Rotator cuff surgery and bone spurs in same shoulder

[TheWatchGuy]

i had a pretty good labrum tear about 8 years ago that also had some rotator damage. got surgery, was about a 6 month recovery from surgery back to weight lifting, but was well worth it. took a week off work after the surgery, ~2 weeks immobilized, another 12 weeks of light use and a lot of PT, then another 10ish weeks or so of periodic PT and a lot of light work with it. It sucked, but im glad i did it.

As far as surgery vs doing PT to see if it heals up, in my case, surgery was the best plan. Ive had shoulder injuries, and other joint injuries, in the past and just gone the PT route. It never really gets to 100% and pain becomes a normal thing. Now, if you arent super active, dont lift weights, etc. PT will probably be just fine. But there is a reason athletes typically immediately go the surgery route.

as far as getting your range of motion back, and making sure you dont have issues down the line with the shoulder, make sure you do your PT religiously and correctly. My repaired shoulder has a ton more mobility compared to my other shoulder. If you do that, you have less risk of the scar tissue building up and hindering movement.

fwiw, ill probably be getting surgery in my other shoulder here in the next couple months. years and years of abuse has got that one feeling shitty and its only a matter of time before it finally falls apart.

[UncleWede]

Newly diagnosed spur on dominant arm acromion, been taking melox for about 2 weeks, and avoiding anything above 90 degrees. The gym is a challenge to accomplish that.
Sleeping a bit better since I take the melox at night. It's not currently painful to press the location.

I wanted to jump right in and get the spur removed. PA is still telling me I'm NOT ready for that ordeal, especially at 55. PT starts in about 2 weeks (they are booked) and he wants me to continue with melox for at least 8 weeks before considering injection.

Melox isn't a long-term fix, as far as I can tell. Even if I get the swelling controlled, and do the PT to strengthen support areas, that spur will continue to grow.

[M-technik-3]

Yeah, I get it. I have learned to suffer through the pain but it's old and by the time 11 am rolls around the pain has seeped in to my back and then agitates my left shoulder.

[XutvJet]

I had a lot of rotator cuff pain for a number of years, the source being bad hitting form in volleyball. The doctor said it was either torn, impinged, or both, but he wouldn't know exactly for sure until he opened me up. I could hear/feel the ligaments dragging/clicking across bones, sharp/deadening pain deep in the fore and aft of shoulder area, and sometimes my arm would go fairly numb during volleyball.

I decided to do some self-drive PT before trying surgery because I knew so many people that had issues after shoulder surgery. All I did was light weight exercises with dumbbells and bands and improved my hitting form. Within one month, my pain was gone. I think the main issue was weak muscles on the back side of my shoulder. That was well over 5 years ago.

I would explore all options including light lifting, PT, stretching, not sleeping on the bad shoulder, losing weight if you're heavy, etc. before surgery. IMO, surgery should be the last option.

[M-technik-3]

I went through PT and occupational therapy and neither overall helped. I also had been getting cortisone shots in the elbow and shoulder and that dampened the pain somewhat but overall I need another Dr second opinion as I can't continue getting up with my arm numb with pins and needles and then the pain starts about late morning.

[Dang3r]

Had a big surgery back in 2016 and got scheduled 6 weeks off after that. They sawed out a 6mm thick disc from the clavicle, disconnected and removed the joint capsule at the right arm joint, because there was too less space for muscles and yearnings. Just lifting the weight of the arm had caused me terrible pain under the shoulder roof and at least I couldnt find any sleep because I didnt know how to put my arm into a position where it not does hurt badly.
Healing went not very well, the first 7 days my right arm was tied close to my body and as a right-hander I had to learn to do some things with the left hand - even the toiletpaperrolls are right located at the restroom -.-
After untying I was able to let the arm just hang down, it was a real pain to stretch the skin at the fresh scar by just the weight of the arm so I pulled it unintentional upwards which has led to some muscle tension and even a physio therapist were unable to release this and bring me real help.
My chiro at least decides to send me onto a 3-week rehab special for such cases and only after the 4th day into their professional hands I was able the first time since longer ago to cross both arms behind my back.
After the 3 weeks 95% of my normal movement were restored and I had to do lots of examinations to get back my permit to fly and finally got released to service, so to speak.
Looking back on this, I would never do that again just because some doctor would recommend that. As long as I encounter no equal pain in the other shoulder I would always refuse any bigger surgery at the shoulder for sure.

[UncleWede]

First PT last night.

After manual manipulation, sometimes quite painful, therapist was able to get me an extra 8 degrees of motion in the shoulder.

Gave me 3 exercises to do daily to stretch pecs as much as shoulder, to help open up the gap and allow the soft tissues to move unobstructed.

The PT told me that he was surprised there was no discussion of a simple deburring process on the acromion, and that such a procedure wouldn't entail the above horror stories of disability for months during recovery. That was the idea I had in my head initially when I received the bone spur diagnosis.

[MoeTE87]

I've had three on my right shoulder from being a college pitcher. Still have some hardware in my shoulder too.

[M-technik-3]

My major deal is I can't afford to be out of work at this stage in my life, and I also want to have a life down the road when I do retire. IE I don't want the pain to be worse than it is now. I get a cortisone shot in two weeks and that's a temp band aid as always.