Dreaded shoulder surgery...
Well looks like I'm gonna have to get my shoulder worked on. It has slightly bothered me for years and stemmed from baseball. It would bother me occasionally after heavy flat bar bench days but never anything crippling. I took some time off going to the gym for a couple months. When I returned I was warming up with 25# dumbells and around the 20th rep or so I could feel it tightening up. I continued on for another set then the pain set in so I stopped and went home to see how it would feel in the am. Well it didn't take that long, my shoulder was killing me by midnight couldn't sleep. Only thing I can think of is during my time off from the gym I would play catch with a football for 10-15 min a day. Just curious if any of you guys have had rotator cuff surgery? If so how long did it take you to fully recover? Any advice or tips on rehab would be appreciated.
- Bookmark
- 0
- 0
Describe the tear: full or partial and size. Either way, a partial or full tearcwill require some significant recovery time for the initial tendon healing.
If you are having r/c repair, you wont be 90% in 6 weeks. You will be in sling 4-6 weeks depending on tear grade, ur age, and ur doc(most likely 4), and then u can start rom movements. At 12 weeks u are allowed to start using weights. At 16 weeks you can start pushing it. I had surgery for full thickness r/c tear about 2cm in size in November. I didnt start full workout until 12weeks post op and that was very light. Follow the dr's guidelines and dont rush things, if you retear your chance for successful recovery drops significantly. It takes a full year for that tendon to fully heal down to the bone; however, i am at 7months post op and it feels great. I felt unrestricted at about 6 months so maybe I was 80-90% then, although i am still not at full strength on some exercises. I did cardio and legs during initial recovery . The surgery wasnt bad at all. I had it on a friday and did light treadmill walking by the following wed. Then started legs. Unfortunately, time is the main factor in healing that repair
I more than likely misunderstood his time frame of recovery being I got it second hand from the Mrs. I hate going to the dr my wife pretty much goes and interprets. I hate the hassle and questions and 9 times out of 10 I start tuning out over frustration.I have not spoke to my doctor since the mri. My wife gave me the news about 10min before this post that it was a partial tear. I am going to see him in a couple weeks when I get back in town. Thank you for all the info man! Well this is gonna be a long road! Did you take any gh to help with the healing? Again thank you for the input!
I ran gh--several different popular brands at 4iu/day for almost 9 months before and after surgery. Didnt notice any difference in healing--i fell right in the typical range. Not worth it imo. A partial tear isn't bad; a lot of times they wont even operate unless it is causing pain. My tear started out as a partial around 6 years ago--my ortho told me the recovery is the same as a full tear so I he didnt recommend surgery since it didnt cause much pain or discomfort. However, I've since read that it is a lot quicker recovery with partial tear. You still have to allow the tendon to heal down to the bone, but I believe you can move quicker through the rehab after that initial 6 week healing period. Either way, just follow the doctors order snd you will be as good as new in no time. Good luck with your surgery and recovery
Thank you and thanks for all the info my man!
most likely, you are not working within your proper ROM for the bench moves, even with light/warming up weight. You also, very likely, dont stabilise the upper thoracic when benching. (I've never seen anyone do both correctly in the gym ever, except myself now and Ive only learned recently for the same reasons you are experiencing - however I tore and popped 3 rotator area on shoulder
you need to firstly rest the shoulder, and recover, then when ready learn your correct ROM (Ben pakulski has a good video on this, uses a barbell standing up to demo, im sure you can find it on his youtube channel), you need to learn how to stabilise the upper thoracic when benching, which is actually quite difficult to do properly... you also need to build the opposing side of the shoulders and chest with the same dedication you do to the chest. You should also warm the upper thoracic/rear delts prior to chest/shoulder pressing movements.
Sounds like a lot but its really not. Its a game changer and will work, but whatever you do, dont fall into the nsaid's trap/ Do this right and you will lift heavier than ever with perfect form.
Good info man thank you. Whenever I rehab from surgery I will for sure put this to use. Thank a bunch man.
I don't know yet but I might have the same injury i wish you the best
I had an MRI done dr called the wife with results and I'm definitely gonna have to have surgery. He said rehab would be 6 weeks for me to be at 90%. Idk how he is gauging 90% so I guess I will see. Good luck to you my man!
Just take the rehab really serious as silly as it is it really means a lot.
When I was doing my rehab for a ruptured bicep they had me doing the exercises you see seniors doing with the trainors but it really did make a difference in my recovery