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| I tore my left rotator cull in fall of 2016, surgery in early Jan 2017. Listen to your dr but more importantly your therapist. I had 5 anchors put intorn bicep plus labrum repaired as it was severely torn. Therapist said it was worst torn rotator cuff she had seen. She was surprised the surgeon didn't replace the shoulder instead of repairing the rc.
I didn't start therapy until the 5th week after surgery. Therapy lasted thru mid July. Therapist said it would take a year and she was pretty much on the money. I experienced some of the worst pain I've known in therapy, more than once I fought thru the tears but I made it thru. Ill be 70 in August. I help coach my granddaughter fast pitch softball team. I can hit flyballs & groundes to them & catch balls, I'm right handed. Hurt like h**l at first but doesn't bother me. I run our sprayer & load bags of dry ams into the inductor & can lift bags of seed corn & hay. Last summer even helped by son & grandson put small squares of hay in the barn. Did have to put ice on my shoulder afterwards but I got it done.
Far as medication, stay ahead of the pain. When it comes time for a pain pill take it even if you have no pain. If you wait till the pain starts you're going to be miserable before the meds kick in. Dr gave me a pain blocker before surgery, it didn't wear off until 36 hrs later which help. I also had a cooler that pumped ice water through a pouch that fit around my shoulder that really helped. I started taking arthritis strength Tylenol as soon as possible & saved some of the stronger meds for therapy which made therapy early on more tolerable.
Again, biggest thing I can say is do what your therspist says, when they say, and only what they say. I called my therspistb"Sarge" because she was like a drill sergeant but I'm thankful she was as tough as she was. I would kid her that the "MPT" after her name on the door stood for "Master of Pain & Torture". I think enough of her that I went back to her for therapy after knee replacement and recommend her to anyone that asks, including my son who had shoulder surgery after a hockey injury..
My shoulder was in a sling for 6 weeks, 1st 4 weeks I had a "pillow" attached to the sling that fit between my upper arm & body to keep the shoulder at the correct angle while things healed. On the recommendation at night I slept with a pillow under my arm for almost a year. Without the pillow the weight of my arm would pull down on my shoulder while I slept and would have shoulder pain when I woke up. Pillow helped eliminate that pain.
Edited by boog 6/26/2021 19:30
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Rotator cuff surgery
