Shoulder replacement

[Wilson6]

Just found this

https://tcomn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-Reverse-Shoulder-Replacement-Book.pdf

PERMANENT RESTRICTIONS
Reverse total shoulder replacements are mechanical devices susceptible to wear. Lifting heavy objects creates high force at the glenoid (socket) and is associated with loosening and early failure. For this reason, NO LIFTING greater than 50lbs floor to waist is allowed. NO lifting greater than 25lbs should be done at chest height or above. Inability to stay within these restrictions is likely to cause failure of your total shoulder replacement in a short period of time.

This is just what I was told by the orthopedic surgeon I went to see. Under these restrictions, I'll tolerate the pain.

Sports Participation After Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement

Reverse total shoulder replacement (RTSR) is becoming a popular and reliable treatment for rotator cuff arthropathy. However, little is known about the ability to participate in sports after surgery.To determine to what extent RTSR will allow patients ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2059775421003175

I'll check with my PL friend, see if she has had any problems, been about 9 months for her. Unfortunately, my pain is way past tolerable.

 

[norm]

LOL, norm, I had not forgotten that post that came very soon after your Intro, but I did forget that it included one possible answer to my doctor-search question.

I did remember that you were in Southern Cal, which would be a deal breaker for me, but I forgot you included the method you used to choose your doctor. That might or might not work with whatever things I suspect are wrong with my shoulder, or in my part of the USA, but it'll get me started.

Thanks AGAIN, norm ... hope you're enjoying that gym you and genetic freak spoke about back around then.

RD, yeah, search for the replacement hardware. There are a few innovative companies out there. If you are near a major metro area, then I bet you'll be able find a local surgeon that has used the product. Shoulderinnovations.com is what I found. Things are going very well. I'm still working on stretching for full range but I notice slow but constant range improvement. I've been able to lift normally again. It's great. I try and be smart about lifts--I can't have this thing fail, and I don't plan to. Oh, and the new gym is great--people are only in there to lift, never crowded, lots of equipment to try.

I didn't realize the thread was about Reverse shoulder replacement. That IS a totally different situation. Reverse changes the arm geometry, and is often done when a regular replacement fails. Originally, my doc suggested either regular or reverse--reverse since I had some torn rotator cuff and if that fails, you basically can't lift your arm. I researched and found all the negatives to the reverse and said nope. Doc did add a patch on the cuff which is what they do to repair it. So far, working out fine.

Wilson, sorry to hear that Reverse is your only option. If you haven't already, research the hell out of the hardware, surgeons, and recoveries from guys that lift. There are a lot of differences in the hardware and doc experience.

 

[Wilson6]

Well I just talked with my old client, retired vascular surgeon. He's a year out, put up shelves in his basement, had no problems carrying 4 - 8' 2 x 4's from Lowe's to his car and in the house, and a ripped sheet (both pieces together) of 5/8's plywood (about 55 lbs). Got a txt from my PL friend, DB laterals with 25's, incl bench with 115. Still pissed bc she can't get under a squat bar. These are both rTSAs and they are both in their early to late 60's. We'll see what happens. The vascular docs friend plays tennis with her rTSA, no issues.

 

[Bigtex]

Sports Participation After Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement

Reverse total shoulder replacement (RTSR) is becoming a popular and reliable treatment for rotator cuff arthropathy. However, little is known about the ability to participate in sports after surgery.To determine to what extent RTSR will allow patients ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2059775421003175

I'll check with my PL friend, see if she has had any problems, been about 9 months for her. Unfortunately, my pain is way past tolerable.

Yes, I read that study a while back and unfortunately they did not mention weight training specifically. They said, "Patients in this study showed significant improvement in shoulder strength and ROM after RTSR, with 67% of patients who played sports preoperatively returning by 6 months and with 48% continuing participation at 4 years after surgery. In addition, 16% of the patients who were unable to play sports before surgery could do so by 6 months postoperatively, and 8% of them continued to play sports at 4 years."

I can see returning to sport but the fact that there will not be rotators to hold the apparatus in place tells me weightlifting may cause it all to fail. I know guys who have had a regular shoulder replacement and came back to lifting. Even a powerlifter that had stemless aspherical humeral head resurfacing and inlay glenoid and was back to competing again.

Yea, I may get to your point one day too and make the same decision. I can tolerate an exceptional amount of pain but I am not able to do too much in the gym anymore.

Here is my last ex-ray of both shoulders:

Shoulder
6 view x-ray series of bilateral shoulders show severe osteoarthritic change in both right and left shoulders. There is bone-on-bone within the glenohumeral joint. Osteophytes are present with multiple loose bodies in the soft tissue. There is loss of congruity of the glenohumeral joint with elevation of the humeral head. Both consistent with rotator cuff arthropathy

 

[Wilson6]

Yes, I read that study a while back and unfortunately they did not mention weight training specifically. They said, "Patients in this study showed significant improvement in shoulder strength and ROM after RTSR, with 67% of patients who played sports preoperatively returning by 6 months and with 48% continuing participation at 4 years after surgery. In addition, 16% of the patients who were unable to play sports before surgery could do so by 6 months postoperatively, and 8% of them continued to play sports at 4 years."

I can see returning to sport but the fact that there will not be rotators to hold the apparatus in place tells me weightlifting may cause it all to fail. I know guys who have had a regular shoulder replacement and came back to lifting. Even a powerlifter that had stemless aspherical humeral head resurfacing and inlay glenoid and was back to competing again.

