How long will I be out after Rotator Cuff Surgery?

[Tedofva]

I had rotaror cuff surgery on Oct 23rd this year. Complete tendon tear. orthoscopic surgery, put in metal pin. ground spurs and sew back tendon. Six little holes in shoulder that has almost completely dissapeared. Very little pain, very little swelling, no bruising, wore sling 4 days and removed because felt better without althought still kept arm against my side. Started arm dangles next day after surgery. Took 3 weeks of PT and quit due to I have as much stuff as they do to do the exercises. Started swinging 9 iron in 3 weeks with right arm only and hit a few balls in 5 weeks. I played 18 holes on December 26th and another 18 holes on Dec 28, shot 96 and 97

Amazingly there is no pain so I assume I did no damage. I still have limited lifting of arm over head but golf movement is no problem. Figure to play again tomorrow. I have had a super easy time of this surgery. I had a hard time getting convinced to do it as it did not attect my golf game at all. Only pain was at night. Doctor said if I don't do it now it could be unfixable later so that made up my mind.

Playing golf this early (8 weeks) is definately a no no as they say six months but the arm feels like I can do it so I will just take it a bit easy and see how it goes.

My surgeon is a sports medicine doctor and said he does 200 of these a year. I guess experience is the key.

[ay33660]

First off, how did your cat-scan come out?  I hope it was nothing serious.

Good news, I had my MRI and my orthopedic surgeon said that there was more artheritis than he first thought and I had a slight labral tear.  Shot me up with steroids and gave me a script for 6 weeks of physical therapy.  Said if my shoulder feels better in 2 weeks I can play golf.

So my lunch hour on September 11th will be spent at the range.

Charles

PS I think I already told you, but the Steelhead III 5w you recommended is awesome.

Had rotator cuff issues on my left side 5 years ago.

Hurt it at the gym doing weights.

Thought about surgery but the doc was honest and said it was 50/50 whether or not it would work more effectively than physio.

Went to physio for 6 months and did not play golf for at least 9 months.

Came back to golf a bit early and developed a very very flat swing to compensate for the pain. I am a lefty so the left rotator cuff injury limited how high I could bring the club back.

My handicap went from a 9 to a 19.

It has taken me 4 years to fix my swing somewhat and I am back to a 11.

If I had to do over again I would have waited until I was fully healed till resuming golf.

[Patch]

The correct answer is how qualified the surgeon is that did your surgery. If he/she did a good job, and you get through your rehab in fine fashion your off time from golf will be minimal. No one can give you a definite time frame to return to golf. Too many variables involved.

A lot of my left side is is held together with pin, rods, and plates. After 5 surgeries, and 14 months of rehab, I was able to putt, and chip. A month later I was pitching. After another 2 months I was hitting 150 yard shots, and few weeks later I was hitting my driver.  It took almost 3 years to play my first (real) round of golf after a car accident. I was fortunate in the respect that I am married to a very good Orthopedic Surgeon. (retired)  I always had first hand treatment, and advice readily handy. She even kicked me in the back side when I showed laziness in my rehab. I know she is good doctor because after 45 years in the business, she was never sued for malpractice.

At the time of the accident I was a very steady 6 handicap. My first (real) round back, was in the 90s. 8 months later I am knocking at the door of being a single digit again. I owe everything to great doctors, and the rehab folks.

[Tedofva]

I had rotator cuff surgery on Oct 23rd 2014. Had heard how painful it is and would be out of everything for 6 months to a year. The surgery was fantastic for me , I had no pain to speak of and took no pain pills. I still have the medicine prescribed at the time. I wore the sling for 3 days and ditched it. Arm felt better without it. Started therapy and lasted 2 weeks. The simple things they had me doing, I could do much better at home. I followed the instructions of arm swings and rolls the doctor prescribed. I started swinging a golf club in 3 weeks but just easily. I was doing so well that I played my first round of golf in 8 weeks 1 day on December 24th and shot 96. Went so well that I played again on December 28th, shot 97 and then played again on January 1st and shot 85. I continued to play golf and had no problem whatsoever with my arm. I have played golf two days a week and for whatever reason I am playing better and hitting the ball further than before, expecially the irons. I am shooting 82s, 85s 88s and so and normally have 2 or 3 triples. Played this past weekend and had drives of 265, 250 ect. I am 72 and I guess very lucky. The arm is good although I am not trying to lift more that I can handle. On thing I started doing at around 4-1/2 weks is swinging my driver 100 times a day with my left arm (surgery arm). I do it every day still. My thought is that after surgery my arm had to be retrained and swinging the club has trained my arm in a golf motion. My actions could possibly harm someone else but I did it and it turned out ok. I just went back for my last check up on April 16th and the doctor checked me out and said it all looked great. He said I could start playing golf next week but to Tee the ball in the fairway so not to take a divot.

[sscottm99]

Im 42 and had shoulder pain after hurting it on the boxing pads approximately 5 years ago. I had physio, and 2 cortisone injections which temporarily worked and got rid of the pain, but 3 injections is the recommended limit as they can make the tendon brittle and liable to snap. So after the second injection pain relief wore off, the consultant told me I require surgery, and more than likely a bone shave. He said I could opt for an MRI scan but at the end of the day am still going to require surgery. I put it off for approx 4 years until 30th June 2015.

Before the op he strength tested me and said it is more than likely just a bone shave to be performed, and I will be in a sling for 1 - 2 days. He said there is only a 10% chance of a torn tendon, but I was sure I had torn something as the pain lately was horrendous and couldn't get any relief in bed on an evening, even though I was taking pain killers constantly.

He shaved the bone and to his surprise said he also found a 1.5 cm tare in my supraspinatus tendon which is the main tendon coming from your neck and anchors to the bone where the bicep is. So this was repaired, and Ive now been in the sling for nearly 5 weeks. 6 weeks in this sling is the requirement after this type of op.  Cant drive, can't lift anything with the right arm, but doing the physio that they have given me religiously. NO pain to speak of after the operation, which the physiotherapist was very surprised at, and she also couldn't believe I had stopped taking pain killers 2 days after the op. I am totally pain free at the moment, but it hurts slightly when I do the exercises. Have been told by people who have had the same operation, that the pain is really bad after the 6 week mark when you take the sling off and start proper physio, but Im looking forward to it. The work the surgeon done in my shoulder has worked so far, as Im out of pain now, and can't wait to get back on the golf course and back to work, but have another 7 weeks off work.

I just thought I would share this story as I have been looking for similar stories my self on the lead up to my operation, and enjoy reading similar stories and triumphs. I will update this as I go.