Author Topic: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises  (Read 34798 times)

johnysmoke

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #45 on: March 11, 2017, 05:16:02 AM »
D'oh, that doesn't sound like fun. Maybe get one more looksie before letting them cut you? Whatever happens good luck with the shoulder!
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Night Wing

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #46 on: March 11, 2017, 06:27:34 AM »
@johnysmoke

A second look isn't going to change things. The MRI clearly shows a one centimeter tear. Since I'm a small framed guy, this is three-quarters through my rotator. I have to "baby" this arm until March 29th so it doesn't tear completely through. If it does tear completely through, then I'm going to have a really BIG problem.

The reason my surgery is scheduled at the end of the this month is because of Spring Break in my area. Some school districts have this upcoming week off for SB while other school districts have the following week off for SB. Many adults have their surgeries already scheduled for this time of the year because they can take sick leave from their work and be home with their children. My surgeon is booked solid for this time period.

I'm not in a lot of pain. Just an achy feeling in my right shoulder joint combined with my right arm feeling "weak" with a pins and needles feeling a few times a day when I've been using my arm too much. I keep my right arm in a sling to minimize me using my right arm. But I can't keep my arm in a sling all day. There are times I have to use my arm, like typing on my four computers to keep them updated and also driving.

I haven't taken any of the 30 hydrocodone tablets my surgeon prescribed for me. Right now, if the shoulder gets too achy, I just drink 3 ounces of George Dickel #8 Tennessee sour mash whiskey in a glass with 4 ice cubes. This doesn't make the shoulder feel any better, but it makes me sleepy where I can go to bed for a while, take a nap and when I awake, the shoulder joint doesn't feel as achy as before since I'm not using my arm when I've been sleeping for a few hours. I'm keeping the hydrocodone in reserve so to speak for after my surgery when I think I'm really going to need it

My orthopedic surgeon worked on my left shoulder 15 years ago and I've never had any problems with that left shoulder since that time so "I don't mind waiting my turn for him" for my right shoulder.
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johnysmoke

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #47 on: March 11, 2017, 08:25:37 AM »
Sounds like you've done your due diligence, good thing you caught it before it tore all the way through. Good luck with the surgery and recovery.
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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #48 on: March 11, 2017, 11:37:33 AM »
This is what a tear can look like.  Be careful with the rehab.  Others that have shoulder problems should probs reduce use right away.  SUP overuse can exacerbate and inflame this area very quickly.  Hopefully your surgery will go well.  At least you know your surgeon.

Know a few peeps that have recovered from this -> as well as many with knee and hip replacements.  Seems to be much more prevalent as we age.  One guy we know was told by his surgeon that he may have to re-break his knee replacement because he cannot bend his leg even 70 degrees.  He is major pissed about that.

The exercises shown in the vids are good.  Plus stretching and yoga help your range of motion.  Moderation is always good as we progress in old age.
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Quickbeam

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #49 on: March 11, 2017, 01:03:17 PM »
Moderation is always good as we progress in old age.

My wife might tell you I could learn something from this   ;)
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Eagle

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #50 on: March 11, 2017, 02:30:47 PM »
Hi QB - yeah am always telling myself to back off -> but it is very hard to do sometimes.  Seems as long as there is no pain or soreness it is ok to push the envelope a bit.  Cheers.  ;)
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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #51 on: March 11, 2017, 06:47:12 PM »
@Eagle

The smaller illustration picture you posted, that is what my tear looks like.

Since the surgery (29th of March) is on a Wednesday, I'm pretty sure my OS will have me in physical therapy two days later (Friday) since this is what I had to do when my left shoulder was operated on 15 years ago.

