You almost can’t unless you have some sort of imaging. There are millions of people walking around that have full-thickness rotator cuff tears that are completely asymptomatic. They have a full-thickness cuff tear full torn, but they don’t have any pain because their shoulder has bounced, compensated, and coped. Some people have tendonitis with no…
As long as you need to. Ice is wonderful. We recommend icing your shoulder down 4 to 5 times a day right after the operation because it’s a pain control measure. We’re trying to mitigate the pain you feel after this operation as much as possible without using narcotics that have a lot of side…
Two weeks after rotator cuff surgery. The portal sites we do, these arthroscopically are healed. You’ll have some bruising down your arm. That’s typical. Some have more than others. It’s normal. Don’t worry about it. You’re kind of through the rough patch. The hardest part of rotator cuff surgery is the first week or two….
I would say the number one thing is a rotator cuff tear. The symptoms of shoulder bursitis and rotator cuff tears are identical. A very common misconception is that “Oh, I can still move my arm. There’s no way my rotator cuffs are torn.” That’s false. In 95% of the rotator cuff tears we see,…
It can vary. I’ve seen people with tendinitis or bursitis in the shoulder for months and months and months and sometimes even longer. Typically, if it’s been there for over 3 to 6 months, it’s probably a rotator cuff tear, more than bursitis. But that’s not always the case. Rotator cuff tears can have relatively…
You don’t need any special pillows. You can just use your pillows. I tell people to sleep just two or three up the back. So you’re up, like, a 20—or 30-degree incline. Then, one or two underneath your operative arm to help prop up your elbow and take off your sling. That’s very comfortable. That’s…
Immediately. I encourage patients to start exercising within a day after surgery. Take some long walks. Maybe don’t walk for 30 miles the day after surgery. Go for a couple of miles. You won’t be on narcotics and doing crazy hikes and things like that because then you could fall. But going out, getting outside,…
A lot of this depends on the surgeon that you see. We’re all different. In my practice, we are much more focused on early motion and activity. Looking at our outcomes and data, we’ve had better success, allowing people to move their arms quickly. So, 99% of the surgeries I perform on the shoulder, which…
In general, yes. If you average out a thousand people that have had their shoulder and their knee replaced, um, at least 70 to 80% of the shoulder replacements will have had a quicker, simpler, less painful recovery with a better overall outcome in terms of how much better their joint feels now. Knee replacements…
Well, pinched nerves within the shoulder joint are very rare. However, you can get them. You can get suprascapular nerve impingement with para labral cysts where you have a torn labrum. That’s relatively uncommon. What’s way more common is a pinched nerve in your neck radiating down your arm. But often, people think that they…
