Hi All,
You've been a great help to me a few times before and many, many times by allowing me to read past posts. I’m 8 wks out from SLAP tear surgery with two anchors and two stitches. Doc also scraped away some bone because there was some impingement and barely any space. Pain after surgery was minimal; PT started after 3 wks. I thought I’d been progressing rather normally and then about 10 days ago it was like the pain set in and everything stiffened up. I was a hurting unit for three days and really needed my pain pills. When I saw the PT last Tuesday, he started talking about Capsulitis and possible frozen shoulder. I am getting no progress with motions like putting my hand on my hip or in my back pocket. And the pain is incredible when I attempt the exercises for this! Brings tears to my eyes. PT says not to worry, but that just isn’t my personality. Now I’m starting to feel like I’m losing ROM in other directions (this could be self induced paranoia).

FWIW, Motrin and Tylenol do nothing for pain, so it is 5mg Percocet or nothing. I was icing as much as I could to numb the pain, but my PT wants moist heat and that doesn’t help with pain. He says the pain in the forearm is nerve pain?

Swimming is my sport, or was as a kid. The doc says I can swim, just don’t overdo it. The PT wasn’t as thrilled. Long easy strokes give me nice stretching and I feel they move the joint well. Trying some backstroke might help me get the motion I’m stuck on.

I feel like I have pain in strange places – the side of my neck, trap, along the collarbone, lat muscle feels like one giant knot. There’s probably more places that I’m not naming, but I hope you get the picture.

Any thought, advice, or whatever you’ve got is appreciated. I knew rehab would be tough, but I didn’t expect this level of pain.

Thanks,
lisa

It is not unusual to start feeling pain as PT steps up. Just do as the therapist advises- no more. I was given some simple water exercises to do - not actual swimming. It is still very early in recovery at 8 weeks - which is where I am now.

Putting your hand behind your back is the last area to come back - it can take a long time to be able to do that, so don't push it. I am just now able to get my hand up to put on eyeliner but still can't use it to wash my hair.

Telling a patient they may be developing frozen shoulder is fairly common. I've heard it before. It can happen post-op and is not the same as the typical frozen shoulder that appears out of nowhere. It could also be scar tissue restricting movement. There are possibilities - if you will be seeing your doc soon, ask!

Hang in there - don't apologize for taking the percs.

Thanks Rider. I apologize for taking so long to reply. I seem to have good days and bad days. The day after PT is always bad sometimes two days. Now the pain starts 1 hour before PT - talk about psyching myself out, LOL.
I feel like I'm going backward. Saturday, I went grocery shopping and I was dying by the time I checked out just from pushing the cart. And trying to get the bags in the house. I wish my Shih Tzu's were a little bigger and could have helped. That's another thing, a few weeks ago I could pick up Lizzy (16 lbs) and hold her w/o pain, now I can't.

That darn nerve that runs down my arm is always making itself known and I swear it is my last nerve. Sometimes that hurts worse than the pain from stretching.

Remember the Grinch cartoon when he was complaining about the noise? "Oh the noise, the noise, THE NOISE". I'm complaining that way about the mood swings. Oh the moods, the moods, THE MOODS. I'm sure it is the pain, percocet, and slow progress. Not to mention that I live an Denver and don't take tragedy well...

I see the OS Friday... I'll post about that.

lisa

I understand so completely. I've had a journal of sorts, and looking back over the months, it is very depressing. I kept hoping for improvement. The good news is that 95% or so have GOOD results, so keep in mind that the odds are in your favor. Sometimes it is two steps forward, one step back, or it is one step forward, two steps back (that sounds more like shoulder issues to me.) I also understand about Colorado - we had those Chardon high school shootings not long ago in Ohio. Terrible - makes all this seem like nothing, but that is not to diminish any one person's suffering.