experience with rotator cuff repairs?

[Leonard Roy]

I recently had a complete tear of the supraspinatus and a lesser tear of one of the others. I should know which one it was but I'll use the "I was sedated when he told me" excuse.

I had arthroscopic surgery to repair this and will meet with the Dr. later this week to discuss PT - but this seems like a discussion where it would be good to have partial answers already in my pocket, or at least know what the right questions to ask are.

Long term, how likely is complete recovery in terms of crossfit activity? ie, being able to jump into pull-ups, push-ups, presses, thrusters or rowing without needing to worry about the shoulder?

Does anyone have any advice on PT or recovery in general? Are there dietary supplements that may help with muscle and tendon healing?

If it matters I'm about to turn 42, moderate health, and have no history of shoulder issues prior to this. The injury was on Sept 19th and the surgery on Sept 30th.

all advice is welcomed, though "don't do that" has been said several times already.

[Everett Steinbarger]

This article from JBJS (Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery) is by J. Iannotti, M.D..
He is pretty much the definitive word in scholastics and research on the shoulder.http://www.jbjs.org/Comments/c_p_iannotti.shtml (WFS)

The basic point is that cuff repair failure for people engaged in everyday life is rather common. Add in any aggressive exercise protocol, and you only increase the odds.

Something to keep in mind is that Rotator Cuff Tears (RCT) do not occur in normal healthy tissue. RCT's occur in compromised tendons. They are an injury of attrition. A good analogy is the knee of any hard playing childs favorite pair of jeans. They wear thin fora very long time, and seem to hold up, until that one fateful day when they fail catastrophically. Your catastrophe may have taken place on a specific date, but trust me, it was more than likely building for a number of years, even if you were pain free and asymptomatic.

Back to the integrity of the tendon. Remember, the tendon was repaired, not replaced. Hopefully the surgeon was able to remove most of the really poor quality tissue and repair better quality tissue back to bone. Even if he did, that same tendon that failed is still there, and could continue to be problematic down the road.

Aside from all the doom and gloom, most patients with a repair do fairly well these days. The biggest thing you can do to ensure a good recovery, is to listen to your surgeon, and not push things. This gets tough for some people around the 10-12 week post-operatively. At that point the pain is about gone, their motion is returning, they feel fat and lazy, and they really want to go back to doing everything they did before. Just sit back down, have a nice herbal tea, and read something entertaining. You'll be way better off than if you had pushed yourself too early.

Hope this helps.

[Frank E Morel]

I am 13 days post op. 42.

here is my time line..
wfs
http://www.stoneclinic.com/rotatorcuffrehab

The doc told right to my face on three different occasions.... 6-12 months for a total return to previous activities. Sitting at PT talking to different people.. seems to a fair number.. some were sooner many longer. One dude.. just tore up his labrum... second time... benching.

just eat take your vit d and zma, and adequate protein.. other than that with physio. If you have the cash and a hyperbaric chamber , you could try that but it only really works well when you a couple dives pre surgery and one dive on first day post op.

[Leonard Roy]

thanks for the link, I will read it.

Originally Posted by Everett Steinbarger

Something to keep in mind is that Rotator Cuff Tears (RCT) do not occur in normal healthy tissue. RCT's occur in compromised tendons. They are an injury of attrition.

sorry - I should have mentioned this my original post. My tear was a result of an accident. I wrecked in a motorcycle race (guessing at 70-ish mph) and tumbled for a pretty good distance after I hit the asphalt.

I will ask the surgeon what he thought of the condition of the tendons. I think he mentioned everything looked good and healthy aside from this damage - but we had that conversation when I was still pretty darn woozy.

thanks for advice!

[Everett Steinbarger]

Originally Posted by Leonard Roy

thanks for the link, I will read it.



sorry - I should have mentioned this my original post. My tear was a result of an accident. I wrecked in a motorcycle race (guessing at 70-ish mph) and tumbled for a pretty good distance after I hit the asphalt.

That makes things different!!! Trauma is much different than an injury of attrition. Unless the surgeon tells you that you had degenerative signs, your prognosis for healing is much better!

[Steven Low]

Yep. If you're old enough and it's a wear and tear RC tear they may not even repair it.

But if it's a regular accident tear then you should heal much faster like Everett said..

It's at least an 8-12 month process so don't get impatient!

[Leonard Roy]

I just thought I'd follow up now that I'm five weeks out from surgery.

My biggest recommendation - definitely get the PT details sorted out before surgery, not after. I did not and due to some scheduling issues couldn't get into the therapists for almost 3 weeks post-surgery.

There seems to be some big differences on how early to start tackling therapy. My doctor seems to want to start around 1.5-2 weeks and is considered by the therapists to be more aggressive then normal. I also know a patient (worse injury, older, different doc+practice) who was in PT the day following surgery so my doctor certainly wouldn't be considered extreme.

I'm currently working through worse ROM issues then average - I think that the delay in getting into PT and beginning passive movements in was a big contributer to this. Hopefully I'll be able to work though this over the next month or two.

Regarding Everett's comment about getting antsy 10-12 weeks out. baloney! :-) I think almost anyone reading this board will be pacing the house within a couple days and going absolutely nuts within 3-4 weeks.

[James Zucco]

Hey Leonard, Ive had this and I dont have any problems now a year and half post op. I just started kipping pullups and exprience little to no pain in the shoulder. If you head over to the BrandX forums here http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index....ad/3621/#42239. Go Irish does a good job of explaining how to get back, its pretty extensive. How it relates to your shoulder problems I do not know but I firgure I'd post it anyways

[Everett Steinbarger]

Originally Posted by Leonard Roy

Regarding Everett's comment about getting antsy 10-12 weeks out. baloney! :-) I think almost anyone reading this board will be pacing the house within a couple days and going absolutely nuts within 3-4 weeks.

LMAO!!!!

Yeah, that's about the way it is. Being stir crazy creates quite the vacuum.

You are "Spot On" with differences in when to start therapy. Remember there is nothing wrong with going slow, just do what your surgeon and PT recommends.