Shoulder Surgery in May

[dmdee99]

I am getting surgery on my left shoulder in May 2007 to repaire two torn ligaments I got from riding (crashing) :) .

Has anyone been throught the same surgery?

If so can you let me know how the surgery went and what was your recovery time?

Also what percent of health your shoulder is at now since the urgery (100%, 75%, etc).

Alot of people have been telling me to pack it up and quit due to my injury but I just love to ride. I just want to know how somebody else handled the same injury/surgery.

Thanks for any replies. :cool:

 

[150rguy]

I haven't had that surgery but good luck with it and hopping you recover quickly.

 

[oldguy]

I had rotater cuff reattachment surgery about 10 years ago and would do it again if needed. My injury was a cumulative deterioration which was finally aggravated by falling on it and totally tearing it. The pain before was unbearable and I only had about 50% use of the arm- strength and mobility. Recovery to full usage was about 2 months but after about 3 weeks I had full mobility back. They also cleaned alot of calcium deposits inside the socket away which made the shoulder work even better. Today the one which was repaired is stronger (left side and I am right handed) and more mobile then the normal side. I have often thought of having the tears in the right side done even tho they are very minor compared to what was repaired.

 

[dmdee99]

Thanks for the replies.

Does anyone else have any success stories or horror stories about shoulder sugery?

Any reply would be much appreciated I just want to get a feel for what I am getting myself into.

Thanks again. :cool:

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I've had 3 shoulder surgeries - 2 on the left, 1 on the right. All due to injuries sustained when I was road racing in the late 80's that aggravated over time. Having been through this and seen others go through it as well your recovery will be largely dependent on how closely you follow your surgeons instructions after the surgery and how hard you work at PT. I suggest when they give you exercises to do ask them if you should do more of any particular exercise (ex 4 times a day instead of 3, 20 reps instead of 10, etc). In some cases they will say yes that would be good, in others they'll say no just stick to what we suggested. The reason for that is that they often times will prescribe less than optimal because they know that most people if they give them too much will give up and not do any. We motorcyclists are not most people :) . I've found that you'll be mostly healed (say 85%) after a year and 100% after 2 years - 100% of what you'll have from then on, not 100% of what you were pre-injury. Rarely will you ever heal 100% from any major injury. That said it sure hasn't slowed me down much. My last shoulder surgery was mid year 2004 and I started trail riding the beginning of '06 - and I crashed a LOT! Good luck

 

[dmdee99]

Thanks for your response :cool:

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

My son dislocated his shoulder wakeboarding during the summer between his junior and senior year in high school. The doctor told him that the ligament damage was such that the shoulder would be prone to dislocating very easily now, but that otherwise he was fine.

The doctor told him that he will eventually want it fixed, but that he could wait for an opportune time, which for my son was the end of football season.

The doctor was 100% accurate. The shoulder dislocated several more times during the summer and football season, although it was not as painful as the initial and he was able to pop it back in by himself. It was definately annoying though and keeping him from doing certain things that he wanted to do.

My son's first love is wakeboarding so he didn't want to jepordize that. We scheduled his surgery for the week after the final high school football game, so early December.

He went through the surgery fine and other than the first couple of days where he had to sleep sitting in a chair it wasn't bad at all. I wouldn't let him ride the dirt bike that way but he did manage to sneak away on the quad one time...

I forget exactly when he returned to something resembling normal activity but I am pretty sure it was before May. He definately took it easy on that arm for a while. He had dislocated during a wakeboard trick that required holding the handle with just that one hand so he avoided that trick for quite a while, sticking to the tricks that have both hands on the handle.

It's been three years and everything seems fine. He says that it will occasionally feel a little funny or "pop" a little bit but it doesn't appear to be slowing him down any. I think that was the injury that convinced him that he is not imortal, however, and now he is a little more cautious than he was before.

On the flip side, my nephew, who is 6 months older than my son, had the exact same surgery on the same shoulder about the same time. His didn't work out quite as well. After the surgery his would still occasionally dislocate so he ended up having the surgery a second time. Seems okay now....

Rod

 

[tnrider]

i had a bicep tear about 6-years ago, took about 3-years to begin feeling really normal. then shattered my humerus 3-years +1day after that injury. bicep was stapled back together and humerus required a titanium rod. no relation between the two injuries other than apparently i lead with one arm... recovery is almost 100% of original at this point. i did lose some range of motion from the first injury ~5% overhead but that is just a cost of living life to the fullest... from the broken arm, recovery came in stages with some setbacks - i would do too much and then it would swell internally and in one case i could not lift my arm above shoulder height for weeks and that was about 1year after surgery.

there are many nerves in the shoulder area. ask for a nerve block (good for 24hrs) then be prepared with the pain meds!!! get a "cryocuff" for icing after surgery - it attaches to a small cooler that pumps chilled water through a compression cuff put on your arm in surgery. means you don't have to mess with raw ice packs on the shoulder.

listen to the docs regarding restrictions as you can redamage the repairs. however, make it clear what your expected outcomes are. my bicep doc was better at this than my humerus doc. the humerus doc thought i should be happy with a "normal" life. the other doc would always ask me if i was back riding at the same level yet (i like that guys attitude).

