Recommend Some Post Labrum Surgery Activities

[SociallyChallenged]

This is me eating some humble pie. Eits is absolutely right. I assumed that the precautions weren't as severe as they actually are. Essentially, with surgery, you accept not to use your injured arm for 4-6 weeks. That means absolutely nothing - no tooth brushing, no eating, no writing, nothing. If you can find exercises where you don't utilize the rotator cuff and upper extremity, then you should be fine. One arm exercises for the unaffected arm could be ok, but it all depends on your motor coordination - if you tighten up on your left trap, rotator cuff, lat, etc, you likely shouldn't do it. Sorry about that, eits. I hadn't learned the restrictions for this specific procedure quite yet and tried to make an educated guess. It was wrong, but that's ok because now I know the right answer 🙂

 

[GoNiners!]

This is why I love ATHF so much. There is so much great technical information that members are freely willing to share and discuss.

I am thinking that I will take my bottle of Percocet, head over to my local Starbucks, get some green tea, pop some pills and watch the sun rise for the next few weeks. I have pushed my body so hard for so long that a rest is probably the best thing for me.

I don't know what it is about lifting weights that speaks to me on so many levels. The idea of focusing your mind and body towards the simple act of moving weight and that act at times can be cleansing to soul. It's amazing what the human body can do when all of the bones and muscles are in proper alignment for a given movement.

I don't know when it happened, but at some point lifting weights and exercizing became spiritual more than physical for me. I certainly feel that I have been blessed with God given strength.

I also feel that all of the pain from the last nine months from this injury has made somethig that was always so very uplifting into something utterly frustrating for me.

The greatest thing I have taken away from lifting weights is the mentality that "nothing is impossible", which I have applied to all aspects of my life.

 

[eits]

This is me eating some humble pie. Eits is absolutely right. I assumed that the precautions weren't as severe as they actually are. Essentially, with surgery, you accept not to use your injured arm for 4-6 weeks. That means absolutely nothing - no tooth brushing, no eating, no writing, nothing. If you can find exercises where you don't utilize the rotator cuff and upper extremity, then you should be fine. One arm exercises for the unaffected arm could be ok, but it all depends on your motor coordination - if you tighten up on your left trap, rotator cuff, lat, etc, you likely shouldn't do it. Sorry about that, eits. I hadn't learned the restrictions for this specific procedure quite yet and tried to make an educated guess. It was wrong, but that's ok because now I know the right answer 🙂

:thumbsup:

it's all good, man.

after 2 weeks, light movements and stability is ok, but before that it's just not a good idea at all. after a month, you can start moving it more and being more normal with it. if they removed bone in the rotator cuff surgery, then you really should restrict doing things with it for around 6 weeks.

 

[eits]

another thing, niners, DON'T TAKE ANY ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES! if your doctor prescribes them, don't take them. you want your shoulder to heal properly, right? well, anti-inflammatories cause injuries to heal improperly and it could impede your passion of weight lifting once you're done rehabbing. yeah, it may decrease pain, but your body needs the inflammation in order to heal right.

take some fish oil, vitamin d3, and ice your shoulder instead if you're feeling any pain.

 

[GoNiners!]

I had my surgery yesterday. Turns out it was a severely dislocated shoulder and torn labrum.

Most painful part was getting the IV put in. I spent most of the day in the hospital due to uncontrollable bleeding. Woke up this morning and feel pretty sore in the shoulder but the pain seems ok with the percocet. I feel pretty lightheaded and stumble a bit when I walk. Not sure if it is from the blood loss or percocet.

Thanks again for all of the great advice and feedback.

 

[GoNiners!]

It's been 2.5 weeks since the surgery. I hit my emotional low this last Monday. Woke up that day and just felt frustrated from not being able to do anything with my right arm. I had to remind myself the constant pain I felt for the last nine months is now gone.

I started doing my passive range of motion exercises on Monday night and find myself regaining mobility.

