[Closed] shoulder reconstruction - any good news stories ?

Oh well....

My dad had a complete shoulder replacement after 3 years or problems following a major rotator cuff injury. He’s not looked back since, doing everything he used to before the injury.

No breaks in terms of bone with me, but my rotator cuff was in bits. My consultant was amazed how loose my shoulder was. I could sneeze and my shoulder pop out.

Had a reconstruction and I can say now it is great. Still the odd day where it doesn't feel 100% stable, but it hasn't popped out since surgery.

I did lots of physio and kettle bell workouts to stabilise the shoulder. I started with resistance bands, doing simple movements in various directions. Built up strength of band as I went along. I do now a few years on still have to keep up the exercises, but 99. 9% of the time, the shoulder is all good.

You can find decent shoulder braces for riding, which helped but also gave me a little more confidence.

Chin up, stay positive and do small amounts of exercise according to what your doc or physio says.

Thanks for the encouraging tales, just what I need !

mrwhite, are you back on proper MTB stuff ?

Yep! Taken a few falls and where it would have popped out in the past, it stays in and feels strong. Lifting things on to shelves that are above shoulder height used to be a real issue too, now it isn't.

I did lots of physio before and after the op.

The worst was having a scan on the shoulder. They injected a dye deep inside. Bloody hurt like anything!

Check out the EVS shoulder brace. May help.

Good to hear, thanks

The ShoulderDoc website has lots of good information.
Len Funk has treated a few STW-ers, IIRC.

^^ useful link, thanks

Shoulder used to dislocated if I looked at it the wrong way, had a bankart repair done 7 years ago, it's rock solid now, better than the other one!.

Good to know, mine can’t even hold weight of arm or control out of sling so think it needs a big piece of work. 5 weeks tomorrow since the injury..In the hands of Lanarkshire’s finest at Hairmyres and Monklands on Monday.

The Funkmeister failed to sort my Dads shoulder but I can give you the name of the surgeon who sorted it out if you’re in the South West and need a recommendation.

Mrs Scape fell down some stairs last December. She tore all the ligaments from her rotator cuff and when they went to repair them they were too damaged to reattach. At the end of August she had a total shoulder replacement but reversed, so ball on scapula, socket on humerus, and with the deltoid rewired to aid movement. With some good physio and bloody-mindedness she has regained a considerable amount of use of her arm. She can now lift it vertical and is working on strength. The physio tells her very few people over the age of fifty can do much more than 45 degrees. New milestones every week

Took a fall in June and dislocated my elbow and broke my humerus
Not only was it the worst pain I've ever experienced I'm still really struggling with pain in the elbow from ligament damage .
A complete seperation of the elbow can be pretty limiting and I've already been told I won't be able to straighten my arm fully ever again and Being self employed and a family to provide for means I'm suffering a few set backs .
I know I should of taken more time off and some days it's so painful it brings tears to the eyes
I tried to ride the bike the other week and managed 1mile before it was too painful .
Not helpful to you but just a story of someone who sympathizes with your situation and if your in a position to take your time in recovery do so safe in the knowledge it's pretty grim out there and get the best possible help you can .
I'd go private in a heartbeat as you'll likely get better specialist advice as early on in my recovery i was told polar opposites from 2 different consultants and on one occasion was looking at someone else's xray.
Healing vibes mate

I went over the bars riding along a log at Cannock. Shoulder popped out (hurt like a bastard) but it somehow relocated. Carried on around the loop, couldn’t really hold onto the bars. Went over the bars again and it came out again. According to my mate, I screamed.
Fast forward a few weeks, I had reconstructive surgery at the Bath Clinic. For a while I had limited movement, after a joint injection I had full movement and within a few months had full movement and strength. It’s not bothered me since (8 years). The surgeon I saw was very specialised and did a lot of shoulder reconstructions for Bath rugby. His professional opinion was avoid surgery if you can however he also said that when he was operating that in his opinion, it would never have been stable without surgery. I think it pays to get the right guy onside but 100%, it’s completely recoverable.

Encouraging, not feeling quite so down now !

Hey guys
First post.
I am due surgery on Monday.
Was wiped out by a greyhound 6 weeks ago when out running. Didn’t have a scratch as I planted totally on the shoulder.
Rotator cuff seems ok but some bits of bone loose and he needs to sew a few things back together.
Going private as I wouldn’t have had an MRI by now.
Been in a sling for 6 weeks as the shoulder is very unstable.
Been doing one handed turbo training.
How soon after the operation did people start doing stuff again?
I am assuming I will be stuck on a turbo for most of 2020
Any advice appreciated
👍

nel, welcome!

Just listen to your surgeon, and do whatever your physio says.

Best of luck.

Motorbike crash 20 years ago, one of the injuries was complete shattering of shoulder, joint, cuff, ball. A maverick surgeon wanted to try and pin/plate/staple to allow other injuries to heal, before amputating the arm later (general consensus at the time was apparently no hope, chop it off). It worked out he was a genius and my shoulder is good. Continual exercises to assist it, looks a bit manky and wasted, but for 90% of life, it's great. So although my prognosis was dismal, it's a major result. Always hope.

Get well iain !
It’s long haul but you’ll get there. All the scaffolding came out of my shoulder this week after a messy crash in January.
Feeling great ! As above do the physio try to think positively. My bikes are all spotless 😁

So glad I put this post up as it has given me a degree of hope that I didn’t have. Thanks all and healing wishes to those still working with injuries.

For after the op, if you get some of those flexible freezable gel packs, to pop on and around the shoulder, they really helped too.

