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lubbockclimber
Trad climber
lubbock,tx
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 21, 2012 - 02:19pm PT
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What was the recovery from the surgery like.
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Mar 21, 2012 - 02:24pm PT
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For me it was like five months of running. Good luck.
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Mar 21, 2012 - 05:27pm PT
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I'm six weeks from torn labrum and rotator cuff surgery. Lots of physical therapy and being vigilant to my home program...
Still considerable discomfort...primarily when I work on increasing range of motion. For about 4 weeks after surgery it just constantly hurt.
Lots and lots of icing.
Susan
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 22, 2012 - 12:11am PT
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Lubbock, you went from asking what kind of cams to use to what to do with a torn rotators cuff. Dude, warm up, start slow. stretch first.....sigh....get that Eric Horst book on training. he emphasizes over and over: first, don't get hurt don't get hurt: don't get hurt. Then he shows how to minimize you getting hurt.
For myself, I slipped on snow a year back hiking and ripped both shoulders. Pretty good. At first I could not move my right arm and the left was only slightly better. Driving home entailed no radio and a lot of work. They still hurt a year later. I deal. Sigh... I may go to the Dr too.
..after I get back from the climbing trip I'm heading out on tomorrow.
Good luck.
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lubbockclimber
Trad climber
lubbock,tx
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 22, 2012 - 10:13am PT
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Thanks for the advice guys.
However I was not asking what kind of cams to "use" I just like talking about them. I am a good deal more experienced than my post suggests I am. Texas can spit out good climbers too.
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OldEric
Trad climber
Westboro, MA
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Mar 22, 2012 - 12:52pm PT
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Unfortunately just "torn rotator cuff" doesn't give enough information to really talk meaningfully. There are 4 primary tendons. Which one(s) do you have torn" How bad was the tear - they are typically categorized into 4 types. How long ago did the tear happen? What is the accessed quality of the remaining tendon and associated muscle?
I am 5 weeks post surgery for the repair of a type 4 (massive) tear of the subscap. The bicep tendon was impacted and repaired too. The subscap was detached (from the bone) and retracted (into the muscle). It has been tough - lots of pain. Another 5 months before I can think of climbing and a year before I will be fully recovered - which probably won't ever be to the same level as per injury.
In other words I am sort of a worse case scenario. It would do me no good to hear what a walk in the park it was for someone who had a partial tear of the supraspinatus (most common cuff injury) repaired.
The devil is in the details.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Mar 22, 2012 - 01:29pm PT
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Hi, best of luck to you and recovery.
I went lo angle slabbing after about 6 mo. It went ok
I was able to climb some "steep" in the ORG after 12 mo.
All of this on TR so I could let go before putting to much pressure on my arm.
I started leading and it was 3 years before I was confident enuf to really go for a run out right arm mantle....... with serious fall potential.
So to answer your Q.... 3 years. Good luck with it.
Dwain... good luck to you, let us know how it goes.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Mar 22, 2012 - 01:59pm PT
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Eric, I had the same deal in 2004. Fully ruptured subscap. Also tore off the outer bicep and had some other partials. It was a traumatic injury so the tissue was in good shape other than being torn.
6 months rehab with no climbing. Then easy routes. 1 year to 100%.
Guy... 3 years? I guess I wasn't paying attention, but that is an awfully long time.
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OldEric
Trad climber
Westboro, MA
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Mar 22, 2012 - 02:15pm PT
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K. - that's encouraging to hear thanks.
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Gene
climber
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Mar 22, 2012 - 02:59pm PT
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My recovery time frame was about the same as those who posted above. About 7 months from surgery until my doc gave me a free pass. About a year or so to get back to the pre-injury level. My surgury was rather involved - 5 hours under the knife, actually, under the scope.
g
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Mar 22, 2012 - 03:12pm PT
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Yes, there's big difference in these things between a partial and a catastrophic total tear. My partial healed in about the same time it would have taken to therapize after surgery and with less pain. However, a catastrophic total tear has to be repaired because it'll never fix itself. A full range of motion studies can often give you a better idea about how likely it is you can heal yourself versus going through invasive surgery that invariably will cut muscles that will never return to normal. Can you hold your arm out in front of you at a 90 degree angle? Not total then. It all varies case by case. I'm back to bicep curling 160lbs, but it took over three years to come back to full strength and improve beyond it. Sure did hurt like heck to begin with!
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Mar 22, 2012 - 04:22pm PT
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Yes, Kris it was 3 years. That's full strength, my shoulder deteriorated over the spam of about 10 years, my doc told me the dam thing was almost gone and was held on by a milimeter.
