shoulder surgery

It has been almost 3 months since my shoulder surgery and it feels great. I have an appointment with my doctor next week. Before my surgery he said that i could be back to wakeboarding in 3 to 4 months and that by 4 months I'd be perfect. Does this mean that i can wakeboard for real, as in inverts, everything goes, because i don't think my doctor is exactly a wakeboarding expert and my pt guy says that he would recomend waiting 6 months, so am i safe with 4?

What did you do to your shoulder?

glad your surgery went well! i'd ease back into it if i were you. remember that those muscles will need a chance to rebuild. imagine how sore you'd be if you were in good health, didn't exercise at all for four months, then ran a marathon ... probably not the best idea; you'd want to train some first. if you go at it slow and build up, then you can guage where you're at by whether or not it's causing pain while doing it or after a day or two and that'll maybe help you decide how much to press it. just a thought, though. i'm no doc (although i am sending you a bill for this ... LOL!)

lol well ur gona have to try and find me to make me pay that bill. Duffy, i had a torn labrum.

Manny I think I'm in the same situation as you. My doc said 6 months but he isn't a wakeboard familiar doctor either. I'm just going to wait until my shoulder feels strong enough. It's been almost two months since my surgery in which I had a torn labrum repaired as well. I bet you could get away with riding if you taped your arm to your body to keep it from moving.

Don't do it Gherk.....Just wait and let it heal up right.Stubbern as a mule.....LOL

You can't tape a multiaxial joint for activty.

Sure you can.You can tape it back and in to hold in the socket. My PT taped mine and it worked great.

For those of you that had surgery for a torn labrum, how much total downtime from work did you have? I'm having surgery next week, and am just curious what to expect.

well i dont work but i go to college. Id say 1 day

I work behind a computer so for me it was only 2 days. Probably could have gotten away with 1 day.

Thanks for the input. I don't have a desk job normally, and am going to need to be pretty active outdoors. Any idea with that further info?

I had 4 shoulder surgerys in a span of 2 years. The second and third surgerys were a result of doing to much too quickly, I ripped everything out. The fourth they replaced my shoulder with all kevlar parts. Not Fun take it easy, do what the doc says.

Mike, are you right or left handed? I had my right shoulder done a month ago (im right handed) and it only took about 2 weeks before i could get my arm up on my desk to write. Mine feels great now but am going to give it atleast 3 monthes before easing back into it.

I agree with Billy! Take your time, its not worth trying to do too much too fast and messing everything up. I had mine done two years ago and the recovery took nearly 16 weeks, but i did what my PT said and now im fine.

Manny your soft get out there and wakeboard already... hahaa saturday w000t

(Message edited by fcowrx on November 30, 2006)

Kyle, I'm "lucky" as I'm left handed and it's my right shoulder that I'm having the surgery on. I'm planning on taking it pretty easy for up to a month with work (don't have to worry too much about playing up here in North Dakota in the middle of winter), but I sure hope I can get back to more physical work after that (at least half-strength or so).

Derby (derby)
Sure you can.You can tape it back and in to hold in the socket. My PT taped mine and it worked great.

That's great if you want a very limited range of motion. But if I'm in a body of water, I'd like to be able to reach my arm over my head.

You might want to check into a jumpsling brace. It's definitely restrictive, but it wont let your arm flop around to get reinjured. Judging from all the shoulder injuries I've seen on this forum, it seems like most of the time it's the less dominant arm that gets hurt. What kind of problems has everybody had with their shoulders? My problem is that my arm would dislocate (partially) all the time. I guess I was somewhat lucky in that it was a sublaxation as compared to a full dislocation. The trouble was that it was happening all the time and my riding style was making it worse. It's been two months since my surgery and I can do a pull-up now as compared to before when it felt like my shoulder was going to pop.

I'll have to ask about the jumpsling brace- Thanks. It sounds like I've had the same problem you had. My shoulder has partially come out of the socket quite a few times, and now it pops and grinds all day as I move.

Billy, how is the kevlar working out? My doc said that there were no shoulder parts that they would recommend at this time. Had both shoulders reconstructed within 3 years. Right one is awesome done by one surgeon, the left done by another surgeon is toast. They were supposed to mainly repair the labrum. PT never helped after surgery so I had another MRI done. They didn't repair it, it's gone. Bone on bone. Feels like it's being cut off 24/7. A new shoulder would be sweet if for no other reason than to get rid of the pain.

