Thread: Shoulder Surgery - Success Stories and First Hand Experiences

yea same things as peter first major surgery. have had a relative fast recovery though i am now in that frustrating just want to get past the hump phase so i can start doing more things. just enough pain to know its a bad idea.

Originally Posted by SLSki

The only thing I'm struggling with at this point now are minor pains here and there and difficulty throwing a baseball/football. You will feel good after 5 or 6 months but I've heard it takes about 2 years for it to really feel normal.

No big loss there... Haven't been able to throw a ball overhead since I first injured my shoulder back in March, 2007.

As for my recovery from the most recent dislocation, I've been doing my rotator cuff exercises and have worked back into doing all the exercises I was doing pre-dislocation. Might even throw a leg back over the bike and ride conservatively tomorrow.

Drs appointment Tuesday. I'll post up what he has to say.

I also had suffered from shoulder impingement. It was caused by long years of shoulder abuse. Been to the doctor and had received so many prescription drugs. But they just all are short-lived. They don't guarantee long term relief. Good thing I found a solution - Simple Stretches, Range Of Motion and Strength Exercises - this gave me the answers. My shoulders now are totally okay. Maybe this is a case to case basis. Some really need to go under the knives while minor ones can still be treated without spending much on medications, doctors and even therapists.

Just got back from my first appointment with a shoulder specialist.

He did some basic shoulder strength exercises and took a few new x-rays. He said that my recurrent dislocations are being caused by a bankart lesion. On the positive note, I have not suffered much bone damage to either the scapula or humerus from the dislocations I have had.

We talked about surgery. 3 weeks of total immobility, 3 weeks of no more weight than drinking a cup of coffee and then a ton of rehab from there. He said 90+% are arthroscopic with 33% functionality in 6 months, 66% in 12 months, and around 100% in 18 months. I asked about how successful the surgeries are, he said above 90% success rate. Most shoulders are good as new condition if the recovery is taken seriously. The potential to reinjure exists just the same as any joint, but it is more resilient like a good joint.

I didn't think of it until after I had left, but there was no mention of wanting an MRI. Is this something I should be concerned about?

It seems like it's time to pull out the calender and see when the least inconvenient time to become a grown infant is.

well a good doctor should be able to get a good idea of what the injury is. my guy told me what he thought it was before the mri. and the MRI jsut confirmed what he thought. besides while a good tool arthrograms still don't give exact details its all interpretation. as far as timetable. it is semi conservative.

my timeline so far.

6 weeks immobilized with daily exercises.
3 weeks i started PT
I am now at 12 weeks and strength wise i am just about equal to my "healthy" shoulder but its still not as strong as i want it to be.
I still have pain when i push my ROM

total of 6 anchors done arthroscopically

Sounds reasonable. Every case will be different I'm sure. He strongly recommended getting it done before any further dislocations occur as that would just lead to further tearing and potential of more damage to the bones. My dedication to PT will also be a key factor.

I'm currently thinking of Mid-late July. Spend some time mountain biking before the surgery, and perhaps be back on snow middle to late winter.

Financially, what was the hit that some of you took? I have pretty solid health insurance (my wife is a school teacher, so the coverage is good), but I do have $20 co-pays on specialist visits, which PT qualifies as a specialist visit. How often were you actually attending PT visits vs. doing the exercises at home?

i actually know the numbers. my insurance is pretty sweet. it cost me 30 bucks a visit to see my ortho (saw him twice) 1 for primary exam, 1 for MRI reading. surgery cost me 100 dollars (out of 40K) 2 visits for follow up were free for 90 days post op. have another visit coming up and imagine a couple more after

as for therapy my copay is $10 a visit. you might want to see if there is a therapy specific copay. we have specialists which therapy qualifies as, but there is a special PT copay.
first couple weeks i only went 1 time per week since all i was doing was stretching and i could do that at home. since then i go twice a week. i do my stretches/exercises at home everyday.

Good insight. I will look into therapy specific. $20/PT visit would get out of control very quickly, and money is certainly tight to begin with.

How much time should I expect to miss from work?

Thanks immensely for the help! Making the process much easier.

My open bankart cost me $2500. That is the max amount out-of-pocket for me. The rest was taken care of by my insurance.

I don't know if you've gotten your surgery already or if you are still looking for insight but I had my shoulder capsule tightened posterior and anterior but no tears in the labrum repaired.

