Shoulder blues Ridiculous update!

[Zu_Zu]

• all the cases I have known or seen or heard about …and mine

you live in the immobilizer 23.5/ 7

• only off when showering …

The immobilizer is your BFF !

You won’t want to have to carry your shoulder or move your entire shoulder girdle .

the sling/ immobilizer carries your arm/ shoulder … you won’t be even tempted to raise it onto a pillow … Buckled / secured with straps and attached to your waist - remains at that level all the time

some use a regular cloth sling to support / while showering … one that dries and is only used in the shower to support the weight of your healing arm / shoulder

[beaujolais]

^^^ this

“take the immobilizer off to sleep?”

It stayed on. I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate it off, either, for the first month, esp. It keeps the repaired area from getting bounced around (aka safer). And, more still= less painful. The sling, btw, by keeping your forearm at 90 degrees to your humerus will help keep the swelling out of your hand & fingers (to some degree) besides keeping pressure off the healing area.

Do you all know, btw, what causes the anchored area to become more stable as it heals? Is it from the scar tissue that forms around the reattached tendon & anchor?

Regarding using the recliner or not, you may very well end up alternating. I think, after a week or two, sometimes I used the recliner (aka, scrappy but useful lawn chair) and sometimes used the bed, often both in the same night.

[beaujolais]

Oh, you may want to ask if he/she uses metal anchors or the biocomposite/biodegradable anchors. The latter you can’t even see on an x-ray, which is super kewl. I think I got an x-ray at one week post. They said that was routine for documentation, for the most part.

Note: I don’t know if you are the type is into knowing those details or not. You may not be. If so, just disregard.

[Laurierace]

I am headed to Rolex on an 8am flight tomorrow. I am going to do my best not to think about it for the weekend!

[beaujolais]

Absolutely! Have a blast!

[Laurierace]

We don’t want to gag Zu Zu but I personally love details.

[Bristol_Bay]

Here are my shoulder surgery hacks:

FLOSS PICKS

Mules or clogs

Find a way to hang up your hair dryer at shoulder height and get a good round brush!

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=Bristol Bay;8642354]
Here are my shoulder surgery hacks:

FLOSS PICKS

Mules or clogs

Find a way to hang up your hair dryer at shoulder height and get a good round brush![/QUOTE]
I don’t blow my hair out now so no worries there, I am a no frills drip dry sort. I am going to be barefoot as much as possible but have sandals I can get on with no hands. Nice thing about having it done in the summer, I don’t have to worry about coats and such.

[beaujolais]

And you don’t have to worry about falling on the ice. I’m always afraid of that when I’m feeling even more fragile.

How’s the trip been so far?

[Laurierace]

Today was awful weather wise but we slogged through it. The rest of the trip has been great.

[Laurierace]

Well my body is making the surgery easier to accept mentally as the pain level creeps up and the mobility in the joint decreases. It’s interesting because the torn labrum in my hip caused incredible pain in my SI which is why it took over four years to figure out what was wrong. I have been getting pain albeit nowhere near as bad as it was with my hip in my shoulder blade area. Guess that is sort of the same place as a SI in relation to the shoulder labrum.

[beaujolais]

“my body is making the surgery easier to accept mentally as the pain level creeps up and the mobility in the joint decreases”

Yes, sounds familiar.

There is a saying I like - “The only way out is through.”

Can I asked how they fixed your hip labrum? Is that in a thread anywhere? Sorry that that was not caught for so long, eeesh!

You know, I strongly believe people should take glucosamine & chondroitin supplements from a very young age, similar to how fluoride is given to make strong teeth. I believe some in veternairy medicine are starting to advocating that in their field. These cartilage type problems, including discs, are just too common.

[Laurierace]

I had a cam lesion removed and my labrum stitched together and anchored back in place. They assume I tore the labrum on the right while rehabbing from the left. I also had a cam lesion on the right however so who knows? There are several threads about our hip woes, I started this one to stop hijacking that one.

[Laurierace]

Ok, to add to the fun, I need oral surgery to have a tooth extracted and an implant put in. They wanted to schedule it for a week after my shoulder surgery but decided to give me an extra week to recover a little bit. Perhaps the time has come to send me to greener pastures?

[beaujolais]

OMG, you need to stop this! What the heck! :no: So sorry! No, you can’t go off to greener pastures, ;). You’re getting/have gotten many parts fixed up, so this craziness has to die down and hopefully you’ll feel pretty good one day.

[Laurierace]

Well there is one less thing to worry about. Just had an emergency tooth extraction. He basically jumped up and down on my head for two hours. Said it was the most difficult one he has ever done. I am scared when this lidocaine wears off that it won’t be pretty.

[beaujolais]

What a difficult road you’ve had! Eeesh. On one hand, though better now than post shoulder. Call your Dr. for a pain prescription, if you need. I hope you feel better!

[Laurierace]

Oh yeah about an hour in he said don’t worry, I will send you home with Percocet. They even called to check on me before they went home. I told him without the nitrous I would have beat the sh&t out of him and he said he would have let me because that was brutal. Surprisingly enough I am not doing too bad so far. I don’t think there is any way I could have tolerated all that wrestling around two weeks post op.

[Lady_Counselor]

I had a torn labrum, torn subscap and almost completely torn bicep. Surgery was January 8. The first couple of weeks sucked. If you can get a recliner, do so. Ice is your friend. And be sure to move it once they tell you too. Mine partially froze. If you haven’t already, ask your MD about frozen shoulder and how to avoid it.
It is now significantly improved, but not 100% yet.
I recommend sweat pants, oversized shirts and hopefully plentiful help from people if you need it. My husband was a trooper through this. I hate having anyone have to take care of me.
Still, the relief from the chronic pain is a blessing.
Best of luck with it all.

[Laurierace]

Glad to hear you are on the mend LC. Pain woke me up three times last night despite the Percocet but it was shoulder pain not pain from the big hole in my gums.