Chas Tennis
G.O.A.T.
In late Dec, I injured my shoulder in the light rail station at Denver's Union Station.
I was rushing through the tunnel under the light rail tracks. I got on an escalator with two suitcases, holding the pull handles, one suitcase on step above and another on step below. (Normally, I carry the smaller suitcase in my upper hand). When I started up, I completely lost my balance and grabbed the escalator rail with my right hand. It gave my arm a strong pull. No immediate pain or pop. On the light rail train, there was some sharp shoulder pain, so I knew I had injured something.
After my flight, I had pain raising my arm to adjust the car heater and used my other arm to help my right arm.
The pain was toward front and lateral. Hurt thereafter when I lifted my arm. Loss of strength.
The shoulder seemed to improve over the next two weeks. I had stopped tennis after the injury, but in Jan decided to play platform tennis. I played platform tennis 3 times, not much pain, played well. Still, there was a little shoulder pain the night after the last time. I stopped platform tennis too.
I had some tennis scheduled for a trip in March and the shoulder was still not right after 7 weeks. So in Feb, I decided to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I got an MRI. There were miscellaneous findings, the important one seemed to be 'small full thickness tear Supraspinatus'. The 'small' size was 10 mm.
The good news for treatment was that the tear was small and surgical outcomes are better with small tears. The bad news was recovery is 9 months. The surgery was open. I had read forum links here that tendon strength is very slow to heal with many months needed for the strongest healed tendon tissue strength, so I believe recovery to maximum strength for tendon repair always takes a long time.
I got the surgery on Wednesday, 4 days ago. It seemed to go well and I hope to start physical therapy week after next. My best understanding, not very clear yet, is that about 1/3 of my supraspinatus, "footprint", was off the bone, mostly on the left side of the insertion - to be confirmed the next time I speak to the surgeon. I still don't have a clear picture of how the MRI's, arthroscopic pictures (for guidance of the open surgery) and the anatomical drawings all tie together.
Anyone have some rotator cuff surgery recovery experiences, especially regarding what capability and when?
I was rushing through the tunnel under the light rail tracks. I got on an escalator with two suitcases, holding the pull handles, one suitcase on step above and another on step below. (Normally, I carry the smaller suitcase in my upper hand). When I started up, I completely lost my balance and grabbed the escalator rail with my right hand. It gave my arm a strong pull. No immediate pain or pop. On the light rail train, there was some sharp shoulder pain, so I knew I had injured something.
After my flight, I had pain raising my arm to adjust the car heater and used my other arm to help my right arm.
The pain was toward front and lateral. Hurt thereafter when I lifted my arm. Loss of strength.
The shoulder seemed to improve over the next two weeks. I had stopped tennis after the injury, but in Jan decided to play platform tennis. I played platform tennis 3 times, not much pain, played well. Still, there was a little shoulder pain the night after the last time. I stopped platform tennis too.
I had some tennis scheduled for a trip in March and the shoulder was still not right after 7 weeks. So in Feb, I decided to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I got an MRI. There were miscellaneous findings, the important one seemed to be 'small full thickness tear Supraspinatus'. The 'small' size was 10 mm.
The good news for treatment was that the tear was small and surgical outcomes are better with small tears. The bad news was recovery is 9 months. The surgery was open. I had read forum links here that tendon strength is very slow to heal with many months needed for the strongest healed tendon tissue strength, so I believe recovery to maximum strength for tendon repair always takes a long time.
I got the surgery on Wednesday, 4 days ago. It seemed to go well and I hope to start physical therapy week after next. My best understanding, not very clear yet, is that about 1/3 of my supraspinatus, "footprint", was off the bone, mostly on the left side of the insertion - to be confirmed the next time I speak to the surgeon. I still don't have a clear picture of how the MRI's, arthroscopic pictures (for guidance of the open surgery) and the anatomical drawings all tie together.
Anyone have some rotator cuff surgery recovery experiences, especially regarding what capability and when?
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