I found this site and have been reading as much as possible. Seems easier tho just to ask the questions. I am scheduled for surgery Friday to repair rotator cuff tear and slap tear. Sounds like fun... I have a great surgeon who specializes in shoulders but have received conflicting info regarding the pain meds. They have given me percocets 5/325 to take one every 4 hours as needed. However, when I first injured my shoulder I was given 10/325 percocets. Is the pain after surgery actually less than the original injury cause that's not what I have heard or read. Was it everyone's experience that the percocets worked on the pain. Vicodin is not touching the pain right now so I am worried about this and what to expect. The surgeon has confirmed everything I have read here about the reclining position and the pain going on for weeks. How bad is it really?
I am quite anxious about this surgery. I don't have a recliner but I did buy the wedge pillow and hope that works. And oh yeah, did buy lots of ice cream! And one more thing, I keep reading to take the pain meds on schedule to stay on top of the pain but when do you know not to take them on schedule. Hope I'm not asking too many questions but I would rather hear from people who have gone through this rather than my surgeon who hasn't. Thanks so much for your input and speedy recoveries to everyone. What a wonderful site and so much support for one another.

I had a slap repair 7 weeks ago. THe pain on days 2 and 3 after surgery is excruciating--not gonna lie. Day one you will come home and say , "wow, its really not that bad" But it will really kick in after the pain pump has worn off. The percoset 5/325 were fine. I took 1 and a half pills every four to six hours for the first few days, and then just stopped after day 4. You can even take 2 at a time if you wish. It wont kill you. Just make sure you are drinking lots of water. I was back sleeping in bed after about a week. However, the pain has just now went away at night.(7 weeks) For the first 4 or 5 weeks, you will fall asleep and be awaked with just extreme stiffness/ache near where your long head of biceps attaches (superior labrum area) You can get out of bed and do a few pendulums and go back to sleep. All in all it hasnt been really that bad once you get past the first few days. The rehab is painful, but more of a good pain. Im a chiropractor, so Im just anxious to get back to work!! Will be a few more weeks though. Best of luck!! any more questions let me know

Ariel, may YOU be as lucky as Chirosteve7!! I had a full rotator tear, SLAP III, impingement, bone spur...blah, blah, blah stuff. The day I came home from surgery I was ready to take on the world, joke was on me...that lasted until day 3. You probably want to stay ON the pain meds for at least the first week solid, then very cautiously try backing off. I was in a living nightmare for many, many weeks. Today at four plus months, things are tolerable, I'm in constant extreme discomfort but at least things are improving. My PT started 4 days post op, for the first several sessions I would start to hyperventilate, and I cried through all of them, it was horrible. I'm so glad that my Doc and insurance cut me off at 9 weeks, as my PT wasn't going well. IF I had been able to get better PT, I have no doubt my recovery would have been much better.

I hope you have a GOOD experience, and don't feel quilty living on ice cream!

Sky

I am jealous of Chirosteve.Sky's description is a little more like my experience.I can tell you that the first couple of day's are really rough.The waking up in the middle of the night with crazy pain is true.I am 4 weeks out from my surgery and still have bad pain at night.Fortunately for me I have a great PT and my Doc was fairly liberal with the pain meds.I had plenty of Lortab 7.5/500 and 2.5/500.They don't get rid of the pain, just make it tolerable. I still take the 2.5/500 when it gets rough at night and after PT sometimes. The pendulum swing is my best friend.I started having some pops/clicks around week 3 in the biceps tendon that are really painful. Doc said it's normal cause things are starting to work again. This site and the people that visit it will help you more than anything will. Good luck to you

Ariel,

I too, had experiences like Matt and Sky. I think I had the same surgery that Sky was talking about. I had all those things done. I too, felt pretty good, uncomfortable only when I returned home the day of the surgery. I was sent home with a pain pump and given instructions on how to remove it on the 3rd day. At that point I knew exactly what it meant to keep on top of the pain. 2 Lortabs every 4 hours with 2 advil in between at 2 hour intervals (per nurse) I don't mean to scare you. I just wasn't prepared for the after effects. I went in for a rotator cuff repair. None of the other injuries showed up during the arthrogram. I woke up with a lot more than I anticipated. I have read about some people having little or no pain, that wasn't my luck. I am now 12 weeks post op and still have problems sleeping. Still going to PT and working really hard to get back to normal OS just tells me I have to be patient. On good days, advil or aleve is fine. I tend to wait until my nerves are just shot to reach for the Lortab. I am also on an anti imflamatory drug called mobic. It kills my stomach. Seems at this point I am trading one mad dog for another, I hate to take pills. I did not know what a slap tear was until I went to my 1st PT appointment. My OS didn't even exlain this to me at my 1st post op appt. I was beginning to think that this was all in my head. Then I found this site. I believe that it has helped me keep my sanity. I have always had a high tolerance for pain. Lots of Luck to you. Take it easy, even if you feel great the 1st few days. I'm sure that you are in better physical condition than I am. I am 51 and have diabetes. I think this contributes to some of my problems. ROM is great. Still have that bothersome pain. I keep on going to work.(Went back after 11 days) If I work through the stiffness and pain in the mornings I seem to get through the day alright. Nights are still not so good. Sorry to ramble on, this is a good place to vent. Let us know how you are, and just know that we all care about you and your recovery

Hey Ariel,

Just remember one thing....everyone is different with pain level and recovery. The pain level also depends on how much work was done during surgery. In my case, I had intense pain for about 2 weeks. I was using 1 percocet every 4 hours. You will know when to let up because the pain will start before the 4 hours is up. Get pletty of rest. I found if I was up on my feet for too long it would cause my shoulder to ache. It took a good 3-4 months before I could lay flat in bed. I used about 6 pillows to prop myself up.

Good luck on Friday...everything will go well. Please let us know how you are doing when you can.

Karen