I had done lots of PT, like you did, but I finally decided to get it fixed. (That took some time to convince my PPO to OK it)
Maybe a traumatic injury is better???
If anyone is thinking about having this done, I would do it now, B4 Obama care kicks in and THEY won't authorize elective surgery. (heay your arm is still attched, why wory? Come back when it's worse)
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Mar 22, 2012 - 05:21pm PT
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Yeah Guy, Dr. El'Attrache told me that traumatic injuries are usually more straightforward repairs than degenerative ones. Frequently in a degenerated shoulder he has to resect (remove) diseased inflamed tissue and work with what healthy tissue is available.
I had a small tear in my subscap which he said was probably a couple of years old. It was not in the cuff but rather in the body of the muscle, and the muscle slacked off, despite PT, to defend itself from further injury. I suspect that in my somewhat self guided PT I was not doing the right things to strengthen it (if I knew then what I know now...) Anyway the joint was unbalanced but not inflamed (Guy, you got those shots of me doing Liquid Jesus the week before) when I hit it with a "perfect storm" of external rotation while pressing up on an undercling at full reach straight out to the side. I was having a bit of difficulty but not about to fall and just went to full emergency power and... crunch. A bunch of stuff all tore at once, folks heard it on the ground.
edit: Good luck Cosmic! I'm getting an eval on my left one in a couple weeks. It's not serious, just feels weak and as one who learns from experience (sometimes) I want to get into the right PT program to keep it from going south.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Mar 22, 2012 - 05:31pm PT
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I'm back to bicep curling 160lbs
Good God man!!
That's 15 pounds more than I weigh!
That's with both arms and a barbell, yes?
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ec
climber
ca
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Mar 22, 2012 - 06:47pm PT
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Kris...I'm waiting to hear back from you.
 ec
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Mar 23, 2012 - 01:09am PT
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That's with both arms and a barbell, yes?
I cannot tell a lie: No, not with free-weights on a barbell. Once at 160lb max on a weight machine. 7-8 at 140lbs on the same machine, 15 at 120lbs on the machine. The machines are not nearly as accurate as free-weights, but are a bit safer, less hoingo-boingo on the tendons. Took about 3 months of power lifting to move up to that max, but no pain whatsoever at the site of the old injury.
Like they say, if it hurts don't do it!
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 23, 2012 - 02:32am PT
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hey there say, lubbockclimber...
hope and prayers so this all goes well for you...
as you can see, many fine folks have 'gone before you'
and have so much to share...
(my dad had it done too--not a climber, but a 'fine folk') :)
get well soon as possible, :)
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Dec 12, 2014 - 08:45pm PT
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Hey All!
I realize you've probably all moved on to bigger and better things, but I just wanted to ask if there's any advice you might offer now in hindsight? What worked well, not so well, etc.?
Surgery in a little over a week to repair where I separated the labrum from the back of my shoulder, a tear in my A-C joint and shaving off of some bone spurs in the same joint. Bonus will be whether my biceps tendon is also shot.
Looking forward to it because I haven't slept in several months, having thought I was just having my usual every-so-often bout with muscle spasms. I fully went to the doctor expecting a PT prescription, which would have been just ducky. He was already into the explanation of the arthroscopic technique, anchors and stitching before I realized he had said "surgery". I blinked my eyes a few times and croaked out: "Surgery? Seriously?" Yep. If I ever want to climb, swim or do handstands again.
I wish I could say it happened doing something athletic, but the muppet jumped out of my arms without warning and took my arm with her. lol
If you have a moment, if you could share your thoughts on other ways to train while recovering, I would be so grateful. I've already been sedentary for many months and it looks like from what I've read I've got a long road ahead -- not good for someone as hyper as I am!!!
Many thanks in advance for your guidance!
LilaBiene
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Dec 12, 2014 - 09:30pm PT
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If the Long Head Outer Bicep is ruptured talk to your doc about re-attaching it to the front of the humerus, keeping it entirely out of the rotator cuff.
None of my biz of course, but if my doc didn't understand this procedure I'd be shopping...
Ruptured subscap and just about everything else at least partial thickness tear. Notice the lack of inflammation. Clean livin' pays off. The outer bicep went to the humerus. Works great, better than the other one.
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Dec 12, 2014 - 09:38pm PT
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Thanks -- the reattachment is an option, but the surgeon won't know what's going on until he gets in there -- the MRI image didn't provide enough info. He's a sports orthopedist, and I'm in good hands. Just really not looking forward to being out of commission for such a long time. ")
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