Other than that, get a good few box sets ready! 🙂

Cheers guys
Got the ice packs ready and Netflix ready 😨

Fingers crossed for you

Good luck to you🤞🤞

I haven't read the whole thread, but I suffered multiple shoulder dislocations and heavy damage to my rotator cuff and assorted ligaments and had a fracture to the scapular which healed badly and needed resetting.

I had the surgery about 7-8 years ago, have never looked back and wished I had it earlier. My shoulder is now far more stable than the uninjured one. I have probably 90% mobility... I can't raise my arm as high on the right as the uninjured left, but so what? Bench pressing gives me some pain so I don't do it.

Beyond that I believe the prognosis is very good. Hope it goes well.

Len Funk is a prof at wrightington.

Why I go to see my surgeon I giggle as its

Prof Funk is in the clinic

Front wheel washed out on a switchback, not even going quickly, but went down hard. When I eventually got to hospital they confirmed posterior dislocation and broke the humerus in three places. NHS were brilliant with me, fortunately when put back in the shoulder went together ok but consultant said 6 to 9 months before it would be 'as good as it's going to get'. Didn't fill me with confidence!
That was mid June, I've followed the physio religously, taken calcium and vitamin D supplements and I've been riding again for a month. I'm 46 and in 'OK' shape but by no means an athlete and it's going alright.
I 'm taking it very easy as my confidence is shot at but it's reminded me of why I started riding bikes in the first place, getting out into the countryside and not focussing on the 'technicality' or 'speed'of 'flow' of the trail.
It was horrible but it has served a purpose in a roundabout way, I don't take things for granted in the same way and I appreciate every ride no matter what.
Good luck with the recovery.

Sounds almost identical circumstances. What is scaring me is that I have pretty much no control over my arm when out the brace (and held by me and wife) 5 weeks in, so I’m presuming all the nerves and tendons are knackered and or detached. Top bit of humerus sitting squint. Will see what the Consultant has to say tomorrow and hope they can connect things up again. Have had a few bad nightmares about amputations !

Good look with tomorrow.

It took five years of pain and suffering before they decided to do mine. Struggled with the ironing and cleaning.

Now back to as normal as I can be and riding as good as before the crash. Even pumping iron at the gym. Before the operation I couldn't get my arm above chest height.

Had my operation in February 2013 and new straight away it was better. Back on the bike by Easter and did 2 weeks with Bike Verbier in the July.

Still got the scars, even though they tried to hide it behind my bra strap

I couldn't move my arm at all at first, my initial physio was holding a stick and then pushing it with my good arm of that makes sense. Another exercise was throwing a cord over a door, holding either end and then pulling with the good arm. I think this was about rebuilding muscle memory as i couldn't move it at all. Stick with it, it may surprise you how much returns over time.
Mine still hurts now and I've limited mobility hopefully that will improve.
Pain relief and lack of sleep won't help so keep the faith....

Many thanks gdm4 and Tracey, useful to know.

Mate of mine smashed his shoulder up pretty badly mountain biking a couple or so years ago. Snapped off the ball and broke the rim of the socket. A pretty major procedure to piece it all together. Took a while to recover but he made good progress. He was very determined with his physio and did far more than was advised but has basically got full movement and strength back. He doesn't mountain bike anymore as he doesn't want to risk coming off again, but still ski's, road bikes and other things. So it is possible to make a good recovery if you work at the physio, but first things first, it's got to start healing first. Keep at it and with some determination and physio I'm sure you'll be back at it.

He doesn’t mountain bike anymore as he doesn’t want to risk coming off again, but still ski’s, road bikes

That's some logical risk assessment he's done! :-0

^^^ LOL 🙂 I thought that too !

Oh there is no logic going on. Probably a good dose of being traumatised by mountain biking and a bit of his wife telling him his mountain biking days are over! He’s not sold his bike yet and we still keep on inviting him out but not tempted him so far. The irony is he did the damage on a pretty Nast kicker jump which the rest of us avoided and he decided would take on. Completely out of character as he’s normally keen to keep his wheels on the ground.

Broken clavicle, two ribs and a frozen shoulder here, after crashing the road bike in August 2018. Three months of miserable non-union then a plate op in November, then a capsular release op last April. Full range of movement is back and I'm beginning to be able to sleep on that side now. The best thing I did was to take the physio seriously after the capsular release so as to prevent the joint from re-freezing - that meant three sesions a day lying on a yoga mat and moving the arm above my head, first with gravity and later with a dumbell. Now, a year after the crash, the clavicle is sorted but the shoulder still clicks and pops when I raise my arm, which the consultant said would continue for a year after the shoulder op.

Ian - amputation was my prognosis. Pretty immediately after I left hospital and bed ridden, my Dad popped a pulley into the ceiling, hooked a rope through it and onto a sling, so my good arm could pull my bust arm up and down in a very controlled manner. I then became obsessed with physio and 20 years later, doing great, no major downsides so keep going!

Some great service from NHS today. Saw Consultant who has been speaking to shoulder surgeon who has reviewed my scans and xrays. I am seeing the shoulder surgeon on Wednesday and they have booked theatre slot for Thursday for reconstruction..

That's good news.

^^^ it sure is 👍

Had my op yesterday
Did two repairs and removed some bits of bone
All seemed to go ok
Not in too much pain although I sense that’s still to come
Just sat of my turbo trainer for an easy hour, one handed of course 🙄

Back to the box sets now

^^^^ great news ! We can swop recovery tales soon 🙂