topic Re: Rotator Cuff Injury in Wellness

Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:34:51 GMT

Hi there, I'm hoping someone might have some practical experience and advice for me.

On June 21 I suffered a rotator cuff injury to my right arm. I'm right handed. I don't know how that works, but there is pain in several areas, including the muscle area of my upper arm and the top of my spine.

It's not as bad as it started out but it sure hurts. I think "Impingement" is what the specialist said.

I have opioids to take and they can help a lot, but I restrict them to as little as possible.

Laying down to sleep is nearly impossible.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

ciao_bella — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:31:55 GMT

About 5 years ago, I had a rotator cuff/impingement injury. I was also given pain medication which helped, but like you, I also restricted them as much as possible. The orthopedist also sent me for physical therapy which did help. To this day, I 'baby' that shoulder and closely watch so that I don't aggravate it by doing something I shouldn't.

Perhaps a call to the doctor and ask him to prescribe PT. I hope your injury has a quick recovery.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Mj12 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:41:12 GMT

Hi @Noel 7 - I am so sorry you hurt yourself. My husband has had many rotator cuff injuries, bicep tears, etc. He refused pain meds, so his orthopedist gave series of injections (didn't work), sent for many many weeks of grueling PT (didn't work), so in the end he had consecutive shoulder surgeries. I wish I had some helpful advice for you. Is your orthopedist going to try injections?

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

tedEbear — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:42:32 GMT

@Noel7-------So sorry about your injury. Did Dr tell you to ice it, massage it? June must be a lousy month for rotator injuries, DH took a spill on the 16th of June. He weighs in about 270 and caught bike wheel in driveway and rocky side yard. He has tried all the WONDER rubs, australian dream, Blue-EMU, ZIM'S maxi-freeze. Nothing, just massaging. Ice for 20, off for 20, ice again. Like most men, no doctor, did have an x-ray.

I hope the both of you feel better sooner, rather than later. It will take time.---------ted

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:46:35 GMT

@ciao_bella wrote:
About 5 years ago, I had a rotator cuff/impingement injury. I was also given pain medication which helped, but like you, I also restricted them as much as possible. The orthopedist also sent me for physical therapy which did help. To this day, I 'baby' that shoulder and closely watch so that I don't aggravate it by doing something I shouldn't.

Perhaps a call to the doctor and ask him to prescribe PT. I hope your injury has a quick recovery.

*************************************

Thank you @ciao_bella ! I was wondering if I'd have to baby that arm from now on. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

I just saw the specialist the day before yesterday and was given a lot of PT exercises which came in email this morning. Then I go in for a check to see how far I've come.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:50:08 GMT

@Mj12 wrote:
@Hi @Noel 7 - I am so sorry you hurt yourself. My husband has had many rotator cuff injuries, bicep tears, etc. He refused pain meds, so his orthopedist gave series of injections (didn't work), sent for many many weeks of grueling PT (didn't work), so in the end he had consecutive shoulder surgeries. I wish I had some helpful advice for you. Is your orthopedist going to try injections?

*****************************

Hi MJ!

Wow, your DH has really suffered, I hope he finally healed. I was also offered the injection but was told I might want to start with a more conservative treatment, meaning the exercises.

The problem is I just got out of the hospital not long ago and have to be careful of ANY exercise. SMH

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

riley1 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:50:10 GMT

@Noel7 - I feel your pain - I had this surgery in 2009. I was unable to take any pain meds at they all made me sick (they tried several). My Dr. recommended 2 motrin & 1 tylenol.

Are you going for therapy? That is hard, but a must in order to have full use of your arm. Make sure you do your excercises faithfully every day - not to overdo it.

Dress attire - Since I'm right-handed, I gave up on pants with buttons/zippers. I went to yoga type pants and pullover tops.

Sleep - the elusive night of sleep. I slept in the corner of the couch propped with a pillow - that's where I stayed for a couple of months.

If you need anything else, give a yell. Feel better!

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

riley1 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:51:30 GMT

I meants to add, this is the worst one to recover from. And it takes quite some time to recover fully. Take it slow.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

SoX — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:51:30 GMT

I've had it ... twice ... received steroid shots and physical therapy; couldn't sleep on my right side like you.

Second time around it was my left shoulder ... orthopod said it was just the act of turning over in bed that may have caused it.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:51:54 GMT

@tedEbear wrote:
@Noel7-------So sorry about your injury. Did Dr tell you to ice it, massage it? June must be a lousy month for rotator injuries, DH took a spill on the 16th of June. He weighs in about 270 and caught bike wheel in driveway and rocky side yard. He has tried all the WONDER rubs, australian dream, Blue-EMU, ZIM'S maxi-freeze. Nothing, just massaging. Ice for 20, off for 20, ice again. Like most men, no doctor, did have an x-ray.
I hope the both of you feel better sooner, rather than later. It will take time.---------ted

********************************************

@tedEbear

Oh, no! So sorry it's your DH, also.

Is he able to sleep OK?

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:58:00 GMT

@riley1 wrote:
@Noel7 - I feel your pain - I had this surgery in 2009. I was unable to take any pain meds at they all made me sick (they tried several). My Dr. recommended 2 motrin & 1 tylenol.

Are you going for therapy? That is hard, but a must in order to have full use of your arm. Make sure you do your excercises faithfully every day - not to overdo it.

Dress attire - Since I'm right-handed, I gave up on pants with buttons/zippers. I went to yoga type pants and pullover tops.