If this follows like it did with my left shoulder, I will ask my physical therapist if I can use my sup for "very leisurely flat water cruising" since sup surfing isn't going to happen for a long time. Of course, with a big cut on my right shoulder, until that wound heals over, I know they won't go for any type of water activity (lake or pond) because of the danger of flesh eating bacteria entering the cut.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #52 on: March 11, 2017, 07:50:36 PM »
Hi NW - Ok -> you should be fine.  When the tear pulls from the bone structure -> that involves a bit more time and rehab.

Had only some internal dissolvable sutures a few years back and kinda remember was back paddling like after just a few days or something silly like that.  Completely the wrong risk -> but was suffering from withdrawal.  Haha.  Did not fall in the ocean and everything healed up perfect.  Can barely see the 2" long incision now.  Think I put some plastic over it and taped it up tight.

But since you know what worked for you last time -> you should recover provided no infection or complications.  The PT is key to follow up on as you know.  The gent that needs his knee re-done was a bad patient according to his wife.  :o
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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #53 on: March 12, 2017, 01:32:12 AM »
@Eagle

The smaller illustration picture you posted, that is what my tear looks like.

Since the surgery (29th of March) is on a Wednesday, I'm pretty sure my OS will have me in physical therapy two days later (Friday) since this is what I had to do when my left shoulder was operated on 15 years ago.

If this follows like it did with my left shoulder, I will ask my physical therapist if I can use my sup for "very leisurely flat water cruising" since sup surfing isn't going to happen for a long time. Of course, with a big cut on my right shoulder, until that wound heals over, I know they won't go for any type of water activity (lake or pond) because of the danger of flesh eating bacteria entering the cut.
New skin liquid bandage.

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #54 on: March 12, 2017, 10:42:32 AM »
@Eagle

The smaller illustration picture you posted, that is what my tear looks like.

Since the surgery (29th of March) is on a Wednesday, I'm pretty sure my OS will have me in physical therapy two days later (Friday) since this is what I had to do when my left shoulder was operated on 15 years ago.

If this follows like it did with my left shoulder, I will ask my physical therapist if I can use my sup for "very leisurely flat water cruising" since sup surfing isn't going to happen for a long time. Of course, with a big cut on my right shoulder, until that wound heals over, I know they won't go for any type of water activity (lake or pond) because of the danger of flesh eating bacteria entering the cut.
New skin liquid bandage.

I'll ask my OS if he'll go for the new skin liquid bandage for me. But since he started his practice in 1985, he's old school so I won't be counting on getting his approval.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

PonoBill

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #55 on: March 12, 2017, 06:09:33 PM »
There are four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, and your recovery time and the stuff you can do depends on which ones you have torn and how they are repaired. I've had more than my fair share of shoulder surgeries, with injuries that go back to my motorcycle racing days, though most of the actual rotator cuff stuff stems from rollerblade hockey.

The most common tear, and most likely since you identified with the smaller picture is a supraspinatus tear, the muscle on the top of the cuff. If you've torn this in the belly, or more than halfway through anywhere, you won't be paddling for quite some time. Probably six months. At least you won't if you listen to your doc and PT and don't screw up and need surgery again soon. Lifting your blade, lifting your board onto and off your car, and pressing down on your paddle can easily tear the healing muscle back apart. Then you're back to square one.

DON'T screw this up. I've done it, I don't recommend it. Your doc won't be happy about doing it all again--and you won't be either.

Take time to heal, listen to your doc, and if your PT pushes you too hard, too early, and you feel burning pain as opposed to just tired pain, push back or get a new PT. You need to do the exercises longer than you think, and longer than your insurance will let your PT work with you. Keep doing them until you feel your strength is back to normal--that will be about a year. The basic rotator cuff exercises are a good preventative exercise--I do them once or twice a week, more than a year after my last surgery. On both sides.

