Torn rotator cuff.

[HoLeChit]

I’ve had both of mine torn twice, and especially in the case of my right one, I’m really sick of it. First real tear was probably 14 years ago. I’ll go a while with little pain, doing my thing,and then do something to aggravate things. This last week I managed to do a couple things to aggravate it, and now I’m in enough pain to be nauseous. Not the first time, last few times this happened I threw up. Haven’t thrown up this time. I’m tired of going through this, and want to get it fixed.

Anybody here have the surgery done? What was it like? How long was the recovery? How has your shoulder functioned afterwards?

Has anyone gone through the VA for this sorta thing? How do you get surgery through the VA? How long does it take? I’m a little apprehensive about going this route, as it took me 2 years to get a CPAP/sleep study through the VA.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

I've had torn rotators in both shoulders. Left shoulder in Feb 2013, right in Feb 2019. The surgery isn't bad at all. It's the recovery and rehab that takes forever. And I tend to develop a lot of scar tissue so I had to have a second surgery to remove scar tissue that was binding the shoulder on the left side, and a manipulation to tear up scar tissue on the right side. After I healed, though, both have been great and pain free. Mine were both workers comp from slipping on ice/snow exactly 6 years apart...same day.

I'm guessing you go see you primary care VA doc, get a referral for probably an MRI, then get the surgery. It shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[John6185]

First, you have to be registered at the VA. Then you have to see a Primary Care Doctor who will refer you to Orthopedics. (somewhat of a lengthy wait). You'll receive an X-Ray of the shoulder then Ortho will see you and if your condition is bad enough and I believe yours is, they will schedule you for surgery. Usually a resident will perform the surgery under the tutorship of a board certified surgeon. After the surgery and this is the good part, a Social Worker will come in and interview you and ask what you need such as a grab bar in your shower, shower chair or other things necessary for convalescence. Another good part is that you won't receive a bill if you are Service Connected (SC) greater than 50% or SC on your shoulder.
If it were me, if a resident is going to do the surgery, I would insist that a 3rd year resident do the surgery since they have already done many surgeries. You don't want to be a training aid for a 1st year resident, they are straight out of medical school.

 

[AKmoose]

If it's been awhile it might of atrophied with little chance of sucessful repair. I flipped on my mountain bike and could barely use my right arm, got an MRI done and the ortho said too much had been torn awhile and it would be pointless, didn't realize about 10 years back I did a partial tear and just worked though it. Ortho said my only option when it got to hurting too much was a "reverse shoulder replacement", going to have to hurt pretty darn bad before I do that.

 

[KOPBET]

Go in the back yard, get a handful of dirt…

 

[Mr.Glock]

Feel for ya, 7 cuff shoulder, 3 labrum surgeries, one clavicle removal and one replacement. Hope you heal up fast and they don’t find a worse case once they are in there. They quite often do so. Enjoy the recliner for awhile as you know!

 

[hunter966]

Had my right shoulder torn and operated on, not through the VA though.

If you do it get a Ice Man, it’s basically a small igloo ice chest with a circulating pump that attaches to a pad that’ll attach to your shoulder after the surgery and you fill it with ice an water.

It sure helped me when I came home and recouped.

 

[John6185]

Had my right shoulder torn and operated on, not through the VA though.

If you do it get a Ice Man, it’s basically a small igloo ice chest with a circulating pump that attaches to a pad that’ll attach to your shoulder after the surgery and you fill it with ice an water.

It sure helped me when I came home and recouped.

They gave me one of those when I had a knee replacement, I'd forgotten until you posted.

 

[jakeman]

I’ve had several surgeries, without question the shoulder recovery and rehab as mentioned by @OK Corgi Rancher was the worst, and it ain’t even close.

 

[hunter966]

I disliked it a lot when the re-haber asked me to climb the wall like a spider with my fingers after mine.