Sleep - the elusive night of sleep. I slept in the corner of the couch propped with a pillow - that's where I stayed for a couple of months.

If you need anything else, give a yell. Feel better!

*******************************

@riley1

THANK YOU! I am so glad someone else is familiar with the sleep problem, although I wish you'd never had to go through it.

I gave up on sleeping in the bed, it was just too painful. I've been sleeping in the recliner, which is kind of big so I stuff pillows around the sides of the seat, with one big down pillow up the side to rest my face on.

I can pull off about 5 hours of that using a sleeping pill once in awhile and the pain killer just before setting up. I get up early with DH and have cereal then I'm back in the recliner for a nap, lol.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:59:14 GMT

@riley1 wrote:
I meants to add, this is the worst one to recover from. And it takes quite some time to recover fully. Take it slow.

*********************************

@riley1

Thanks for letting me know, I don't want any false hope this will be over soon

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

Noel7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:02:00 GMT

@SoX wrote:
I've had it ... twice ... received steroid shots and physical therapy; couldn't sleep on my right side like you.

Second time around it was my left shoulder ... orthopod said it was just the act of turning over in bed that may have caused it.

*******************************

Hi @SoX

Wow, that isn't fair! Twice

I hope it doesn't give you any trouble now.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

SoX — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:02:05 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
@riley1 wrote:
@Noel7 - I feel your pain - I had this surgery in 2009. I was unable to take any pain meds at they all made me sick (they tried several). My Dr. recommended 2 motrin & 1 tylenol.

Are you going for therapy? That is hard, but a must in order to have full use of your arm. Make sure you do your excercises faithfully every day - not to overdo it.

Dress attire - Since I'm right-handed, I gave up on pants with buttons/zippers. I went to yoga type pants and pullover tops.

Sleep - the elusive night of sleep. I slept in the corner of the couch propped with a pillow - that's where I stayed for a couple of months.

If you need anything else, give a yell. Feel better!
*******************************

@riley1

THANK YOU! I am so glad someone else is familiar with the sleep problem, although I wish you'd never had to go through it.

I gave up on sleeping in the bed, it was just too painful. I've been sleeping in the recliner, which is kind of big so I stuff pillows around the sides of the seat, with one big down pillow up the side to rest my face on.

I can pull off about 5 hours of that using a sleeping pill once in awhile and the pain killer just before setting up. I get up early with DH and have cereal then I'm back in the recliner for a nap, lol.

@Noel7 @riley1 ...

Let's not forget how difficult it is to shower and use the bathroom ... just awful

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

chickenbutt — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:04:52 GMT

Hi Noel! I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. The pain can be excruciating.

I had both rotator cuffs torn, decades ago, as a result of a car accident. Back then, they used to shoot you up with steroids and that gave x-amount of time (can't remember how long at this point, but I went in several times over a period for these shots) of relief, BUT (and it's a very big but!), after a while this ceased to work. At least they did know to load the shot with some Kenalog, so the actual injection didn't hurt much and it was pretty easy until the Kenalog wore off (ouch!).

I don't know if they still do that, as it's been so long, but I would imagine that it's not really a viable/practical way to go. I'm sure they have better choices these days.

Meanwhile, I just try to be super careful. Since it's been so long, I'm so used to it that it is seldom problematic.

Anyway, I know I'm no help, but figured maybe it helps for those of us who can commiserate and wish you well.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

SoX — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:03:52 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
@SoX wrote:
I've had it ... twice ... received steroid shots and physical therapy; couldn't sleep on my right side like you.

Second time around it was my left shoulder ... orthopod said it was just the act of turning over in bed that may have caused it.
*******************************

Hi @SoX

Wow, that isn't fair! Twice

I hope it doesn't give you any trouble now.

@Noel7 ...

Sadly, it does ... my left shoulder will probably never be the way it was before the injury.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

RedTop — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:38:15 GMT

One of my best friends and a BIL have dealt with this exact health issue in the last year, and their treatment was exactly the same. Both took months of PT, 3x a week. When that didn't achieve the desired goal, they had same day surgery. PT started again after the 2nd week of healing for another 3 months. My friend had a successful outcome after her surgery and PT. My BIL still has problems, and has been told he will need a second surgery, followed by more PT.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

DoneTryin — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:54:39 GMT

@Noel7. I don't have any personal experience with that type injury. Just wanted to wish you well.

One of my sisters injured hers in an on the job injury in 2014 & wound up having the surgery followed by months of PT. Before her surgery, she went shopping for a recliner for the specific purpose of sleeping in it post-op until she could sleep in bed again. At least a few hours a night, with some napping during the day, was helpful.

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

riley1 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 22:04:37 GMT

@Noel7 - Have you had surgery for this or just PT? Sadly shots and/or PT first wasn't an option for me. I had same day surgery. They did put a "block" which numbed me from the shoulder down my arm - only problem, it wore off about midnight - OUCH!!

Re: Rotator Cuff Injury

violann — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 22:30:52 GMT

I had a partial tear several years ago, amd the pain was incredible.

I was headed for surgery, and since it was to be a period of time before the surgeon could schedule it, I was recommended for a 6 week trial of PT.

The therapy consisted of a lot of strength and flexibility training and the last thing in my session, the therapist would stretch my shoulder as far as I could stand it.

The stretching was horrible but I tried to put up with it as much as I could.

At the end of the 6 or 8 weeks (I forget), my shoulder was pain free, and it's never bothered me again.

Whenever I hear about anyone with shoulder problems I mention the value of PT. Maybe, with your doctor's input, it could work for you.