Aloha all,
I had a little over a year of paddling under my paddle and then detached my supraspinatus this last March. An old injury finally gave 'way. I'm now 6 weeks post-op and miss paddling terribly. The surgeon said a 6-9 month recovery :( and should be starting PT soon.
Anyone else here been through rotator cuff repair and the recovery afterward? Any insights to getting back to "normal" would be greatly appreciated.
Mahalo!
Submitted by Swell Paddler on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 9:57am
Get a really good PT who has worked with and been trusted with the care of high level athletes (volleyball, baseball, swimming esp) and understands the paddling stroke...and work hard on PT. You will have to keep up your "rehab" as long as you want to keep your shoulder healthy.
The "shotgun" approach is always good, nutritionals (fish oil, ginger, tumeric extract, glucosamine) and A.R.T. massage for scar tissue and you want to look below the shoulder for issues in the scapula and thorasic spine/joint mobility issues that may contribute.
#1 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 10:44am
Aloha Swell Paddler, I had a torn rotator, surgery in May and by the end of Sept. I was back to paddling hard and racing the winterseries here in SoCal in November.
From day 1 they did have me on a passive movement machine so by the time I started PT (3x a week) I had full range of motion even though I had very little strength.
This was 4 years ago. So good luck, stick with PT and working out and even if you can only paddle for 10 min when you start, it won't take long before you are back to normal.
#2 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 3:19pm
Swellpaddler, I had rotator cuff surgery in December.
I didn't move it for a month or so I hope you're doing the same.
The PT work was key! Get those gelpacks for the freezer from the PT.
I didn't start paddling until March & it was non competitive.
Then in April I started going a tiny bit more consistently& I've been lucky to do the regatta season so far.
Ipaddled a little bit before they told me I could , but PTs were blown away @ the great results.
Bottom line: be diligent with the homework that the PT gives, (expect pain, use those gelpacs, even while you're sleeping)
give it time, don't rush it
Later on ( 4 months) paddling was a great part of the recovery
with the icepacks for like 2-3 weeks. expect pain,oh, I already said that, The styrofoam cylinder roll really helped the lats,smoothed out the speedbumps,buy one of those from the PT too. Throw away the pain pills and get on with it-Aloha
#3 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 4:18pm
I tell you, sleeping is the WORST right now. I can't stand being in the sling at night. I've been backing off the meds, slowly now after I tried too fast and had some withdrawals :) I've started acupuncture treatments about a week ago and it seems to be helping a bit. I can be out of the sling at home and work (I'm a desk jockey) as per the doc's instructions. I've been letting it "swing" while I'm out of the sling but never going out of the range the doc told me to stay within.
My 2nd post-op followup is Monday and I'm looking forward finding out when I'm going to start PT work.
Shawn Michael: "fish oil, ginger, tumeric extract and A.R.T. massage"? Do tell more!!
OC-girl: Hard paddling at 5 months post-op???!!! Was it a partial tear? So you're got back to where you were before surgery?
Chafeking: "The styrofoam cylinder roll really helped the lats,smoothed out the speedbumps"?
#4 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:58pm
S.P, yes, partial tear, clean the normal acromium process, plus bonespurs one of which was rubbing on my bicep tendon. I was lucky in that I didn't have to work when I was off. I could focus on getting better Plus I had a really good doc who has done tousands of these (Kerlan Jobe sports doc).
But I did do 1/2 a vicoden @ night since sleep is when you heal/recover.
Good luck, I also hear Bromelain is good in post op healing..
Plus arnica.
You'll be back in the canoe soon and I felt more efficient after since I had time to work on the technique while recovering..I am faster now but that might just be natural progression ~ more years in the boat. (plus different boat) : )
#5 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 6:31pm
The suppliments are all natural anti-inflammatory and they are good for your whole body. Lots of research, no act of faith, but you have to have an effective dose. I like Carlsons fish oil (the lemon liquid actually tastes good, 2 tablespoons a day or the ResQ product is good if you want gel caps. The tumeric extract is Curcumin c3 complex. Wobenzyme is also good post op. A.R.T. is active release technique massage. The will release the adhesions/scar tissue. When friends of mine are skeptical I say if they are not amazed I will pay, it is that good. Put it into google and you will enter your zip to find a practitioners if you need it or have any range of motion problems down the road...this will be in several months.
Cant tell you how many people get in trouble with pain meds and end up with a destructive addiction, esp norco, vicodin, percocet, oxycodone, be careful. A high dose of motrin is just as effective, ask your doc about this and about dosing.
#6 Fri, 07/04/2008 - 9:56pm
Wow awsome sharing folks. Appreciate the gems of wisdom.
It is this kind of sharing that makes this a great forum for paddlers.
#7 Sat, 07/05/2008 - 2:42am
oc-girl: Thanks for clarifying. Very encouraging.
Shawn Michael: Thanks for the insights on natural suppliments and A.R.T. I'll look further into these. The Percocet was good right after surgery but I don't like taking drugs unless I really need to. Thus my effort to back off from it. I'm only taking a minimum at night now.
ocpaddler: I was feeling bummed so that's why I posted. Even though this is cyberspace there IS a strong sense of community and "aloha" here! :)
My supraspinatus was a full tear requiring two suture achors to reattach to the bone. I'm hoping it heals well enough to get back to normal activity and not worry about tearing it again. I know that staying in shape and not doing anything "stupid" should keep me away from seeing the knife again.
#8 Sat, 07/05/2008 - 3:48am
This has been an interesting thread for me. I had an arthro clean up of my aging rt shoulder-bone spurs and etc - at the beginning of Jan. Surgery and pt went well and I was back to paddling by the beginning of May-my season was really pretty much over, so I was really easing into it, but I figured I'd maybe be ready for some of the latter races. Just before Memorial Day I was throwing the ball for my dog and had a really sharp pain -shoot- not even a big throw. Anyway the next day I couldn't even lift my arm to the steering wheel to drive. In the next couple of weeks it improved to where it sort of worked but something was definitely wrong-no paddling for sure! Another MRI showed what appeared to the radiologist to be tears to the infra and supra (spinatus) tendons. Now two ortho surgeons both agree that they don't think tears but possibly some nerve damage and some damage to the labrum. Had an EMG last week which showed some problem. See surgeon #1 tomorrow . Be interesting to see what he has to say!
So thanks for the thoughts on recovery- I will definitely look into ART massage- I should have plenty of scar material by the time I"m done!
And yeah, Swell Paddler , I too am feeling bummed but this forum and knowing there are others out there does help! I'm 64, my healing time is slower and I feel the clock ticking. Really bummed!
Anyway take on your time with -recovery and don't rush it- I'm not sure if that's what I did. Whatever you do you don't want to go back to square 1 or worse!!
#9 Sun, 07/06/2008 - 6:07pm
Woo Hoo! My surgeon has given the green light for PT!!!!!! And no more f-ing arm sling :)
I know it's going to be a painful road but at least I'll be doing something toward my recovery.
olsurfdog:
I simply took a backward stroke in a pool that finally snapped my r-cuff. Immediate pain and I couldn't lift my arm from my side. I knew my paddling season was over.
I waited a week to see if by chance it would start getting better but it didn't. A circus of schedule conflicts with doctor visits and the MRI review took 8 painful weeks before I had surgery.
I hope the best for your prognosis and treatment. Get fixed and keep going!
#10 Mon, 07/07/2008 - 8:54am