Supraspinatus Tear

[siamsam]

I guess not every poster is going to even know what the supraspinatus is, for your information, It's a muscle in the shoulder . which makes up part of the rotator cuff. Anyhow, I've posted on this subject before, pre - diagnosed. Now It's been confirmed by my mri scan, in the uk. A lurverly 3 cm tear. The surgeon seemed quite excited and wants me to go ahead and have the operation. Cannot scope the joint he says, so it's gonna be open surgery - Yikes! I've never had an operation in my life. The surgeon is a shoulder specialist and highly respected in the medical/therapist/sporting worl'. He's going to fix some anchors in the shoulder bone then re-attach the muscle using a, get ready for it..................................................................pigs tendon aaaaarrrghhhh!!!!!!!!! , Good job I'm not a muslim.

Anyway, I'm a keen/dedicated weight trainee. will my shoulder ever return to full performance/strength/range of motion??? Any knowledgable feedback would be interesting. yours gratefully siamsam, who will be soon sharing his anatomy with our pink, snouted, curly tailed friends.

[donna]

I have recently had surgery of my shoulder. It was arthroscopic and it bloody hurts. My surgerywas on November 25 and I am still struggling with many every day things and have pain every morning when I wake up. I cannot sleep on the side which was operated on and am at the physio every 2 days.

I would suggest that you get the shoulder as flexible as you possibly can before the operation. You will lose a lot of it due to the nature of the operation and because of the pain you will be struggling to move it fully within a month or two. Stretch is as much as you can beforehand. And I mean REALLY stretch it. You will be made to stretch it every day by your physio. I find that holding a towel/sarong etc behind my back with the dodgy arm and pulling it up with my good arm is the best (but very painful) stretch to do.

You will need to build up your biceps again but if you have good strength in the first place you will have a good head start.

Good luck, Piggy!

[waldwolf]

.....The surgeon seemed quite excited and wants me to go ahead and have the operation.

Supraspinatus Back

Would strongly suggest you get a second, even third opinion. (Never met a surgeon who didn't like to practice the speciality for which they were trained.)

With any surgery, major or minor, you should expect at least a 1 year "recovery" period. Torn tendons and muscles are very, very slow "healers".

The following link may be of interest to readers:

Sonography of Full-Thickness Supraspinatus Tears

Best of luck and a speedy recovery.