Wellness

[sophiamarie]

Has anyone ever had a rotator cuff tear and if so, what is the treatment.  I am having a back and forth with someone on another BB, who says that surgery is the last thing she would do.  I don't know why she would say that because my neighbor just had the surgery and he is back to normal now.

She says she would do anything else but never have surgery.  I would like to hear from others who have had this problem.

[Big Sister]

Hello, @sophiamarie, it has been 14 years since I fell and injured my rotator cuff.   The pain was horrible and I wound up in an arm sling.  I consulted with two drs. after the x-rays were done. One dr. said it was torn and one said it was not, so I chose not to have surgery but to wait it out so it could heal on its own.  It was several months before I felt well in that arm.

I found that sleeping with my arm above my head was the most comfortable for me.

I did have PT after the worst pain was gone.

Today, my arm/shoulder are no problem at all.

[sophiamarie]

@Big Sister  Thanks so much for the info.  I am going to pass it along.  I know she had an MRI, so I guess that would show the degree of the tear, right?

[Big Sister]

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@sophiamarie wrote:

@Big Sister  Thanks so much for the info.  I am going to pass it along.  I know she had an MRI, so I guess that would show the degree of the tear, right?

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Yes, you are right.  I probably had an MRI also, but don't recall for sure.  I remember taking some films to each dr. for him to look at.

If she knows and trusts her dr., I suggest she rely on him for treatment.  Also, she may want to get a second opinion.

[shoppersince1989]

My husband had that surgery about 10 years ago.

He knew right away when he tore it.

He's still fine today.

But that 1st night was very rough, he pain meds wore off in the middle of the night.  Most pain he has ever had.

It's very uncomfortable sleeping for awhile.

Did his therapy.

He's glad he had the surgery, thou I don't think he had any choice.

Jean

[shoppersince1989]

One more thing,  without the surgery, he couldn't raise his arm past his shoulder.

Jean

[Nomorebirthdays]

@sophiamarie. Yes I had it done about 12 years ago. I was sent home the same day. It was very, very painful for 2-3 days, you must go to PT. And do exercise they teach you for a few months. Walking fingers up a wall, use elastic band. 

Glad I had it fixed, but it is not painless or easy. I am fine now. The only thing I notice is I can't throw a ball like before, not pain just not as strong in that arm.

BTW x-ray will not detect unless it's a huge tear and even MRI may miss it. My Dr said he was just removing bone spurs and found the tear while doing that. No big incisions, just 2 little stab wounds.

[DrKelli]

They say shoulder surgery is the worst orthopedic surgery you can have because you are immobilized for 6 weeks and basically lose all strength in that shoulder.

I had a labrum tear (the tendon that goes 'under' the ball joint in the shoulder--rotator goes over the same joint.  Like the others say, it is extremely painful, but I had almost completely torn the labrum off the bone so it was necessary.  I ended up with "frozen shoulder" and had to have a second procedure to force the scar tissue to break up because I had lost all range of motion.  PT is a must for sure and you have to do a lot of it--especially at home--to prevent scar tissue from forming.

[chickenbutt]

I had them decades ago.   A long, long time ago I would get cortisone shots but one of the more immediate problems with cortisone shots is that, after a while, they become ineffective.  So, I couldn't do it too frequently and then after a while they completely lost efficacy so I stopped.

If one does this, make sure they load the shot with Kenalog, or whatever the 21st century version is of something that numbs the hideous pain of the shots.  It wears off after a while, but makes all the difference, as these shots really are painful.

After all that, I just dealt with it and still do, by being careful.  Sure, I'm in pain with them sometimes but it's not all that bad  When I can get pain relief I use it sparingly so that it doesn't lose efficacy.  I appreciate the days I have less pain and the others are just par for the course.   That helps me with it a lot. 

[qualitygal]

I don't have a tear, but for 2 mos. now I've been dealing with a sore upper arm. My chiro has me do the walking up the wall and he works on it every week. I have pain off and on by my right back bone too. Best relief is the arm over the head, but I can't sleep on my right side anymore because of the arm. A friend of mine said, it took months for it to heal. So I'm trying to be patient. Being right handed, I still have to use it, but hubs helps lift the laundry basket for me for now. I think lifting laundry off the line in the basement and carrying it up the stairs did it. But at the age I'm at now, I guess things are just plain wearing out. 

I was afraid I had rotator cuff problems but my chiro told me what was going on. He's helping.