I have managed to drop about 10 lbs of body weight since my surgery. Went from 235 to 225 as of this morning. I see that as a positive as I need to drop weight anyway but can't help but see it as loss of muscle mass. I just have to keep thinking of it as a good thing and rebuild when the time comes.

I have my first physical therapy appointment on the 29th. Surprisingly, going to the gym, has not entered my mind.

I have not taken any anti-inflamatories at all post surgery.

Just felt like updating the thread.

 

[Lamont Burns]

I have a partial tear in my infraspanitus currently, this is an interesting thread. I just did it on 2/14 and have been seeing a Chiropractor since. Doing tubing rehab now.

I have lost strength and motivation, it does suck. My pain initially was enough to well up my eyes while I winced.

My Chiro was no against AIs, but added to use heat to induce collagen into the joint. Ice at night to help sleep. I don't plan to get an MRI unless the tubing doesn't do anything.

 

[GoNiners!]

Back when my doctors all thought I had a partial tear of the supraspinatus they had me do physical therapy. I did the tubing exercises religiously and it helped a lot with the inflamation.

It wasn't until I had my surgery that my shoulder stopped dislocating a few times a day.

Being injured is depressing, no doubt about it. I guess it helps to be over the hardest part with nothing but green pastures ahead (hopefully). I look forward to the day that I can do normal stuff with my right arm again. After that, going back to the gym.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I have a partial tear in my infraspanitus currently, this is an interesting thread. I just did it on 2/14 and have been seeing a Chiropractor since. Doing tubing rehab now.

I have lost strength and motivation, it does suck. My pain initially was enough to well up my eyes while I winced.

My Chiro was no against AIs, but added to use heat to induce collagen into the joint. Ice at night to help sleep. I don't plan to get an MRI unless the tubing doesn't do anything.

Hm, I've never heard of heat inducing collagen deposition. I can't even find any research about it. I've only heard about tension and certain types of massage (cross friction in particular) inducing collagen changes. I'm not sure if I'd heat an infraspinatus tear. Sorry to hear about your tear though, man :/

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Back when my doctors all thought I had a partial tear of the supraspinatus they had me do physical therapy. I did the tubing exercises religiously and it helped a lot with the inflamation.

It wasn't until I had my surgery that my shoulder stopped dislocating a few times a day.

Being injured is depressing, no doubt about it. I guess it helps to be over the hardest part with nothing but green pastures ahead (hopefully). I look forward to the day that I can do normal stuff with my right arm again. After that, going back to the gym.

Yeah, man, injuries are insanely depressing. I've got some low back pain that I can't get rid of. I've been going to PT for about 8 weeks now and it's addressed the causes of the back pain, but hasn't quite alleviated the pain itself. Think about it like this though - it's really not a long time compared to the longevity it will give you for that shoulder. You know, 2-4mo of rehab, a year in total for healing, and you get a functional shoulder for life. Not such a bad deal 🙂

 

[GoNiners!]

Hm, I've never heard of heat inducing collagen deposition. I can't even find any research about it. I've only heard about tension and certain types of massage (cross friction in particular) inducing collagen changes. I'm not sure if I'd heat an infraspinatus tear. Sorry to hear about your tear though, man :/

I can tell you post surgery, long hot showers made my shoulder feel so much better. When I iced it, it seemed to hurt more. I haven't iced my shoulder after the first week.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I can tell you post surgery, long hot showers made my shoulder feel so much better. When I iced it, it seemed to hurt more. I haven't iced my shoulder after the first week.

Heat almost always feels good, but it can increase swelling and inhibit healing. I've only read about heat being good when you're trying to get muscles to warm up and relax a bit before some soft tissue massage.

 

[GoNiners!]

It's been 22 days post op now. It's strange how something that only a week ago was very painful to do can now be done with little to no pain.

Simple things like holding a napkin with both hands to blow my nose or tying my shoes had been pretty hard to do but now are done with little discomfort. I even used my right hand a little to shave this morning.

I tried to do some research on how long it takes to recover from labrum surgery and I didn't find anything definitive out there. I looked over the generic print out from my orthopedic surgeon and it references regaining full range of motion within 6 weeks of the operation and full resumption of activities after 12 weeks.

