Just wondering about recovery time and pain involved. Mrs. Sig P229 going to have to have both sides done. Any input welcome.

Been a several threads before so you might do a search.
The pain is in the PT but if you don't do it you are worse off and it's rotator cuff, btw.

I'm guessing autocorrect got to you and what you really meant was rotator cuff surgery.

There are probably lots of folks here who have had it and experiences likely vary wildly. A rotator cuff surgery can vary from simply fixing a tear or reattaching one muscle or tendon to doing a whole lot of repair work. Some surgeries are open, some are arthroscopic.

Having gone through a significant rebuild of my left shoulder with great results I have just a few pieces of advice:

1) Follow the doctors instructions, even if you don't feel like it. Do the exercises recommended, but don't try to overdo it.

2) Ice is your FRIEND! Ice knocks down the swelling and can do a lot more to relieve the pain than the drugs. Just follow the doc's instruction, whether it is 20 minutes per hour, half hour on, half hour off, or whatever.

3) It isn't over until you finish the PT. Work your butt off on the PT, and if you don't get as far as you feel you shoul on the amount of PT the doc prescribes, ask the doc for more.

Good luck. Best wishes for a quick recovery and a great result!

How old is she and how physically fit is her upper body? Based on what you describe as both sides it sounds like significant reconstruction....her healing will depend a lot on how good the other systems that support that shoulder will stabilize it and help it heal.

The advice above is good. Follow what the doctors say, do all the PT...take the meds and use the ice as prescribed


Realistically? 6 months until she is using that arm "normally"

Probably at least a year until she is back to full normal

That can, of course vary if the surgery she needs isn't as severe...arthroscopic heals quicker...if it's open, lots longer

Fwiw, I have a prosthetic left shoulder (that i got in my mid 30s) in part because none of the other surgical options tried worked...
Not because I was non compliant, but because the damage was too catastrophic....I've had 4 total surgeries on that joint, including 2 that involves some level of rotator cuff repair

I had arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery in the late 80s so it's too long ago for my recovery time and pain won't be relevant for modern techniques. I was setting personal records in bench press within 5 months.

My dad had arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery a few years ago (he was in his late 60s). He planned the surgery for late Oct / early Nov so he'd be ready for golf season next spring. Dad is like me and gets off the narcotic pain relievers fast (my brother didn't after a surgery and ended up going through withdrawals), and he didn't complain about the pain. He was real good about the physical therapy on getting his range of motion and strength back. He was playing golf soon as the courses opened in the spring, and once again him and his golf partner won their league.

A friend of mine is going in Wednesday for surgery. She has been told an 8 week recovery and I suspect more PT after that.

6 months before it's normal again, do PT no matter how much it hurts, it will matter later on to get full range of motion again.

I had it done in February 2015. Healed fine but recently tore a bicep tendon in the same arm.

I still have full range of motion but pain and a "Popeye bulge" bicep. Am starting home PT as the opinion from the surgeon's PA and PT is that I can do the same thing they would have me do in a formal setting. I have a followup visit in early September with my surgeon for another evaluation.

Figure on a couple of weeks after surgery to be sleeping in a reclining chair. After the third week post-op I was ok'd to ditch the sling.

Post-op pain was minimal, the pain pump in my shoulder was removed after 72 hours. I took pain meds twice the following day, after that I controlled what little pain I had with Tramadol and Tylenol. No driving for one week, had to drive in the sling for the next two.

Here is my response from one of the recent threads. I can't imagine doing both at the same time, unless one isn't too bad. I don't know how I would live with both arms totally disabled.

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I had my right shoulder done at 42. I had a 3/4 tear of the supraspinatus, a labrum tear, and a partial separation of the biceps tendon from the bone.

Cause of the injury was multi-fold. Initial tear came in my late 20s playing a game of volleyball in the Army. Tried to stop a spike with my arm at full extension, and felt the muscle let go. Later, in my 40s, I assisted with my son's little league team, throwing hundreds of balls from the outfield to home plate. That didn't help. Final straw was when I tried to pull a 14 foot sailboat on to a trailer as a hurricane was approaching. Feeling a muscle tear is no fun.

I was in very good shape at the time; running, biking, lifting, etc., including the injured shoulder. Funny thing about shoulders, if you aren't moving the specifically injured part, the rest of the system works pretty well, and mostly pain free. Just don't do the wrong thing. That will light you up quickly.

Physical therapy was tried, and was useless, because an existing tear won't really heal, there is too much tension on it. Eventually the insurance company relented and I had arthroscopic surgery performed by the team orthopedist for the Florida Panthers.

I was in the OR for 4 hours. They stitched the muscle together, built a basket of sutures around the ruptured tendon, put two screws in my shoulder bone, and tied the end of the tendon to the screws.

I woke to my arm in a sling, heavily bandaged, with a battery operated pain med drip inserted deep into my shoulder. (About 4 inches, as it turned out.)

Instructions were not to move the arm AT ALL!. Any damage you do at this point will likely be permanent, unrepairable and possibly crippling.

Pain drip came out after two days. It was a weird feeling as the tube pulled out of my shoulder.

Heavy pain killers for the next 5 or so days. Not allowed in a car, even as a passenger for two weeks. Two weeks sleeping in a recliner, as there is a risk that you will roll on to the shoulder in a bed.

Putting on a shirt, or showering involves doing everything left handed, and allowing the healing arm to simply hang down away from the body. This period lasts 6 weeks, while the arm is in a sling, and the sling is separated from your body with a pillow to ensure that the tendon heals short enough to be of use.

Then physical therapy starts. Because I was in good shape going in, therapy was not painful for me. I have heard horror stories, but honestly, the only time I really hurt was when I misjudged a door opening at about week 4, and hit the door frame with my shoulder. Other than that, there was discomfort, significant at times, but generally not too bad. Therapy was not particularly painful, but it did take 6 months to get back to full range of motion, and nearly a year to get back to full strength.

When done, I had full range of motion and full strength. I understand my pain levels, recovery, range of motion and strength to be somewhat atypical, and consider myself very lucky.

I have since partially re-injured the same shoulder, but have no where near the pain and restrictions that I had previously, and have elected to just live with it for now.

Feel free to email me at my address in profile of you have any questions.

PT was the worst for me, just plain painful for the first few days but as I got more into it groove it was not to bad.

To answer a couple of questions, age is 70 and it will only be one shoulder at the time. She has previously had both knees replaced and if nemory serves the second was a little easier than the first.

I doubt either will be arthroscopic since there is major damage in both. Her last Dr. Appt. The surgeon stated to her it was almost bone to bone on both sides.

Physical therapy will most likely use a TENS unit at the end of each session - they are AMAZING. They can talk to the doctor and get a prescription for a consumer unit for you.

They stimulate the pain reduction in the area, and will probably result in a reduction in pain meds right away.

Here is a link - I have the BioTENS 2.

http://americanimex.com/products/dual_channel.html

I've had both of mine repaired with extra parts included. Each time, it hurt like hell for three days, slept inrecliner. Then it got better, pain-wise, real quick. The pillow sling contraption is a nuisance.
The real work comes when your Physical Terrorist starts on you. Do what he or she says, no matter how it hurts. a good PT is as important as the surgeon. Take it easy for six months, do the excersizes, and your wife will be good as new in undewr a year.

Be sure she gets the little water circulation cooler with the pad for her shoulder. Circulating cold water over the swollen shoulder WILL improve healing DRASTICALLY.