Yea, I may get to your point one day too and make the same decision. I can tolerate an exceptional amount of pain but I am not able to do too much in the gym anymore.

Here is my last ex-ray of both shoulders:

Shoulder
6 view x-ray series of bilateral shoulders show severe osteoarthritic change in both right and left shoulders. There is bone-on-bone within the glenohumeral joint. Osteophytes are present with multiple loose bodies in the soft tissue. There is loss of congruity of the glenohumeral joint with elevation of the humeral head. Both consistent with rotator cuff arthropathy

What all the docs told me was they were surprised that the type of arthritis I had was inconsistent with rotator cuff tears, and the complete tears did not match my clinical testing. My strength was good. They also told me that even with rTSA, they now try to repair what rotators that can be repaired, that leads to much better rTSA outcomes. One of the docs here does resurfacing, he said my right might be a candidate, but the left was too far gone. My problem is not strength, it is pain. The GH cysts in particular on the left grind the humoral head with any movement, never thought such a small articulation could generate that level of pain.

 

[Bigtex]

What all the docs told me was they were surprised that the type of arthritis I had was inconsistent with rotator cuff tears, and the complete tears did not match my clinical testing. My strength was good. They also told me that even with rTSA, they now try to repair what rotators that can be repaired, that leads to much better rTSA outcomes. One of the docs here does resurfacing, he said my right might be a candidate, but the left was too far gone. My problem is not strength, it is pain. The GH cysts in particular on the left grind the humoral head with any movement, never thought such a small articulation could generate that level of pain.

My right shoulder is missing the two rear rotators, completely detached years ago. I had no idea it even happened. The left should is intact. So I can have the resurfacing on that one but I have no noticeable pain there and complete ROM. The right should sometimes hurts so bad it puts tears in my eyes. My doctor tells me if I am not going to have surgery just keep the surrounding muscles as strong as possible. Reaching to the opposite side of the body is very painful as is anything above parallel. So its hard to do much and I have gotten good with my left arm now. To make it worse, I am a candidate for left knee replacement too. But the hyaluronic injections work well on this. I know exactly what you are going through and wish you the best. Please keep us all informed on how this surgery goes.

 

[ITAWOLF]

If you can handle the pain then don’t do it
If ur ready to retire then do it
Heck I’m past 55 and I’ll hold out for awhile
Working on this Achilles right now
Bpc and tb seem to help

 

[Wilson6]

My right shoulder is missing the two rear rotators, completely detached years ago. I had no idea it even happened. The left should is intact. So I can have the resurfacing on that one but I have no noticeable pain there and complete ROM. The right should sometimes hurts so bad it puts tears in my eyes. My doctor tells me if I am not going to have surgery just keep the surrounding muscles as strong as possible. Reaching to the opposite side of the body is very painful as is anything above parallel. So its hard to do much and I have gotten good with my left arm now. To make it worse, I am a candidate for left knee replacement too. But the hyaluronic injections work well on this. I know exactly what you are going through and wish you the best. Please keep us all informed on how this surgery goes.

Same here with the rotators, don't know how it happened. Probably years of chronic use. What I tell my clients and others, we often wonder when pain finally hits or we can't move a limb, it's not a recent acute event, it's years of subclinical wear and the final tear ends up being so subtle or it has torn years ago and we've compensated, we never know it happened until so much has gone wrong, we can no longer compensate. I'll see how it goes in the gym this am, but getting to the point where I can't use that left side for anything and at least 6 weeks out from a surgery date. Because I'm on medicare they have to use a hospital instead of surgery center, everyone is trying to get shit done before EOY, so there is nothing and I don't want to take any more time off work after the holidays and when I won't have anyone around to help out for the first couple weeks.

 

[Bigtex]

Good luck to you @Wilson6 Yep, I am on Medicare too, I am trying to get as much done before the end of the year as possible.

 

[Wilson6]

Good luck to you @Wilson6 Yep, I am on Medicare too, I am trying to get as much done before the end of the year as possible.

The good part is, our deductibles are about $250/yr and then most everything excepts meds are covered. Not sure what I'd be doing now with Obamacare at $1000+ a month for some commercial insurance and a $6000 out of pocket every year.

 

[rawdeal]

Same here with the rotators, don't know how it happened. Probably years of chronic use. What I tell my clients and others, we often wonder when pain finally hits or we can't move a limb, it's not a recent acute event, it's years of subclinical wear and the final tear ends up being so subtle or it has torn years ago and we've compensated, we never know it happened until so much has gone wrong, we can no longer compensate . . . .

Man, this has become a great thread, for shoulders or whatever else ails people who expect more of themselves ... as opposed to the majority of people who just expect and accept the gradual decline aging brings.

 

[MorganKane]

I need a shoulder replacement. Seen two orthopedic surgeons. one with the Iron Man center here in Houston and the other one was with the Saints for 4 years or so.
Both told me the same thing when i saw them. It was almost like they shared notes.
1. Do nothing
2. Get a cortisone injection but it will not really do much
3. Get a shoulder replacement.

I will have the 25 lbs restriction. If I continue to to lift weights it will wear out and the second replacement will most likely be worse then the first. I have limited range of motion now and both said I will even have less.

Both told me to wait as long as possible since I will not like the restrictions and also that will probably have to redo it before I die. im 58 now.

The study above shows a mean age of 74, just pointing that out. Since that group normally isnt very active like we are.

I have bone on bone, bone spurs, arthritis basically just crap. I manage to lift but its light weights and tons of things I can't do.