Over the course of a day I will feel the occasional mild spike of pain as my shoulder will snap, crackle, pop and shift slightly.

Going back to work starting today so it will be nice being able to get back into the work routine. The only thing left is to get back into the gym. I have been avoiding the gym as the prospect of doing 30 minutes on a bike just seems dull to me. Kinda like craving a steak and eating a veggie burger instead...

I have my first physical therapy session this coming Tuesday on the 29th.

 

[Lamont Burns]

Interesting thread. I definitely chuckled at "doing 30 minutes on a bike just seems dull to me" ... as I feel the same right now.

I hope to get some training wheels off soon myself, and hope your PT sessions go well.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

It's been 22 days post op now. It's strange how something that only a week ago was very painful to do can now be done with little to no pain.

Simple things like holding a napkin with both hands to blow my nose or tying my shoes had been pretty hard to do but now are done with little discomfort. I even used my right hand a little to shave this morning.

I tried to do some research on how long it takes to recover from labrum surgery and I didn't find anything definitive out there. I looked over the generic print out from my orthopedic surgeon and it references regaining full range of motion within 6 weeks of the operation and full resumption of activities after 12 weeks.

Over the course of a day I will feel the occasional mild spike of pain as my shoulder will snap, crackle, pop and shift slightly.

Going back to work starting today so it will be nice being able to get back into the work routine. The only thing left is to get back into the gym. I have been avoiding the gym as the prospect of doing 30 minutes on a bike just seems dull to me. Kinda like craving a steak and eating a veggie burger instead...

I have my first physical therapy session this coming Tuesday on the 29th.

How many anchors did you get? I got 6 and it took about 18 months before I was at 100%. Did he your surgeon tighten the capsule as well or just fix the labrum tear?

 

[GoNiners!]

How many anchors did you get? I got 6 and it took about 18 months before I was at 100%. Did he your surgeon tighten the capsule as well or just fix the labrum tear?

Not sure on the number of anchors but he reattached the labrum and tightened the globular capsule according to the post operation pathology report. The joint definitely feels a lot tighter and I can feel the tightness beneath the front deltoid muscle the most. I am assuming the anchors were placed there. I will ask my physical therapist as he is cool about giving me the details of stuff as far as doctor notes and imaging go.

Interesting to me was when I tore the labrum off the bone, I felt a shifting in the rear delt and had pain and swelling there for 9 months.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Not sure on the number of anchors but he reattached the labrum and tightened the globular capsule according to the post operation pathology report. The joint definitely feels a lot tighter and I can feel the tightness beneath the front deltoid muscle the most. I am assuming the anchors were placed there. I will ask my physical therapist as he is cool about giving me the details of stuff as far as doctor notes and imaging go.

Interesting to me was when I tore the labrum off the bone, I felt a shifting in the rear delt and had pain and swelling there for 9 months.

I tore mine most of the way around. I think it happened in stages over a period of years. By the end the joint was completely unstable. I couldn't even raise the arm over shoulder level before the surgery.

Like you said reports on recovery times tend to vary. I think it has a lot to do with how much work they had to do in there. Just stick with your PT and go back and start hitting the weights again once your doctor gives you the green light. It may be slow but you will get there. I did lose some ROM but the strength is pretty close to 100% now.

 

[GoNiners!]

So tomorrow will make it 4 weeks post op for me. I have been measuring my recovery progress on a week to week basis.

I find myself able to raise my arm up to about chest height although it is a bit shaky. I find it is easier to do it palm down than it is if my hand is parrellel like a handshake. I have very little flexibility when it comes to putting my hand behind my back. I can tell when I am hitting the limit as the joint will start to experience tightness, then pressure, and finally pain. I ended up using the sling most of last week at work. I will try to go today without having to put my arm in a sling and see how things go.