And listen to your doc and his PA about wound care. You probably shouldn't get it wet for a week or more. And no, don't use liquid bandage. It has some vicious solvents in it that shouldn't be on a deep incision. 3M Tagaderm is clear, flexible, waterproof and stout. the Nexcare stuff is almost as good but it's thinner. Use a thin gauze pad under it so you can see if it's leaked. There's no way to tell whether or not liquid bandage has failed. Your first indication might be when you rush to the ER for a galloping infection. Been there, done that, nearly died. The best recco--wait. Not just for going in skanky water but for getting it wet in a shower. Remember that after you get the stitches out, that the stitch holes need to heal closed.

My most recent surgeries were arthroscopic. That's better from a wound standpoint but requires a lot more experience on the surgeon's part to get a good result. I had a great result, but my doc was one of the best in the world. I was lucky to have him, and from what I understand, lucky that he liked me and didn't pass me off to students when the surgery got long. What was supposed to be a 1.5 hour surgery turned out to be almost 4 hours. Everything was screwed. He said I was fortunate my arm didn't fall off.  I assume that was a surgeon joke, but it was a mess.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2017, 06:36:32 PM by PonoBill »
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johnysmoke

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #56 on: March 12, 2017, 06:41:07 PM »
Dang it pb, now you're making me think I need to drag my sorry ass to the real doctor.
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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #57 on: March 12, 2017, 07:37:41 PM »
This is what a liquid bandage brand says ->

Do not use
Over sutures


My incision had nothing to do with the shoulder or rotator cuff area.  But think that it would be advisable not to SUP for a while.  Paddling etc will really stress those sutures and possibly cause delays in proper healing. Think was told not to get my wound wet for 10-14 days or something like that.  So would def check with your doc and PT first. ;)
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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #58 on: March 12, 2017, 07:45:12 PM »
Liquid bandage isn't a thing that a surgeon is going to use. It's just a minor first aid measure, and I wasn't suggesting that you'd use it in the early stages of recovery from surgery. The product clearly states to not use it on deep wounds - and it damn well hurts if you do. What I was suggesting was that you can apply it over a wound that has largely healed in order to protect the scab and provide some waterproofing. You could also use the expensive waterproof dressings like Compeed do. I use both, just to be safe, and they have allowed me to get back in the water a little earlier than I would otherwise. But of course there is a risk for doing anything, so that has to be your call. Moreover, I live in a cool climate and we don't have many bugs here. Visting hotter climates, I was amazed in places like Hawaii and Bali at how quickly broken skin became infected, so I tend to now apply liquid bandage liberally to anything even resembling a break in the skin every time I go out, if I go to tropical climates and it seems to have worked well. But if I'd just had surgery I'd just do exactly what the docs told me to do, and no more or less. Very few patients actually do what they are told to do, and so end up enduring much more misery than they would otherwise.

You guys in the US are much more likely to get surgery for these kinds of injuries. Interesting.

PonoBill

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Re: Dealing with Shoulder injury and rotator cuff exercises
« Reply #59 on: March 12, 2017, 08:21:25 PM »
Okay, that's better A10. And yes, we do. I've talked to euro guys that are soldiering through what are clearly major supraspinatus tears without surgery.

They will never be the same.

Period, end of story. If they have ZERO strength laterally, and they don't have surgery, they will never have lateral strength.

t's a small muscle. Once you tear it, the wound gapes. It won't heal across it no matter how many acupuncture needles you stick in, or how much PT or platelet therapy you do. It's like fixing a broken bridge by repaving the road. Not gonna work. This is known (game of thrones reference). It has to be sewn together, and that has to happen before the edges turn to leather.

My last surgery was severed. retracted, and turned into a ball of fat and calcium supraspinatus, belly tear subscapularis, belly tear infraspinatus, severed long biceps tendon, and a joint full of calcium spurs. I've seen the before and after MRIs. I now have a shoulder. the supraspinatus will never be strong--too far gone. But everything else is aces. My weak shoulder is now my strong shoulder.

It's the difference between good and great.

In the meantime, the rest of me is coming apart like a cheap suit. But that's what 70 is all about when you beat the shit out of your body for 40 years.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2017, 08:28:31 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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