Shoulder surgery outcome.. Not Good!

[Iced696]

Let me apologize right up front for the long read people, but you'll understand why in a moment..

I had shoulder surgery several months ago and after waking up the surgeon answered a few questions and then was on his way to another patient. Before leaving he told me he was able to remove the more than 1/2 inch long bone spur (which he stated was the biggest he'd seen in 30 years of surgery) but my rotator could not be repaired because the damage to the supraspinatus was not repairable. So what does this mean? Well I found out today...Finally! I asked him some specific questions going in because up until today he wasn't very helpful. I found that the supraspinatus wasn't just unrepairable, it was gone. Meaning, when it tore, it tore completely and because the VA takes some time in getting to things it could not be stretched back out and re-attached. Now this seems odd because other than the usual soreness associated with the surgery, I feel pretty damn good. And having already started working back into a light routine I don't feel any difference in my range of motion and my shoulder seems to be coming back just fine. I asked him if this sounded right to him and he said that other than certain movements I may not see much in the way of a weakening in the shoulder and my deltoid muscles will eventually pick up the slack and stabilize the joint just fine. Now I'm not saying I will ever bench heavy again. Hell, I'm not young anymore so who cares. But, I'd like to get back somewhere close to where I was and just maintain it.

Any thoughts people?

[Iced696]

A/C, any thoughts?

[hrdgain81]

I had a serious shoulder injury myself, although I did not have surgery as I opted not to due to the unasured outcome. I will say its been a long road back to being 100% and I'm still not there yet. Its been over a year and my strength is not back to what it was pre-injury. My advice would be to get a second opinion, and take it very very slow in your return to the weight room.

[Iced696]

I have been. So much so that I started with just bands. I'm going really slow but knowing that a part of the rotator is now gone is kind of strange and since I just found out a couple hours ago I wanted to get a few thoughts on what people thought. Thanks for your input. It's always appreciated.

[Ross86]

Have you been going to a good PT?

[Iced696]

I was going to a PT assigned by the VA. Not a great PT mind you but a PT none the less. I received a list of specific things to do from her along with three different bands. I used them exclusively for the first couple months before picking up anything iron. Then I started very lite with 2 lb. dumbells going through the same movements that were outlined in the directions. The pain was absolutely brutal for the first few weeks after the surgery. So much so that I slept in a massage recliner for over two weeks and still can't sleep on this shoulder comfortably over 3 1/2 months later. I have had a knee surgery and two hernia surgeries and all three put together can't compare to it. But I did the things that were outlined and iced it regularly and still do now. I think my main concern is the fact that although there is still pain, he claims that this is normal and it will ease with time. He recommended continuing with everything I am doing now. But the fact that the rotator is now pretty much gone is a major concern to me and his saying my delts will take care of what I lost with the rotator damage just seems overly optomistic to me. But then I'm not the doctor and I guess that is why I am posting this here.

[Ross86]

the rotator is now pretty much gone is a major concern to me and his saying my delts will take care of what I lost with the rotator damage

This dude is definitely not a shoulder specialist. Good luck.... (with another specialist )

[Iced696]

I don't have much of a choice. The VA hires them contracted out and I pretty much get what I get. I have found another surgeon outside of the VA. I just need to try and get my files and get to him. It's going to cost me a shit load of $$ even with insurance as I am responsible for 20% of it and MRI's run a lot but I just don't feel comfortable with what I've been told so far.

[ricks]

Iced696 are you retired military? If so take a look at Tricare Prime.

I'm retired Navy and use it as my primary insurance.

[EricT]

Originally Posted by Iced

But the fact that the rotator is now pretty much gone is a major concern to me and his saying my delts will take care of what I lost with the rotator damage just seems overly optomistic to me. But then I'm not the doctor and I guess that is why I am posting this here.

Follow your instincts. Just to address the re-hab portion of it since obviously none of us here can say much about surgery. Hopefully a second surgical opinion will produce better news.

But the kind of pain your are experiencing in the re-hab is not "normal". Discomfort? Sure. Muscle soreness? Sure. But major pain...hell, no. If it hurts that bad then you don't do it...you are simply producing more injury. Maybe some impingement.

It's ironic about the whole "delt" thing. It's the big old internal rotators and the delts getting all the action and the little rotators getting trashed because of it that causes these kinds of problems. The supraspinatus is the most oft injured rotator. It's a little bit funny to think that the delts are going to take care of an issue. If that were the case you never would have noticed a problem, logically.

I think you can overcome, to some extent, the missing muscle. But it doesn't sound at all like you have been prescribed the right things. I'd ditch it, and immediately. Focus on movement without pain for now until you can get better guidance. The KEY, imho, will be to focus on what you CAN do not on what you can't. It may be that overhead lifting and flat bench pressing is never in the cards, I don't know. But I feel pretty sure that if you had the right PT you wouldn't be near as discouraged. Good luck, Iced.

"Strengthen you delts" is a very common arm-chair therapy kinda thing for shoulder injuries. It's sort of like if you say you've injured you back, the most common two responses will simply be "strengthen it" or "stretch it". When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I understand the the pain has decreased but that there is still some. I wouldn't take less pain as a guarantee of good long-term outcome given the very simplistic reasons you've been given. Not all adaptation is good adaptation. Usually the aim is re-hab is a slow return to performance...usable range of motion, etc. Not "lack of or decrease in pain".