OK...the doc says I should have surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff on my right shoulder. Not a serious tear, but he says it will eventually get worse. He's planning on doing the Arthroscopic Surgery.

My question to you... if you've had this done, how long did it keep you from riding. I commute on the Sportster about 35 miles each way to work, and really wanted to start riding again early in the spring.... If the surgery is going to be a problem (done at the end of Jan) in terms of my riding, I'll hold off and have it done late next fall instead....

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this!

And, if there are any fly fisherman out there...how long did the surgery screw up the fishing?

 

I'll be watching this thread as well. I am in the same boat as you Bob

 

If your spring is more than a month away I'd say you will do fine. I had this procedure about 4 years ago and at the time I had a part time job driving motorhomes for an R.V. dealer and was only off work for perhaps two weeks. Was back to riding at the same time.

 

Same here Whaap. I had mine done in winter our off season. In a sling 2 weeks, PT for 4 weeks, pretty much normal after 8 weeks. No problems after that.

I have 2 small scars about 1/2" long and not can raise my arm over my head and touch the back of my shoulder. Nothing to worry about.

 

Depends onyour recovery time, then physical therapy.
Mine was pretty messed up along with a previous dislocation .
I was out 6 weeks before I felt able to race dirt bikes again.

Work hard in PT, ask thetherapist you how much you can safely do and when. I did allot more at home than they knew.

That stupid arm sling is a pain in the *** to sleep. plan on sleeping uprightin a chair.
Once you progress to the big pillow sling (between your bod and arm) you know you are making progress.
My operation went smooth but took longer than norm because of the dislocation.
I have several small incisions along with a bigger 3 in at joint.
I stayed over night and the next day I went home.
I had relatively no pain and required no drugs.
I had a great Ortho Doc with PT right at their place which made rehab a snap.
I have full range of motion and it feels much stronger than my other arm.

Good luck.

 

Its basically like getting shot with a .45 three times in the shoulder without the exit wounds. Good luck wiping your *** or brushing your teeth with that arm, much less riding a bike, for a month.

 

Been there, done that. What they said above is just about right. Might as well go ahead and "get-ur-done". Good luck!

 

I had rotator cuff surgery in November 2006 (not arthroscopic) and had tear repaired as well as having about 1 &1/2 inches of colar bone removed due to arthritis. I was riding and golfing in about 5 weeks.

 

Bob,

I'm 44 years old. Last year, I tore my roght rotator cuff, (10mm slap tear in the right supraspinatus tendon: anterior) I had surgery, yesterday 01/08/07, exactly one year ago. It was performed arthroscopicly as well... 3 Ti pins were added as well, to reattach the tendon to the bone.

Despite contracting pneumonia and C-diff colitis status post surgery, (I should play the lotto with that luck) I still raced a Barber Motorsports Park on May 11, 2007 that same year. If you've ever seen that track, you'll realize that upper body strength is important. I raced for 2 days back to back, 5 sessions a day.

RIGHT AFTER SURGERY, my surgeon had me use a cold water, circulating machine that fit over my shoulder and really helped with pain management. I was so sick with the pneumonia afterwards, that I didn't get to regular physical therapy as soon as I should, but knew enough to do stretches and exercises at home, that they had me doing prior to surgery, to help strengthen the stabilization muscles.. Isometric exercises.

http://www.howtodothings.com/health-...exercises.html

Nothing strenious and you stop if you feel pain.

Being one year later, I can bench weights and do everything I did before, with only mild discomfort in that shoulder if I push too hard, and that's mostly due to things like throwing a dog toy to the far back of the yard, as that rotative movement is the most aggrivating to that specific tendon.

Best to have it fixed as soon as possible, as to not make it worse, or create more debris to have removed as the tendon becomes damaged. Also, you heel better when you're younger instead of putting it off too long.

I understand your point about riding, but your body is more important than riding a motorcycle, and having it repaired now will only reinsure your capability to ride in the future, with no issues.

 

I had the rotator cuff surgery a few years ago. I fell while skiing and tore it. The first surgeon did not get all the tear and I suffered for a year, going back to the doctor about every 6 weeks or so because of the pain. This was after the physical therapy. Finally, the first doctor wouldn't see me any more and referred me to another surgeon in his practice group. The second doctor said he wanted to try more physical therapy first. I said ok, but it won't do any good. 6 weeks later, the doctor said we would try some exploratory surgery - arthoscopic. I was awake and watching on a computer monitor when the surgeon said, "there's your problem, it wasn't in your head after all". I had another tear with some meat that looked like shredded pork at the bottom of my shoulder. When this shredded meat got sucked into the shoulder joint, I had a lot of pain. When it was not in the joint, I had no pain. He snipped the shredded meat off and sucked it out and after a week I could not even see (unless I looked really closely) the holes where he did the arthoscopic surgery. I was throwing rocks in few weeks and now it is more limber than my unoperated shoulder due to arthritis in that one.
Get it done.
You won't be sorry.
Just get a good doc.
Tnicean