Randy, they used Kevlar to hold my shoulder together. I tore my collar bone off and you could move it around under my skin with your hand. When it tore loose my shoulder dropped and tore all the other tendons that hold up the shoulder. Thats where they used the Kevlar kinda like tendons. My ball and socket are still me, just everything around it is not. They first tried a cadavers tendons, I tore it. Then they tried my tendons from my hamstring, I tore it. The Kevlar is still good after 3 yrs.

(Message edited by woreout on December 01, 2006)

Damn Billy and I thought my shoulders especially my right one were trashed from skydiving, but that sounds painful. How'd that happen?

I was trying to put down a new Nautique Tower... LOL. Really I did it waterski jumping and landed on a fishing boat that pulled out in front of me.

Maybe he thought you were filming a James Bond flick.

Man I just had surgery on my right labrum. Also have a torn left one. Don't know if i wanna get my left one done now. This thread is scaring me. So do yall regret the surgery?

The surgery on the right shoulder I do not regret. It was done right. The left shoulder I regret having done. If they would have told me there was a possibly of totally removing the labrum, I would not have had it done. Pain is pain and now I'm told its bone and bone and looks like the shoulder of a 95 year old man that never slowed down.

I didnt really have a choice. My left arm was like a wet noodle before surgery.

that's scary stuff, especially since my shoulder didn't bother me too much before surgery. did you have the arthroscopic or open surgery. Randy u would think they would mention it before surgery. Can u still ride? Manny my doc said no riding for 6 months/ 1 yr. before full range of motion/full strength. May not be same exact operation but i'd be careful.

My left one was scope done about 8 years ago, I've never had full range of motion since...although it is really close to the other side. I went back to weight training about 3 months after the surgery, felt "fine" after about 10 months.

The weirdest thing about the whole thing is, when I eat a lot of something cold..like ice cream I get what I would call a "brain freeze" in that shoulder. Feels just like a tradional brain freeze in the head, only this is in my shoulder...Weird huh. It's like a cramp you can't stretch out.

Surgery was after 6 dislocations, and countless separations.

Rooster I get the same thing weird. I eat a sh tload of Icecream. Almost like a when you eat something cold on a fresh tooth filling a dull "brain freeze" like pain.

Cool Billy!

You are the first person to say that, my family thinks I'm nuts.

you cant touch it or rub it out its just there.

Chad, had both shoulders scoped. Right one had torn bicep, total reconstruction of the shoulder whatever that includes and they had to remove part of a tendon because it was too damaged to repair. That's my fault, I let it go for 3 years before having surgery and was skydiving with it every weekend. They told me on that one to wait 8 weeks before I thought of doing anything. I waited 3 and went jumping at a boogie anyway. Hurt like hell but the arm is better than new with full range of motion. Left shoulder is toast. Did everything they told me and I lost alot of motion, but still ride every weekend. As long as I don't raise it more than 45 degrees above the shoulder, the pain is bearable and you get used to it. PT wouldn't have helped anyway when they removed the labrum.

So far I don't regret the surgery, but I'll hold judgement until I get back on the water and see what it really feels like. So far I'm happy with my progress.

i had my bicept almost completely torn off, torn rotator, couldn't even lift my arm, but they didn't schedule my surgery until a year later. i was wakeboarding(hanging on to the handle)because i could hang on with my grip, i didn't think i could hurt my shoulder any worse. after the surgury, it takes time, keep doing rehabilitation and making it stronger, i still do all of my rehab exercizes and am much better off than before the accident

Same here Joe. I actually tore my right one snowboarding last January and just put the surgery off for the summer. After a week and a half its starting to feel a little bit better too(Could still be the painkillers). Thanks for the input guys and good luck with yalls injuries.

Obviously I'm not looking for professional opinions here, but I have a couple questions to ask. This summer I was hitting rails at our park. I gapped our a-frame to back lip and had too much weight on my toes, so when I came off the rail I fell face first into the water while my feet were up in the air. I stretched out my arm instinctively to brace the fall, and it felt like my shoulder popped out of place. I wiggled it around a bit and it popped back, but I could feel a clicking sensation and it felt pretty loose. Waited for a bit then rode some more. Later that day it hurt like hell and if i pushed on it from behind I could feel the ball "pop" forward. I didn't ride for about two weeks, during which daily activity and sleeping were quite painful. Started to ride again after the break and it hurt, but was bearable so I kept doing it.

The injury happened at the beginning of August. I would have assumed the pain would be gone now, but when I go to the gym/after I play hockey it still hurts and my mobility in the arm is limited. The pain is definitely not unbearable, but it's also not something I don't notice. It's also not "loose" anymore, although if I push from behind the shoulder I still have more movement than I have in the other arm.

