shoulder surgery

[Eric Krewson]

I at day 11 after my surgery. I have 6 hours of rehab a day, 4 hours on a passive motion machine and 2 hours of the normal rope pulling stretching and isometric exercises. I am gaining some movement but the pain is still prevalent.

My biggest problem is sleep. I have to sleep on my back because of the sling, something I have never done well because of a broken back from a treestand fall years ago. I have tried recliners, soft couches and every kind of pillow configurations to get comfortable, nothing works.

I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet as far as recovery goes but things are getting marginally better.

[achigan]

The "light" gets closer some days, some days falls back. I had enough work done to limit me to three 10 minute sessios a day for now. 2 tendon re-attachments ad a partial re-attach. I was side sleeper too Eric, now i'm sitting up on the end of a couch padded all around by pillows, feeling like a rickshaw driver in an opium den most of the time.

[Russ Clagett]

It all really depends on you...I had my right shoulder done in May of 12, and was hunting elk in sept with my 59 pound longbow.

It all worked out really well for me and I admit that...the PT was the key and the willingness to go thru some "discomfort" to make it right again.

But it all worked and now I have the shoulder of a 30 year old (and I'm not 30 anymore)

One thing I can most highly recommend is the nerve block....the first few days after the surgery is pretty painful...but with the nerve block you'll miss most of that.

Good luck! And let us know how it's going for you.

[Wallydog]

I too have had both RC's done plus a bicep tear on left side. It takes time and there is no rushing it as it has to get a good start to make it stronger in the end. The nerve block is the way to go IMO. You will shoot again if you will give it time and PT like a religious zealot!

[LKH]

Had 4 shoulder surgeries. First thing when I go to the gym is perform 3 sets of all 6 of the shoulder exercises.  I can feel some issues but the regular exercise keeps everything okay.  Once you are better, don't stop the shoulder therapy exercises.

The best thing you get out of therapy is learning what you should have been doing your whole life.

[achigan]

just had my 1st follow-up. i'm posting mainly to show the wide gap in the amount of damage one can have and the different approaches to treatment. the surgeon said the bicep tendon was completely separated, but i was saved because it hung up on the rotator cuff, preventing complete retraction. had that happened, i'd have lost the use of that muscle. the tear in the labrum was bad he said, as in light, medium and bad. therapy consists of once daily passively(use the left arm)moving the right, up 90% out 45% down 35%, repeat 10x. arm back in sling til tomorrow. that's it for the next four weeks. most i should hope for is 90% range-of-motion recovery. sorry to bore y'all but thought it might help. pm if you want, or we can talk. jim