 

[Racesmith]

Major suckage...I hope you heal fast.

 

[dmdee99]

Everyone, thanks for the replies. I had my doubts on getting the surgery but from what everyone is telling me it is the right thing to do. I also had my first dislocation wakeboardin. I was performing a heelside 360 and over rotated and landed really bad. Since then I stoped wakeboarding and spent more time riding. I have dislocated my should about 8 times riding (twice in one day :( ) and it was not fun. I was able to pop it back into place each time and I continued riding that same day. I guess it was the adrenalin rush that kept me going but I tell you what though the next day I was hurting bad.

Thanks again :cool:

If anyone else has some success stories or horror stories please feel free to post.

 

[dmdee99]

Just had my shoulder surgery on May 9. It seams okay. The shoulder is really tight at the moment. The dock says that i have to be in a sling for about 4 weeks and I must limit my activities to just the specific excercises he has given me. Then I could start my physical therapy.

On the surgery he had to place 3 screws to the bone and attatch the top front tendon to it. Then he shortened the top rear tendon by burning it. This would tighten up the shoulder. He also cleaned up all the calcium deposites that built up around the bone.

I am able to ease off the pain meds now so I would say that the surgery was a success but it is too early to tell. We will have to see how the physical therapy goes. I got a post surgery apt on May 18. I will keep you posted on what the dock says.

Thanks everyone for your responses and feedback.

Keep it on two wheels :) :)

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Good luck with it and thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[imike24]

Remain Positive :) Keep us updated. Thank. Glad everything is fine.

 

[dmdee99]

Sorry for the late update.

I had a doctors appointment on May 18 and the doc removed some of the stiches and said that it looks like it is healing fine. I also said that I should start going to physical therapy.

Well since then I have had 3 physical therapy appointments and another doctors visit. The doc said that I would be able to return to work but will have weight restrictions. He also said that the range of motion looks good for someone that had surgery a little over 3 weeks ago.

As far as the physical therapy goes. I can tell you one thing it is not easy. I sat down with the therapist before we started and laid down my expectations as far as riding again so he is getting me on an aggressive program with the doctors approval. He told me that I could probably be riding again in November or December if I continue to work hard and get my strenght and mobility back. At this point I could barely lift my are up do to lack of muscle strenght. I was a bit worried about it but the doc and the therapist said it is normal because they had to cut into the deltoid to place the screws in and suture the bicept tendons to the screws. (Or something along those lines.) But they said it will all come back in time.

I will keep you all posted with my progress and thanks again for all your responses. :cool:

 

[dmdee99]

Well it is has been 12 week since the the surgery and I seem to be progressing very well. My physcial therapist says that my strenght and mobility is great compared to other patients he has. I am so pumped that it is going well but he wants to slow down on the exercises he want to give me because the doctor that performed the surgery is really conservative and wants me to take it slow. My next appointment with him is August 8 and hopefully I can show him that I am progressing very well and he could clear me to start riding. From my internet research I see that most people begin to start riding after 16 weeks of their surgery date.

If you have had the shoulder surgery how long did you wait till you got back on your bike and start riding again?

 

[tnrider]

Took me about 4-months before i could (would) get back on the bike after breaking my arm (and subsequent surgery). i was in a splint (cast like) for almost 8-weeks from the break so i had much PT to get things moving again. my rides at 4-months were basically around my 1/2 mile track in the yard. i did not have strength to do much more than that and i hurt after too... make sure you have range of motion back as if you dump on that arm again it can pull everything back out - OUCH! good luck!

 

[dmdee99]

Thanks for the info.

I am around the 3 1/2 month mark at the moment and it seems to be going well. I have about 95% range of motion back and I am working on my strength right now. I probably will not get on the bike till about 4 months just to make sure everything is on the up and up.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[RMZRyder]

Good job. I am currently dealing with a severe shoulder injury that was incurred on 4-28-07. It was a 100% rotor cuff tear with multiple bone evulsions, and severe deltoid nerve damage. At my last doctors apointment the doc said the nerve is waking up and all my range of motion is slowly coming back. The doc said I have a real good chance for a 100% recovery and my shoulder was in just about as worse shape as it could be. I think you will be fine. My doctor told me of another patient who had a simple dislocation but for some reason it caused severe nerve damage in his entire arm. His entire arm was paralized and after 8 months he has all of his movement back and is strength training. You just never can tell whats going to happen with shoulder injuries.