Dr. Holden is great. He does knees also but is excellent on shoulders. He found and fixed things in my shoulder the best that could be done after another surgeon attempted twice. Shoulder is far from whole but much better after Dr. Holden. I have had numerous surgeries over the years and shoulders are one of the toughest. The key is doing PT as prescribed, as soon as your allowed to move it do it. Best Doctor and best wishes to you.
I too, can not recommend Orthopedic Associates. I did not have a good experience with surgeon that has worked on one of our forum member. I can say other have had the same not good experience. Please go with Dr. Holden if it's at all possible.
There's not a proven benefit to using a CPM chair after rotator cuff surgery. I never use one on my patients. Of course, I don't make money off of renting CPM's like a lot of doctors do and they won't necessarily tell you that they do. Anyway, I wouldn't use a CPM if it were me, especially not if it cost my even a penny more out of pocket.
Dr. Stubbs in Stillwater did mine about 5 years ago. It wasn't a complete tear and I had a small spur taken out. He did it all with a scope. If yours is torn completely and they have to reattach it to the bone, good luck. A friend that had one that bad said it was hell.
Interesting, I wasn't really given a choice, the chair showed up, and insurance covered it all.
I did find it odd that my insurance wouldn't cover the cooling/compression machine, it was worth every penny of the cost to me.
GREAT description of my total experience to the letter. I would however ad that mine was an open surgery that involved scraping the shoulder joint clear of all bone spurs that had developed too. My tear was "a 10" according to my Dr. so he also tightened up my shoulder while in there. Do exactly as the above post says in the rehab. Handle the pain that goes with the rehab too as if you don't full movement will not come back. I was lucky in that I had a wife that made me religiously do my exercises daily. Even at 68 I can do most anything I want with that shoulder.
Don't know anything about David Holden, but Don McGinnis at McBride's did mine in June of 2006. Great guy and obviously a great surgeon. I had a bone spur which they removed arthroscopically, but they had to open me up to repair the full thickness tear. I never had the chair, but started PT the next day. Yeah, some of it is painful as hell for a while, but it makes all the difference in the world. I'm right-handed and it was my right shoulder, so it was pretty awkward for some time. I already had arthritis in that shoulder, so that made it even worse. Whatever you do, go to and do the PT religiously! I know folks who did it, and some who did not. Those who didn't do the PT never fully recovered, i.e. they never regained their full range of motion. I don't believe I would be using that arm much at all today if it had not been for the surgery. Do it, and listen to the Doc and the Physical Therapist!
I had and a problem with my acromion (pointy end of shoulder bone?), that was causing it to tear my bursa sac. Dr. Holden fixed this for me before it caused a tear in my rotator cuff and it was a quick and easy recovery. After the cuff is torn, it's a whole different problem with recovery. Dr. Holden has also fixed a knee for me, took out the cartilage and cleaned up the sharp edges and worked on a torn meniscus. He does an excellent job and I would use him again if I needed anything done. My problems stem from arthritis, old age and wear and tear, no injury involved.
The only downside to Dr. Holden, the long wait in the office waiting room for post-op follow ups.
Mike
The only downside to Dr. Holden, the long wait in the office waiting room for post-op follow ups.
Mike
Thanks for all the info. And any additional that may still be to come.
This thing is scarring the crap out of me.
My hands are my livelihood.
Right now, I can do most of my work OK with minimal positional pain, however he said that if I stayed where I was, I'd need a shoulder or reverse-shoulder replacement inside of 5 years.
I'm thinking a call the the physical therapy clinic on Tuesday will be in order to talk proactively with them.
Dave
This thing is scarring the crap out of me.
My hands are my livelihood.
Right now, I can do most of my work OK with minimal positional pain, however he said that if I stayed where I was, I'd need a shoulder or reverse-shoulder replacement inside of 5 years.
I'm thinking a call the the physical therapy clinic on Tuesday will be in order to talk proactively with them.
Dave
Had mine done 2 yrs ago in Ardmore by Dr. Cummin. Can't say enough good about the man. Had very little pain and have pretty much full range of motion. Just don't have quite the strength I had before. As you've been told, PT is the key.
