after surgery

[jilly1golf]

I had rotator cuff surgery in early sept. and golfer and tennis elbow ulnar nerve surgery in Feb 07. My ?'s are as follows: The elbow seemed to do very well up untill the surgery for the rotator cuff In Dec. of 06 I was tipping a fryer basket and felt a large pop in elbow the pain was terrible all the way to shoulder. My job for three years started as a food handler for a company lifting 35-50 pounds on a 6 to 8 hour shift or on a line making sandwiches this I did for 2 years than I moved to a facikity where I was a cook the grill was very large and had a long reach, thats when the elbow and shoulder really became bothersome. Than came the day when I tipped the fryer basket and all hell broke/ Well first the doctor said the shoulder was referred pain from the elbow we did injections rest and PT  to no avail so surgery. during post op pt I complained a lot about shoulder and bicep pain. We did ultra sound on them but did not relieve pain. Doc injeceted the shoulder as well no help so off for a MRI torn rotator. Still he doesn't think it came from tipping fryer basket. Had that surgery in Sept. having major problems WC after 2 doc's one being a causation doc. and after surgery sends records to a independt records reveiw, that doc says it's degenrative I am 44 years old the tear was 50% can that be degenrative? I didn't do alot of overhead lifting but my job was very repetitive with long raeches and heavy lifting, can these cause tears? I never had pain till that day. Also since the surgery I still have bi-cep pain and after surgery I had a catching on shoulder through PT it finally snapped and now I can't reach to pull pants up, brush hair , snap bra, put hand in back pocket, put coat on. Doctor thought maybe frozen shoulder PT says NO any ideas? sorry post is so long but I am losing it, next will be anti depressents. Thanks for any comment in advance.

[Caliber2005]

Hi Jilly,
How are you feeling now?
I want you to relax and revisit what all has happened till now.
I am not sure whether you can call it degenerative or not, as it depends on your clinical examination and also on scan what you have shown the doctor's.
Yes, repetitive movements involving above the head range of motion for arm can cause tears. Your job involved that. Rotator cuff tear usually presents as diffuse, dull, aching pain localized over the shoulder joint and upper arm with pain in overhead activities.
Since the ligaments and muscle were strong, holding on to the joint, hence it was never painful. When the moment came to such an extent that there was tearing more than 50%, it started giving way and you had injury.
60% of cuff tears occur in those >60 years old.
Partial-thickness tears are likely to progress to full-thickness tears over time (+).
Biceps pain might be due nerve injury during surgery that will take time to heal.
Your physiotherapy should continue and that should include;
Rotator cuff program: Gradually increase strength and range of motion.
No active movements with >60° of flexion or abduction while painful.
Strengthen cuff muscles, deltoid, biceps, scapular stabilizers.
Ice, ultrasound, electrical stimulation therapy will help.
Keep me informed about your disease progression.
Bye.

P.S- Find below is the reference which matches your disease progression.



+-Yamanaka K, Matsumoto T. The joint side tear of the rotator cuff. A followup study by arthrography. Clin Orthop Relat Res 1994;304:68–73.