Going to have "small" tear in my rotator cuff repaired in about 3 weeks. For those who have had experience with this procedure, what am I in for and how long off the bike?

 

4 to 6 weeks in a sling with pillow that's part of sling. Then lots of pt. Do what the dr tells you with pain meds if you do not lots of misery. Get your self a recliner that's where you will be sleeping and spending a lot of your time. Do what the dr and therapist tells you. I was riding 4 months after surgery still had pain and stiffness. Everybody is different do not push it not worth missing some riding. All matters what is done during surgery again do what your told to do and don't push it. 1 year later for me no pain or stiffness and can put on as many miles I want. Good luck

 

Mine was torn pretty bad (95%)and he ground down the bone for more clearance. I had mine done 2 years ago at 41. My doctor said your age also has a lot to do for how fast you bounce back. I was off the bike for a month. I would go out to the garage and sit on it and raise my arm to the handlebar and squeeze the clutch. I felt confident enough to where I even rode it to therapy a few times. Remember one thing....TAKE IT EASY!!!! Your shoulder is going to start feeling better and you will push it....DON'T DO IT!! Let them push you at therapy, don't do it yourself. My doctor told me a lot of people re-tear it because they start feeling better and then you are back to square one.
Was back to work in a week on light duty. Only took pain meds the first night when the nerve block wore off. Never had my arm in the sling because it felt better out of it and movement kept me from stiffing up. I iced it often.

 

I have had 2 repairs and finally 8 weeks ago a total shoulder replacement due to degradation of the socket. Do as instructed and ice, ice, ice! As the others have mentioned you will feel like things are better and want to bag PT and get back to normal activity. Again, don't do it! Speaking from experience on that one.
When all is said and done the pain should be gone, strength back, and happy you had it done.
Amazingly enough the replacement has been a breeze comparatively.

 

I had a complete tear repaired in late February 2015 and was riding by Memorial Day. My surgeon does 200 rotator cuff repairs a year, so I was confident in his skill and recommendations. I was very fortunate to avoid the worst of the pain that some patients experience, and my therapist was top notch. It takes two years for complete healing, but I was almost at full strength after a year. Ice is a must. Follow the advice of your surgeon and therapist strictly. The harness and brace are not pleasant, but you will be done with them in a month. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the replies and advice. Never been off the bike for more than 2 weeks, so I'm already going through withdrawal pains just thinking about it.

 

Thanks GrandpaSpike for bringing this up! I have been researching and talking to Jamie over at Fuel Moto about what exactly i will be getting from them for my Stage one and a half, and now all of the sudden my shoulder pain is were i cant ignore it any more...
Well now i will be getting surgery on the 10th. and got to put off my stage 1 1/2 till i recover...
Anyway this surgery is a first for me and really appreciate every one sharing there experience, reading others replies is helping me out!
Thanks again GrandpaSpike for bringing this up, and good luck with your Surgery!!!

 

I too have a "small" rotator cuff tear. Had a fall when playing street football this past New Years day. Waited for the pain to go away...never did. Didn't have a good nights sleep for months and could not sleep on the affected side. Finally, got an x-ray, then MRI via my orthopedist. Did PT diligently with maybe a 30-40 percent improvement. Thought I was headed for surgery, despite it being called a small tear. Ended up getting a second opinion with a shoulder surgeon who was previously the surgeon for several local(Boston) pro sports teams.He didn't recommend the surgery, because he thought the surgery(and recovery) would be worse than the current injury. He gave me a cortisone injection about two months ago and it did wonders for about 4-6 weeks. It felt great to be able to sleep on my left side again! Some of the pain has come back, but not to the previous extent. However, I don't like not being 100 percent. I'm currently on the fence, trying to decide which way to go. Not sure where this is all going, but I've got young boys who I am active with and if I can't exercise like I want to exercise, I'm miserable, Your post really Grabbed my attention. Good luck to you!

 

I had two rotator cuff surgeries in 6 months. The first was a complete tear and have two screws holding it in place. It took 3 to 4 months of therapy to get 90% motion back. The other was more of cleanup from my days pitching and it took only about 6 weeks to get 90% motion back. The meds did not help as much as lots of ice and like others said sleep in a recliner, forget the bed for at least a week. Also I did the exercises at home religiously and that speed up the recovery.

 

Had mine done a couple of years ago. Like everyone says it will be about a month before you will feel good enough to sleep in your bed. My PT gave me a sheet of exercises and told me what to do. Everybody told me to make sure to do the exercises religiously and it helped in getting motion back. Didn't take a lot of the pain pills but ice helped keep the pain tolerable. Dr said I should be 100% in about a year or so. Good luck!