I just had my rotator cuff repaired a couple weeks ago (full tear) and am wondering how others have responded to this procedure. I know everybody’s injury and recovery are different but I’m talking generalities here. I’m anxious to start training again but the doc said no running for another 4 weeks. I can’t imagine when I’m going to be able to swim again.
What have been your experiences?
Wow! Full rupture?
A man I worked with years ago had the same injury (from fencing). The arm must stay in a sling for a long time. There’s just no option there.
Join a health club if you aren’t already. The only thing you’ll be able to do is perhaps ride a spin bike in a fully upright seated position (no hands). You can probably manage to walk a stair master or do an elliptical machine with one arm in a sling.
Those activities will enable to you maintain an overall cardio fitness so that you can step back in to training more readily in the Spring.
Be very diligent with your physical therapy.
DRP - You have some work ahead of you. Rotator cuff’s take a thorough rehab process. You are probably already riding your bike on a trainer. This will come pretty quickly. Running will be a ways out. Swimming even further. It depends a lot on the injury - rotator cuff injuries vary. I would assume you tore your supraspinatus, which is most common. Rotator cuff repairs also vary. There are a few different techniques and surgeons vary as well. But the healing time doesn’t vary as much. The two tissues must grow back together and until that happens you cannot use those muscles. It’s very important to find a good person for rehab. Keep your shoulder mobile with passive range of motion, initially. I really emphasize this because if you do not, your shoulder will tighten up and you will spend weeks/months regaining your range of motion. Running will come next and swimming will take some time. It varies for different people and it’s not possible to say exactly what you should expect. But if you find a good rehab specialist, they will be able to give you a prognosis for your situation. Find a specialist and do exactly what they prescribe. Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions.
Russell Cree, DPT, CSCS
Upper Echelon Fitness
Portland, OR
Hi…I’m in the same boat…maybe a couple of weeks further along than you. Had a full thickness tear of the supraspinatus repaired arthroscopically on 11/17. My doc has me out of the sling while I’m doing quiet stuff–sitting around at home, working at the computer–but I wear it to sleep, when I’m out doing errands and stuff (but not to drive–I am cleared to drive, but am careful), and I wear the sling when I feel the shoulder needs a little more rest.
I’ve been riding on a spin bike or on the trainer at home…make sure your bike is solidly set in the trainer, of course! I have the sling on for that.
I have a 5 week checkup next week…am hoping to get clearance to water run, do elliptical, maybe kick in the pool. I was told no running for 8 weeks from surgery, and being the off-season, am fine with that, so as to let the shoulder heal well–too many friends emailed me stories about messing up their repair and having to have a 2nd surgery, so I’m fine with being conservative.
I am religious about doing the range of motion and passive/assisted motion that my PT told me to do. That’s a good 15-20 min/2x a day.
I doubt I’ll be swimming until late Feb. or March? I have a sprint tri in early April, so told my PT I would like to be able to swim 600m by then, even if it isn’t super fast.
It is what it is, but I keep thinking of having a nice strong shoulder later in the year and going forward for many years to come, so that keeps me positive!
We’re in this together…PM if you need anything!
Recovery is long and slow. I’m 11 months out (full tear).
Edit: I went back and checked my workout log and updated the timelines.
I started easy biking on the trainer after 10 days. In a sling of course. Super easy. more for my sanity.
I began walking on the treadmill at 4 weeks and super light jogging at 5 weeks. I think my doc had 2 concerns with running: a) arm swing and b) falling (either off the treadmill or on the ice).
Swimming is going to be the big question mark. I tried after about 4 months, and it was moderately painful. If it was just an issue of pain, or if I had a big “A” race, I could have worked through it. But I decided to look at the big picture, so I shut it down and decided to focus on duathlons all summer. But I hate swimming, so that wasn’t a hard decision
My doc gave me the green light after 6 months. At that pt, he said you can do anything you used to do. But just make sure you re-introduce things SLOWLY.
