Updated: Torn Rotator Cuff Question: Had the Surgery on Monday. Good stuff at Bottom of page 4.

I'm praying that's the route they take with mine.
I'm no Calvin Klein underwear model, but I'm in pretty good shape and very active.

My husband had a torn rotator cuff. He went to his Chiropractor, who gave him some exercises to do with a rubber band thing that was placed on the doorknob, and other exercises as well. They were exercises to strengthen the area. No surgery and his is "95% better", as he says.

Best of luck to ya OP!

If you do arp wave neuro therapy you won't need surgery

You will do fine. Get an ice thermos rotator cuff recovery cuff. Sounds weird but it's a thermos with ice water attached to hose that sends the cold water to bag you can wrap around shoulder. You just put thermos above shoulder and runs down. It is very important for relief. I hope you will have help after surgery for a time. I will be honest my husbands tough, but the pain was not good the first few days.

I'm slated for surgery on the 9th to repair a torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder that I injured back in April.
The pain was excruciating for months. Even my PCP's cortisone / lidocaine shots only provided temporary relief (3-4 days).

At the consultation my surgeon said most people that get it done would absolutely not go through with it again and full recovery could take at least 6 months!

Although currently the pain is just dull but still present, should I still go through the surgery or just tough it out?
Can they repair themselves on their own? Sorry for sounding so ignorant, but I'm torn...Literally.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Shoulder will never be 100% again, just know that from the start. It'll likely need surgery again in 20 years no matter what you do.

That being said, do the surgery. You'll be able to get as close to 100% as you can that way, and the pain will go away once healing and therapy is done. There's no reason to suffer through the pain otherwise.

Unless you are a pro athlete with extreme intense rehab paid for by an organization that made an investment in that shoulder, just assume it won't go back to normal for the rest of your life.

I had a excrutiatingly painful tear in my cuff. Actually, torn in 3 spots. My doctor could not operate as there was no guarantee it could be fixed with surgery due to where the tears were. They sent me to PT, which was useless. My arm began to freeze as well. Just literally stopped working. After about 5 years it did heal itself. Its basically normal. I can do jumping jacks, jump rope lift wieghts etc, no problem. I am a female in great shape. I tore my cuff due to extensive push ups, lol. I used to do 3 sets of 20 push ups before bed every night. Sometimes more if I had the time. I was very buff . However, during the 5 year healing period, I lost all of my muscles and now back down to very tiny frame, normal muscle mass. My sister had the operation, she is fine, enjoyed her time off.. So, to answer your question, yes, they do heal themselves BUT it does take quite a qhile depending on the tear.

Tore my right side back in Feb. Through a range of motion exam, the doc recommended rehab exercises and also rubber band ercersises. I'm now back to lifting weights, although not as heavy as before, but coming along. I recommend the Bob and Brad site on YouTube. They have several videos on RC injuries.

They will not. I asked them about that during my consultation. I also opted for NO transfusion if I bleed out. Then signed my DNR.

So glad you asked them! Many prayer headed your way OP.

I had both shoulders done. The first took about a year to recover 100% but I babied it too much based on what the doctors told me. The 2nd one only took about 4 months because I didn't baby it.

Recovery is very painful; but, I would do it again to get rid of the constant pain I was having.

I highly recommend doing exercises to strengthen the shoulder muscles after recovery. Both shoulders are now better than they ever were due to the strengthening exercises that I continue to do to this day.

I tore mine and tried going to a doctor . they wanted to do a MRI which involved inserting a very painful needle of constrast into my shoulder. I couldn't take the pain so I stopped after two tries on different date. So then I opted for physical therapy. After a few visits it seemed stupid so I stopped going. my shoulder is fine now 4 years later. no pain

If you do arp wave neuro therapy you won't need surgery

Thank you! The surgery is a week from tomorrow so alternative options are literally nonexistent at this point.

I guess I should have started this thread in April. LOL

You don't "have" to have the surgery next week just because it's scheduled.. ya know?

I went to my chiropractor. They have a physical therapy unit in their office, who put me thru a variety of stretching exercises for rotary cuff. YouTube also has similar exercises, I'll include the link below.

These exercises start out gradual and build up over time as the shoulder strengthens, etc. they gave me an over-the-door pulley to use at home for exercising there, along with the stretching exercises at home.

The thing is.. the rotary cuff IS going to take quite a bit of time to heal.. yet.. it WILL heal when given that time. (look how long it's been for me). I only needed pain pills for the first few days, no shots. Just daily stretching and exercises after that. Nine months later now, and my range of motion has returned nearly fully, I can reach up high as well as behind me, etc.

All without surgery.

Some people I know have had surgery to repair their rotary cuff, and they've still gone thru about the same amount of TIME for the healing.

Exercises for rotary cuff, etc


[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

I'm slated for surgery on the 9th to repair a torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder that I injured back in April.
The pain was excruciating for months. Even my PCP's cortisone / lidocaine shots only provided temporary relief (3-4 days).

At the consultation my surgeon said most people that get it done would absolutely not go through with it again and full recovery could take at least 6 months!

Although currently the pain is just dull but still present, should I still go through the surgery or just tough it out?
Can they repair themselves on their own? Sorry for sounding so ignorant, but I'm torn...Literally.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Let me tell you how no surgery goes. My shoulder hurt for nearly a year. I rehabbed my shoulder myself. It is fully functional, but easily strains out and will start hurting if my arm just hangs by my side for too long. It is just super easy to get it wrecked back up and in pain. I would go for the surgery.

I didn't have surgery, just did some stretching daily and I seem to be back to normal. Well, not superman normal, but good enough.

If I had surgery every time I hurt something, I would look like a rag doll that was ripped up and sewn together too many times. :)

God bless

That's my exact dilemma, but I think I'm going to go through with it otherwise I'll wind up looking like Quagmire on that one episode of Family Guy (one arm a LOT bigger than the other).

My wife had it done.

Completely normal function now, no pain.

She tells people, just do what your rehab trainers SAY-

and you will do well.

You may need a helper to get you ready fora shower and to dress.

My wife got a couple of “blouses” shirts that had Velcro connections
(find & purchase on internet)

to allow easier dressing. She then passed them on to the next person

that needed them !