Last night, as I was sleeping, I felt what I could only describe as an electric jolt to the rear part of my shoulder. I know I was tossing as turning quite a bit but it was strong enough to register in deep sleep. Not sure what the hell was going on with that as it has never happened before.

I have had some tender lumps in my armpit since the surgery that seem to be getting smaller but are still there. I am going to ask my physical therapist if it something normal from shoulder surgery or if I should shoot my primary care physician an email and let her know about it.

I shaved my face this morning using my right hand and felt good about it. I had to use my left for shaving my head as I am not able to get the right arm high enough to shave the back of my head, particularly behind my ears.

The last two nights I have been dreaming about lifting weights in the gym. Being a weightlifter has always played a large part of my personal identity. I have pretty much changed my life to accomodate my weight lifting schedule. So not being able to indulge has left a gaping hole in my life.

I'll let you guys know how physical therapy goes tommorrow.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Just to let you know, the tender lumps are likely just swollen lymph nodes due to shoulder edema from the surgery. They shouldn't be THAT tender though, so still go ahead and talk to your PT about it.

 

[GoNiners!]

Just got back from my physical therapy appointment. The physical therapist measured my range of motion and showed me some further passive range of motion exercises to do.

It doesn't look like I will be doing anything beyond passive range of motion stuff until 8 weeks post op.

We went through the surgery notes and it looks like the labrum was torn down the middle and both ends were flapping around in the joint. He speculated that the ball of the bone in the socket sheared the labrum in half when I dislocated the shoulder doing shoulder shrugs.

As for the procedure, they put in 3 dissolving anchors down the middle of the socket and reattched both ends of the labrum back to the middle of the socket. They also shaved the acromion to relieve the shoulder impingement on the supraspinatus.

So I am home now and icing the shoulder. It has been a little achy the last couple of days. It felt a bit swollen during the physical therapy appointment and I iced it there too.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Just got back from my physical therapy appointment. The physical therapist measured my range of motion and showed me some further passive range of motion exercises to do.

It doesn't look like I will be doing anything beyond passive range of motion stuff until 8 weeks post op.

We went through the surgery notes and it looks like the labrum was torn down the middle and both ends were flapping around in the joint. He speculated that the ball of the bone in the socket sheared the labrum in half when I dislocated the shoulder doing shoulder shrugs.

As for the procedure, they put in 3 dissolving anchors down the middle of the socket and reattched both ends of the labrum back to the middle of the socket. They also shaved the acromion to relieve the shoulder impingement on the supraspinatus.

So I am home now and icing the shoulder. It has been a little achy the last couple of days. It felt a bit swollen during the physical therapy appointment and I iced it there too.

Do they do use a tens machine on you after your sessions?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Do they do use a tens machine on you after your sessions?

For clarification if the OP doesn't know, it's an electrical stim unit that's supposed to reduce pain a bit.

 

[GoNiners!]

Do they do use a tens machine on you after your sessions?

The appointment was pretty basic. He measured my range of motion, showed me some exercises and the rest of the time I had my arm iced.

I will be seeing the physical therapist again in two weeks. In the meantime, I have my passive range of motion exercises to do on my own.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

The appointment was pretty basic. He measured my range of motion, showed me some exercises and the rest of the time I had my arm iced.

I will be seeing the physical therapist again in two weeks. In the meantime, I have my passive range of motion exercises to do on my own.

In two weeks? That seems a little bit long between sessions. IMO, that's inappropriate. Most of the time, they'll see you 2-3x per week with shoulder surgery rehab.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

In two weeks? That seems a little bit long between sessions. IMO, that's inappropriate. Most of the time, they'll see you 2-3x per week with shoulder surgery rehab.

Yeah man you need to be in there more than that. I was in there 3x week. The PT should be actively working on you to increase the ROM. Call your surgeon to discuss this asap. You will not get full ROM without the PT cranking on your shoulder several times a week.

IMO one of the reasons that I had a good outcome was because there was good communication between the PT, the surgeon and myself. I saw the doctor every two weeks for the first two months and once a month after that. After each appointment he would call the PT to discuss my progress or lack thereof.