So for those of you with shoulder injuries, does this sound at all familiar, or were your symptoms worse? I've been thinking about getting it checked out by a sportsmed doc, but I don't want to bother if it's nothing that time will fix. (though i've given it a lot of time and worked the muscles to strengthen the connective tissues).

(Message edited by maestro on December 03, 2006)

maestro, you need to get that checked out. Just make sure that it isn't by a resident or fellow. You need someone with experience and not someone who is in training.

One more bit of info - last summer (05) I was doing a roll to revert and came up short - caught the nose of the board and the same kind of fall took place (arm extended and put in an unnatural position). That time I felt the pop of the shoulder as well, and the initial pain was much more severe, but it was fine within a day or two. Does that sound like a separation? I don't really know the difference between a dislocation and a separation. I would assume one doesn't result in the ball joint coming out of place completely?

Maestro that's the same thing that happened to me and I tore my labrum. I went for a tanny and landed on my toes a little bit so i stuck my arm out and against the water by instinct and it popped out. Its not poppin out anymore because your muscles are tightened up enough to stabilize it a little bit. But be careful, it can still pop out. (I used one of those rubberbands you get from rehab and its helped some but if its a torn labrum you might be lookin at surgery or maybe just rehab.) I would atleast check with the doc. though.

A fellow is an MD who can go out and start his own practice but is just getting more experience in a subspecialty area. I have found some fellows to be much more astute than the attending.
Subluxation is the word you're looking for, separation mainly pertains the the AC joint.
Not common to have an anterior subluxation/dislocation. Definitely have it looked into. Many times a rotator cuff injury is involved
with this type of injury.

Seperated shoulder at least an AC joint seperation happens more from an impact to the shoulder, Like a shoulder block into snow (the collarbone seperates from the shoulder). And your right about the dislocation, I think. That roll to revert fall sounds like a partial dislocation.

PS. I'm not a Dr. but i did stay at a holiday inn express last night.

Yeah sounds like a subluxation. If it was a total dislocation, chances are you would have had to go to the ER or had someone help you get it back into socket.

maestro, thats how mine felt after i did. Go get it checked out.

Thanks for the info people. I might just book an appointment...

I thought I'd give an update. My surgery was yesterday. I was told that my labrum was torn 1/3 of the way around the joint, and they put 3 rivets/pins in to put it back together which will eventually dissolve into my system. My arm will be immobile for 3 weeks, then PT will start. The pain was worse last night than I thought it would be, but much better today... I hope this will all work and be worth it!

Good Luck Mike. The pain is just temporary. I was off the pills in 2.5 days. Did you get AFLAC?

go slow bro

good luck

Mike, did they do a block on your whole arm?

Paul- I guess I have to confess my ignorance: I don't know what you mean by getting AFLAC? Derby, thanks, I plan on doing it by the book (don't want to do this again). Kyle, yes, they did a block on my whole arm. My surgery was at 8:00 AM, and the block wore off at around 3 PM. I was thinking until then that "hey, this isn't so bad". When I was getting into my vehicle to leave, the nurse tells me "You're really going to be sore tonight- I didn't want to tell you that until you were leaving." Thanks a lot!

Good Luck Mike. The pain should start easing and I found that using pillows made sleeping a little easier. Hope all goes well.

Mike, I think you won't feel too much by the weekend. I agree with the pillows thing. Sleep as much as you can.

Take the rehab slow, and ask about getting some ultrasound treatment along the way. The ultrasound helps break up adhesions in the tissues. It really helped when I had hand surgery...not sure if it would with this type or not...but I'd ask.

I have been following this pretty close and thanks everyone for putting up advice/info. I just found out yesterday that I will be having surgery as well on my right shoulder. I have been dealing with pain for the last year and I finally got an MRI done, sure enough, there is a tear. Anyway, I go in on the 21st and am hoping it is as easy as it sounds. Few weeks and supposidly everything will be good as new. I'm hoping anyway.

AFLAC

Who needs AFLAC when you are getting paid either way? I'm just more looking at this from the total wuss side, I've never broken a bone, been cut open, or anything else in my life before. This is a little nerve racking to me.

Same here. Another bit of advice, get into the gym if you aren't already. I have found that it helps my recovery time when I did have a dislocation and I'm two months past my surgery and I already feel better then I did before surgery. At this point I'm just waiting for my shoulder to feel stronger.