Oh, he also said the rotator cuff heals for about 12 months. Even though the bulk of it is done by 6 months, there is still some residual healing going on. So be reasonable with your expectations.
Good luck.
Glad you’re getting all better!!
I am so glad this was the year I am taking off from IM, otherwise I would feel more pressure to get back swimming. But I’m just going to have a fun year, and get strong and healthy, with a few races just to stay in the mix of things.
The hard part for me right now is feeling weak. I am not able to lift my arm (nor do I have permission from the doc/PT to do so) without assistance, but I know I couldn’t lift it even if they said it was ok! Very weird. We’ll see how that progresses over the next couple of months.
Thanks for the replies. I don’t think mine was as bad as some of you that have responded. I need to get more detailed info. from the doc to know exactly what he did/how bad it was.
He’s already told me to raise my arm a few times a day with the assistance of my good arm. I can also type, open light doors, drive, etc. I can’t lift much of anything. It sounds like my tear was pretty mild compared to some of your’s.
I had done a lot of PT prior to the surgery to try and avoid it but, in the end, it didn’t “fix” my shoulder and I opted to have it surgically repaired. Hopefully that work I put in at the front end will help me recover a bit sooner.
Curious how you tore it? Was this a swimming injury?
Rotator cuff tear = one of my worst nightmares.
I can’t answer your questions but I’ll send (((hugs))) and I hope you are able to get back to normal soon.
Knowing what I know, I would find the absolute BEST PT (physical therapist) for shoulders in your area. The difference between a great PT and someone has you just “work from your card” is weeks of improvement and about 20-30 degrees of range-of-motion increase. Call and ask every respected orthopod in your area and see who they rec- the same name should keep coming up. Work with that person even if it adds 15 minutes to your drive, because it will shave 20 minutes off your IM swim split.
I am a big fan of ART once everything is healed (6-8 weeks out), and I would find someone who does Kinesio Tape to keep the inflammation down and provide support where needed. Integrating all these things is tough, but it will pay off.
I used to race motocross and had a bad crash during a race in which I broke my foot, ruined my shoulder, and severely bruised my sternum and pelvis. I worked to get the shoulder back to close to normal and then had a get-off while waterskiing. That was the icing on the cake. After the waterskiing accident I had a cortisone shot and did a lot of PT. It just never got back to an acceptable level and I opted for the surgery (my first doctor sucked and mis-diagnosed it).
The shoulder injury is what actually turned me onto triathlon. I decided I was too old to do the mx thing and needed an outlet and something to strive for. Tri’s were a much safer alternative and I was already in decent shape from racing.
The transition to tri has been a lot of fun and I’m enjoying the fact that I can do it until I’m old.
It’s also been great to get turned onto sites like this where I get to laugh my ass off while getting a lot of good info.
I’m with you there…lots of range of motion exercises. I can get my arm all the way straight up, using a pulley. Working on external rotation, which is hard, but progressing. Last week I added baby bench presses…using a cane (or similar), and my non-injured arm really does almost all of the work, with the post-op arm sort of going along for the ride.
It’s all good. I just have to remind myself to let the surgical repair heal well before jumping into any strengthening, so I don’t screw it up. My PT reminded me that just because it feels better than it did a couple of weeks ago, not to get all crazy and push it too much.
Patience! don’t try to lift that arm. the repair is VERY delicate and trying to lift it too soon is a recipe for disaster.
Follow your doctor’s protocol. There’s a method to the madness. I know how frustrating it is, but I’m sure we’ll be better for it in the end.
My running certainly improved with all the extra time from not swimming
Patience! don’t try to lift that arm. the repair is VERY delicate and trying to lift it too soon is a recipe for disaster.
Follow your doctor’s protocol. There’s a method to the madness. I know how frustrating it is, but I’m sure we’ll be better for it in the end.
My running certainly improved with all the extra time from not swimming
x 2!!!
