendectomy. The doctor said that the gas they had filled my stomach up with was pressing on a nerve that was causing my severe shoulder pain. It stopped after about 3 days, but I'll have the same sharp pain periodically that lasts several hours. A heating pad on the stomach and the shoulder helps.

Gaia wrote:

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mine lasted 3 days.. yeah, it hurt.. i couldnt sleep with the pain, either..

Had cyst removed from the right side of my neck Friday, every thing seemed ok till Sunday. I felt like the mussels in my shoulders ha been strained. At the Doctors office this AM I was told there was AIR involved. My wife says,some times this goes on for a week or two. I am determed to make it go away in a few days by excerise. I hope it works.

waiting for surgery to take away some bone on shoulder i have extreme pain with 12 weeks and looking forward to surgery as i think it cant get more painful than what i have now.i have a cartlidge torn and the joint is outta place.im hoping operation will be a quick recovery

I had rotator cuff surgery on Nov 3rd for medium tear to tendon and acrimoplasty. I slept with many pillows for 6 weeks until I was out of sling. Pain and stiffness has been over the top. I went to Dr. at 10 weeks after repair. He was NOT happy with my progress and range of motion. He said he thought there was some scar tissue. This after weeks of pt and doing home exercises three times a day religiously. I was very depressed that so much effort and pain had not paid off, however, I am not a quitter. I spent the next two weeks suffering extreme pain and pushing way past my limit. I was determined to get near 100% range of motion by my next Dr. appt at 13 weeks. I see the Dr. this Friday and I am happy to report the two weeks of extreme pain and stiffness is paying off. For the last two daYS I have woke up with no stiffness or pain. I do still have some pain when I do my exercises but the stiffness seems to be gone. I do have some nerve issues in hand, wrist and forearm which I hope will resolve as I continue to improve. You MUST do the exercises if you want to get past the stiffness and pain. I know how hard it is, in fact, I would have to get my courage up every time because it would hurt so bad. Be strong and you can get better. Best wished to everyone.

Thanks for the posts. My surgeon is the best in town but is a terrible communicator. I went in for a debridement and ended up having a labral tear repair too. No one spoke to me after surgery so I started my range of motion exercises as instructed by the doctor only to go back the next week and find out I was not supposed to use the arm at all for 6 weeks. I had irritated the shoulder even more. I have never taken pains meds before and I didn't know if having pain 7 weeks out was normal. I have been really stingy with the Norco taking just 2 a night for pain and just roughing out the pain during the day. This is a frustrating and sometimes depressing recovery. After reading these posts I feel more confident in asking my doc for pain relief.

What???? When I overdid activity I was in triple agony for 1 or 2 days...

mikemachinist wrote:

In the past 5 years i've had three shoulder surgeries! I'am begining to think its a bunch of
B.S.right shoulder two operations,left shoulder
one operation.they are worse now than when this
started.I have a WARNING buyer beware; the Doctors
I have seen; Seem to think this can be fixed make sure your doctor has a lot of experence with this.Do a lot of research on your own the percentage for good as new is very low!

I have had two surgeries. The first one didn't hold. The second one now feels worse than the first. I've had two in two years now, and don't know what to do!

i had my shoulder done last june i have had nothing but pain and stiffness i joined the gym where i work but find it hard to lift 5kg but once i get over that bit pain i get through my program but like everyone else how dose it take to fully move your arm without the pain

I have had 2 surgeries on my left shoulder. The first having 2 anchors placed in my left shoulder. The second a rotator cuff repair on the same shoulder.
It was very painful through the recovery.I also had a 18 hr block for the pain, however this lasts for a short time. My pain was unbearable. I was in so much pain, I was vomiting, and I had muscle spasms.Currently, I am using a Dynasling. However, it is not helping me to my recovery.

If you experience this shoulder pain from the gas the pump into your stomach then drink peppermint water it helps abit (from personal experience)

I had shoulder surgery a little over a month ago I had 2 bone spurs and had tissue removed and I still hurt real bad the pain is unbareable. Wish I never would have had it now.

Hi i got rotator cuff repair 7 weeks ago. I was in a sling for a month night and day to immobilise shoulder. Getting on fine with the exercises and go to physio once a week where she gives me ulttasound on the shoulder to reduce the inflammation no problem at the time but later that day and next day my shoulder very sore. Why is this? As sore as what it was before i got op. Can anbody give me any advice.