UKC

Anyone had rotator cuff surgery?
How did it go and what was recovery like? Has it impacted your climbing?

I injured my RC in November at the wall and tried to ignore tha pain for a few weeks until I saw a physio at the start of the year. I've now been referred to a specialist. Will have to see, but think that some surgery is likely and am not looking forward to it. Especially being left handed for a while.
Is it the end of my climbing career, such as it is? At my level, I cannot afford to drop a grade, or I'll be back walking. Oh, and I'm over 40 so youth certainly isn't on my side.

Any advice would be most welcome.

In reply to markAut:
Surgery is just the start, nothing more.

Find a physio you like and beast yourself regularly with all the exercises you are told to do. If you do all the exercises as properly and as often as you are told to, you will get nearly back to full function, if not full function. Get lazy about your exercises at your peril; you will not get a good outcome.

Although not rotator cuff, last summer I got a bad case of adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder. I had exceptionally limited range of movement with a lot of agony. The procedure to release it got things going, but nothing more; now after months of seeing my physio at least once a week and after being religiously, freakishly committed to doing my exercises, I am now back at full normal function.

If you expect the surgery to solve all of this for you, you are in for a bad result.

If you are willing to push yourself to get a good result, you will get a good result.

In reply to markAut:
My Old Man had this. He was in real pain for years but carried on climbing, assuming at 55 that there was nothing to loose. Had it operated on eventually and steadily returned to climbing over the following months.

In reply to markAut:

I've had both mine surgically repaired (SLAP tears, 3 bolts in now), and climbed harder since, with no problems. It's definitely worth preparing and rehabbing really thoroughly if you want a good result, I joined a gym for 6 weeks and went every day in my sling!

In reply to markAut:

Hi, what are you having done and how serious is it?
I had surgery a few years back to repair a severed supraspinatus tendon and infraspinatus muscle at the ripe old age of 54. It took me nearly two years to recover and start climbing again even though the surgeon said I would never climb again!
Good luck with the surgery and keep up with the physio.
Chris

In reply to markAut:

Surgery isn't always necessary because rotator cuff tears are common in people with no pain. So they can just be an incidental finding in people with painful shoulders who get an MRI.

This is a good article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12975193

Better off persevering with the rehab.

In reply to markAut:

This another good article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10471998

In reply to markAut:
Morning Campers,

I've had both rotator cuffs operated on. The left one, with tears in the front, back and bottom of the cuff, as well as stretched ligaments and tendons, was lashed back together 11 years ago. The right one, with tears in the back and bottom of the cuff, as well as the stretched stuff was fixed 6 years ago. I was back climbing at my hardest (E1) 7 months after the first op and (because I had a better idea of what to expect and what to do) 5 months after the second op. I've since gone from strength to strength (pun intended) and bouldered 7B+ last summer.

The same surgeon did both of my shoulders, he was superb! The physios I was lucky enough to have both times were also excellent. But, as an earlier forumite said, it's all about the effort you put in - how much you want to get better! The hospital staff were well impressed with me because I was reading climbing guides the afternoon after one of my ops, working out which routes I wanted to climb.

The surgery basically lashes everything together too tightly and restricts mobility (but aids healing and strength of the joint itself). I was doing light movement physio the morning after my op (really scary taking the shoulder out of the sling so soon!) and the first six weeks were spent regaining mobility- any mobility not gained by this point would be really really hard to push later.

Then the strength work started, focusing mostly on the small shoulder control muscles. This was hard work.

Once my arms were back up to speed, I found the biggest barrier to my climbing/biking etc. was actually my head, as I was worried I'd put my arm in a vunerable position that'd make it dislocate again. It took about five years after the last op for me to stop worrying about this, although it still gets in the way of my climbing every now and again.

I realise that this has been a long and waffling emither (there's a surprise, coming from me) but basically:

Get it done.
Make a wishlist of climbs etc. to do post op.
Do the physio! Don't cut corners!
Climb better, harder and more confidently than before! Short term pain for long term gain.

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

P.S. For what it's worth, I'm 33.

In reply to Joyce:

Do the physio exercises. Do the physio exercises. And once again, do the physio exercises.

In reply to markAut:
Get the surgery done, before it gets worse (it will). I had a full depth rotator cuff tear fixed, tendon rebuild, ends of bone causing impingement removed. I couldn't drive for four months.

Certainly do the rehab, and remember that - like training - that does not mean pushing it too hard. In particular, the occasional few days or day off the exercises will help the recovery (the advice of my wife, who is a physio with many years of experience).

Me - age 52, climbing F7c+ 2 years ago, F7b in 2013 as my shoulder deteriorated, surgery Sept 2013, started a little bit of gentle F5 in February 2014. I can now do five press ups (at which a mate quipped 'Nearly back to full strength then!')

In reply to all:

Many thanks everyone. The UKC community never fails.

I think I was having a bit of a wobbler and fearing the unknown. My takeout is that it's not going to be easy, and it will probably hurt, but it will get better if I work for it. My body hasn't stopped me climbing yet and you have all given me good advice and proof that I can get over it.


Thanks everyone.

In reply to markAut:

Had mine done and sub acromal decompression. Had years of pain and restricted movement. So glad I had surgery, no pain, full range of movement. Wish I had done it years ago!! As previously said, get a good physio and stick at it post op. Do as your surgeon tells you, don't over do things and it will be fine.