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Hi All,
I joined this forum as I want to help others who have concerns/fears/questions about having a total shoulder replacement. I had one at 30 years old after a car accident in which i shattered my shoulder into 9 pieces. A year later I am now doing well, I often forget alll the pain and agony that I went though.
If anyone has any questions etc, please ask!
thanks,
Gillian
I just scheduled surgery yesterday , total shoulder to be done in September. I'm a tennis player with bilateral THRs but this really has me worried. My OS says that I'll be able to return to playing but I'm not sure that I believe him.He did a great job with my hips and shoulder surgery is his main area of expertise ,still, there's a little voice in my head that is whispering to me that this is going to be tough. I've had rotator cuff surgery twice in this same shoulder so i know what the rehab will be like but still..........Any tennis players out there with total shoulders???
Barbara
It depends which hand/arm you use to play tennis. I had my replacement done on my left shoulder, A year on now I can only lift my arm just up to above shoulder level and it is a lot weaker than the other arm. I prob wont ever be able to lift it and higher than this. I dont think I would be able to play tennis with it. You have to be very careful not to put your shoulder replacement back out again, because the chances are that the second one might not work very well. Thats why they generally dont like doing them with young people. My career was wrecked because of my injuries, it was very hard to take at the time but I have got over it now and accepted it. Now I'm just working in an office job.
I play with my right hand, the one that needs the surgery.Right now I have limited ROM but with pain and I can still play. I'd be very happy if the ROM remains the same but with no pain.Every day movement causes pain all day long.
Gillian,
I was so glad to see another young person who'd had a TSR! I will be 27 next week and am due to have a TSR in October. I've already had 6 shoulder surgeries in the past 18 months, the most recent being a removal of my biceps tendon. This was all due to a shoulder injury I had in college playing basketball. I'm a very active person (well, I was prior to these surgeries). I currently have no cartilage in my right shoulder, extreme pain with movement, and only about 10% of my active range of motion.
Could you please share a little more about your experience with the shoulder replacement? What was the recovery like? Would you do it again? How active are you able to be now? What sort of information have you been given as to how long the replacement might last? Because I'm so young, I'm worried about what this replacement might mean for me in the future! Thanks so much for any information!
Best,
Laura
Docbabs,
I'm happy to tell you that I rarely get any pain now. If I try and lie on my left side in bed it gets sore or if I try to lift anything heavy it would hurt it also. But most days I'm relatively pain free :-) It did take a good 9-12 months to get to this stage though.
Laura,
The shoulder replacement is a very tough and painful operation to recover from. It does take a lot of time and you have to learn how to do things one handed for a while. I had to move back home with my parents for a while. But once you are through the worst of it you kinna forget about the pain that you went through if you know what I mean. In your case it definately sounds like a great option if you are in bad pain now. As I said above I rarely get any pain now.
No-one really knows how long shoulder replacements last, my surgeon said around 10 to 15 years. He also said that there is a chance that a second one might not work as well if at all, but he said not to worry about that because who knows what they will have invented by then!!
Im just getting back to my training now, there are certain things I can't do like swimming/rowing, but I'm trying to work with what I can. I'm doing a lot of walking and lifting light weights to try and strengthen my arm a bit, and using a stepper and gym ball. I've started trying to run again. I'm so unfit its taking me a while to get back into it!!!
I do lead a pretty normal life now, only things I cant do are lifting anything heavy (like my 3 year old neice!!), swimming etc.... also need to change your wardrobe a bit, there are certain types of clothes that I cant get on or off, anything that requires to lift your arm right up to get it on.
Oh I also bought an automatic car, because it hurt my shoulder trying to change gears.
If you want any more information, please feel free to send me an email gilliand70@hotmail.com,
thanks,
Gillian
I was just told I also need a complete shoulder replacement. How did you pick a doctor?
im from northern ireland and luckily the health service is free over here, i didnt get to pick a doctor i just got which ever one was allocated to me!
I had my right shoulder replaced in January of 08.I thank my lucky stars because I have almost 100 full use. Almost no pain in it at all. Other medical professionals can not believe how great my shoulder is. I thank my Dr. Enrique Monsanto at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, Also great therapy.
In 1997 in the line of duty a crowd attacked me & destroyd my right rotator cuff
I
Had to retire from 21 years of police work
Wares 5 years ( 2002) that I had until state insurance would run out
I went to as state u. Sports medicine
I was told there was no way to replace a rotator cuff
Now that I read your story, I'm thinking they and State colaborated to deny me any help
Johng
In 1997 in the line of duty a crowd attacked me & destroyd my right rotator cuff
I
Had to retire from 21 years of police work
Wares 5 years ( 2002) that I had until state insurance would run out
I went to as state u. Sports medicine
I was told there was no way to replace a rotator cuff
Now that I read your story, I'm thinking they and State colaborated to deny me any help
Johng
Hi,
I also have been told I need a shoulder replacement. Could someone tell me how much pain they had days after. And anyone had allergies or issues with the impant.
Thanks,
Sharon
Hi Sharon, I had a total shoulder replacement 9 weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised when i woke up in the recovery room with very little pain. It wasn't until several hours later that I discovered That I still had a catheter in my neck feeding the area with anesthesia. Terrific. Not so terrific when it started to go to places other than my shoulder. It took a good 24-32 hours to get things settled. It was and continues to be very painful. I've had bilateral THRs and 2 previous rotator cuff repairs on the same shoulder and this ids the most painful surgery yet. Yesyerday was the first PT session( my 22nd) that I did not shed any tears.I still take "something" before each session. My ROM is very good, no more grinding or grating or popping, but the arm itself is quite weak. I'm told that it will all return. i hope so. I'm looking forward to getting back on the tennis courts in the spring. I see a lot of hard(er) work ahead for me. Let me know how it works out for you.
Barbara L.
Hey Barbara,
Glad to hear you got through your surgery ok! Yeah the first few months are the most painful times. It takes a full year for the shoulder replacement to heal so you will still experience some pain until then. of course it wont be as bad in another couple of months than it is now. How is your movement coming along?
I found this hard to believe but you will continue to improve in your movement for up to 18 months after surgery. Mine is 19 months ago now and I think I've got all the recovery I'm going to now, I can lift my arm probably to bewtween 110 and 120 degrees both ways :-)
The arm is still weaker than my other arm but that is partly my own fault, there is no reason why i cant be lifting light weights now to strengthen it up, but you get fed up with all the exercises sometimes!
take care, and if you have any questions for me please feel free to ask,
-gillian
Good Morning Gillian, Yep ,so far I'd say the surgery is a sucess. My movement is coming along. With assistance I can go to 135degrees in forwartd movement and a little less sideways. Without assistance it's another story but I do think it's all due to lack of strength in my muscles and I've not really started strengthening in earnest.My nights are still somewhat uncomfortable but getting better. I go to the gym all the time so lifting weights is second nature to me. For now I'm limited to very , very light weights. I expect to continue to improve for quite a while.
Barbara
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