I had open shoulder surgery in late February 2008. I didn’t have a full rupture. I had a 3 1/2 hr surgery that involved basically inserting a molly bolt into the socket and stabalizing the shoulder. Included removing portions of the collar bone and acromion, removing two bone spurs (size of thumbnail), fixing two labrum tears, and repairing a full tear. Basically the shoulder was a mess! First 4 weeks was in the sling with some daily exercises given to me by the doctor. Two days after surgery, I began a walking regime and continued it for the four weeks until doctor allowed me to jog. Started physical therapy 6 weeks after surgery. Was back in the water at 9 weeks out (kickboard only). By July 2008, was able to start light easy swim…warm up pace for 300 yds. Each PT session, checked in with therapists and he OKd increasing by a specific distance. Bottomline, I was able to start training and did Ironman Arizona in November.
Patience was clearly the key. I listened to the PT. He knew what he was doing. He was one of the PTs for a major league baseball team.
Patience! don’t try to lift that arm. the repair is VERY delicate and trying to lift it too soon is a recipe for disaster.
Follow your doctor’s protocol. There’s a method to the madness. I know how frustrating it is, but I’m sure we’ll be better for it in the end.
My running certainly improved with all the extra time from not swimming
Don’t worry…I’m not! Like I said…I don’t have clearance to start anything like that, nor could I lift it even if I wanted to. Only doing pulley exercises and the exercises with assisted lifting (with a cane) that have been prescribed. I do not want to go through this long process again! I learned my lesson a few years ago by not taking care of a stress fx conservatively enough. I am looking forward to starting to run in a few weeks.
Hey bt: Good that you learned your lesson…fortunately it is during the holidays and you can enjoy them without having to train. Take advantage of the time. Does your shoulder look something like this?
This is a topic of great interest to me because I’m scheduled for repair this Spring. I’ve been given “6 months to normal activity, longer for intense stuff” but I guess we’ll see how it plays out.
For once, lot’s of helpful information on a medical thread.
Recovery depends on many different factors and on what your definition of response/recovery is. If it was an open surgery (vs arthroscopic) expect pain to last a little longer and be a little more intense.
How many sutures went in and whether or not anchors were put in also makes a bit of a difference…That being said, most surgeons won’t go ahead with surgery until the tear is substantial enough (complete) to throw anchor down.
Ultimately, the most important thing to recovery is finding a good therapist that will be meticulous with the rehab protocol. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just consistent. Following the proper timeline without under or over treating/exercising.
Ultimately, the most important thing to recovery is finding a good therapist that will be meticulous with the rehab protocol. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just consistent. Following the proper timeline without under or over treating/exercising.
How true gboss! Finding a good therapist is important. I might add, I asked for a physical therapist with a sports emphasis or experience with rehabbing athletes. When I made the request to the doctor, he knew exactly where he was going to send me.
Here is another tip that I think was extremely helpful! Make sure your doctor arranges for a hospital bed for an overnight stay just in case!! I was scheduled for arthoscopic surgery, but the doctor came in early in the morning during prep and said they were going to go right to open shoulder surgery after studying the MRI more closely. (Be prepared mentally that you may be having arthoscopic, but there is the potential for open shoulder surgery.) I stayed overnight eventhough it was “outpatient” surgery. The recovery nurses asked if I wanted to go home or stay overnight. I chose the later! This way, I was able to keep the shoulder packed in ice and get pain medication. Keeping the shoulder packed in ice kept the swelling down and the medication (obviously) kept the pain to a minimum. You may or may not need to stay overnight, but if you have the choice, do it! As much as I hate hospitals and doctors, I’m glad I did.
As a side note: Another benefit of staying overnight was that I learned how to manuever myself, shift my weight, and basically move with guidance from the nurses. I had the nurses show my wife how to move me and pack ice around my shoulder with minimal movement and minimal pain.
Hope this helps!