I had to be in my sling with no motion whatsoever for 6 weeks.
Spent 4 months in rehab and then had to be discharged because insurance wasn't covering it anymore. I am 11 months out of surgery and am now back in PT because I am not progressing smoothly in strength.

The surgery is necessary but not something to take lightly. Not to scare you but it is extremely painful. probably the worst pain you will feel in your life. My initial surgery recovery was 12 days. After that I wasn't really in any pain the rest of the time in my sling. Rehab is very difficult and painful but you push through it because you have to. It is extremely slow progress. Can be frustrating but you will ultimately be in a much better position than before the surgery.

As far as work goes. I am a lifeguard (also a student so the money wasn't a necessity) and I couldn't go back to work for 6 months after the surgery. But it depends on what is physically required of you at your job.

Forgot to mention, I intially went to therapy 3 times a week, then reduced to 2 times, and then eventually to 1 time a week. But I had good insurance. Also, what kind of job do you have?

had open bankart 4 weeks ago---first dislocated about 7 yrs ago while holding a sled for my kid-pushed him down the hill and my feet went out from under me and fell on my side while my arm was above my head-hurt like hell, started crying and working my way doen the hill-one kid crying because I was crying and the youngest crying bec he couldn't slide any longer--LOL-went to hospital and they put it back under- while not in any hurry though-kind of hurt as much as or more than labor--UGH

dislocated it again about a yr later while playing ice hockey-tried to get people on the ice to put it back in but to no avail-went to hospital and got morphine- and it was put back in

since then it dislocated several more times- swimming, shutting car door, puttin on jacket and just making movements that were not expected-went to dr as I knew there would be no golfing or skiing in my future if I didn't have it taken care of- was sick of having to think about every move I made for fear of a dislocation- the good news was that I would put it back in myself

had surgery 2/21/11-first 3 nights slept in reclining chair as it was the only comfortable place for me-though it was difficult and painful to get out of to use the restroom-took meds(vicodin) every 4 hrs on the dot- it helped for pain but did a number on my stomach as i didn't eat much bec I wasn't hungry

wore sling for 3 weeks religiously during day and at bedtime-really needed it to prevent me from moving it the wrong way or just letting it hang-as that hurt too-having been using ice as it helps alot with the pain

started therapy the 2nd week-made sure I took 2 vicodin before each session as it is painful-still going about 3x/wk and have noticed more movement with shoulder, but can't do those movements on my own need to use other arm to move one that had surgery-still can't wash hair with both hands or put my hair up in a ponytail- having my husband or 2 teenage boys do it for me- this is getting frustrating not to be able to do it myself- had a couple of meltdowns-getting sick of it

go back to work next monday(5 weeks PO)-reading to go back but want more mobility in my shoulder-UGH

hoping to be able to play golf this summer-it will be 3 months or so PO-

also should my shoulder still hurt, not really hurt per se, but aches alot in the morning and well as my elbow

Thanks!!

Back on November 1, 2010 my shoulder dislocated for the first time playing hockey. After playing a few more games and having my shoulder pop out every game i went into surgery on novemember 19th. i was in a sling for 4 weeks then pt at 8 weeks and did 8 weeks of it. i have always been into weight lifting and at 4 months post op i began lifting very light weight and continued this for about 6 weeks until i began moving up. at 5 and 1/2 months i went back to my surgeon and he cleared me to play contact sports. I began playing lacrosse at 6 months post op and lifting heavy weights. Its now 7 months post op and i was in boxing a friend last night and my shoulder popped out and didnt go back in. I went back to the hospital and they had to put it back in, tomorrow i go for an mri to see why my shoulder came out again after surgery, most likley im looking at a second surgery.

I am a member of the bankart club, and soon to be a 2x member. First repair was done on the right shoulder in 2002, and this one (July 20th) will be on the left. Luckily, in the ten years since I had the 1st procedure done, the technology has come along so far that they are now able to do it all arthroscopically. Still, I'm not anticipating that it will be any less painful or easier. That shit hurts like FUCK and the recovery is looong and slow. Six months is the minimum, and I know I didnt really feel fully normal for probably a solid year. That being said, the repair WORKS (or, at least, it has for me) and the shoulder is now stronger than it was the way God made it. Not looking forward to doing it all again though, I gotta say...

Where's stridergt (or whatever his name is) who has written a book about hanging for shoulder injuries?