Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shoulder replacement surgery

This gettin' old ain't for sissies!

Hell, it hurts to put a coat on now!

[quote=Dntnddb
Hell, it hurts to put a coat on now![/quote]

The good thing, it won't hurt, just hard to get your other hand in the sleeve.

I have much better arm movement than I had before the surgery. What you get from the surgery depends on the skill of the surgeon, your PT and your own perseverance. The main purpose of the surgery is to get rid of the pain and and increase range of motion. It is not to make you "like new". That's not possible. The main reason for the weight limitations is because some of the hardware is plastic.

Understand shoulder won’t be like new, that ship sailed 30 years ago! I’ll settle for no pain and a little better ROM. I’ve accepted the trade offs I’ll be living with and it sounds like some of them I’ll have to wait and see.

Worn out cuff, one half of bicep tore loose and purple from shoulder to hand - reverse replacement was the diagnosis/order at Mayo. Due to advanced age and lengthy healing prospect, rejected the surgery and have done the work-around.

Resulting capacity not not too bad - only pain comes in surges due to certain positions and especially with strong twisting motion.

Still shoot everything but, due to limited hunting opportunities now, don't shoot the .375 H&H or .338 WM very often. Yes - heavies hurt a bit, but it's only temporary.

You will get that.Mine aches a little when a low pressure /storm moves in.

Recoil rifle wise, I put a break on my .06 and that is tolerable. I can only do about 5 shots with my 20 Gauge semi an I can get a few rounds off with my 50 cal ML. No problem with my 6.5 Swede or .243.

One last suggestion. If the orthopedist doesn't have his own in-house PT providers, find one that does. Not everyone is used to rehabbing shoulders. Everyone knows about hips and knees.

Before I had my shoulder surgery, I was told to ask prospective surgeons how many of the shoulder procedures they average per year. A good answer was at least 50 procedures. Like someone said, a shoulder is far different procedure than a knee or hip. There’s just not as many shoulder procedures.

My shoulder procedure was a half replacement due to a bone problem. For what it’s worth, there’s a procedure now available to replace the man made cartilage on the implant. This means after the original wears off the implant, the replacement cartilage saves a new major surgery.

Also, be sure to note that you will need to pre-medicate prior to dental procedures. Listen to your surgeon, not the dentists on this. I’m 9 years post surgery and my surgeon is still adamant that an antibiotic be taken prior to all dental procedures including teeth cleaning.

My doc is a retired Colonel in the Air Force. I asked him how many of these has he done. He said 4500. Good enough for me. I had a nerve block before the general anesthesia. Good thing too, because that took a few days to wear off. I got decent sleep those nights. The next 9 weeks, not so much. I quit taking hydrocodone a week out. Not because I'm some sort of masochist, but it didn't do any better than Tylenol. The key was a recirculating ice pump that pumped ice water through a sleeve around my shoulder/bicep. I would almost demand that they ask for this to be done post-op.

I did the PT working up strength through a series of progressing exercises. It was a slow deal. I had the surgery in early April. I could barely swing a golf club by August. Hunting was okay that season as it was my off arm. I shot winter league trap and skeet the following Jan. I could get through 75-100 rounds, where before I struggled to finish a round of 25 and 50 was agonizing. But like I said in an earlier post, I'm 2/3rds strength in that arm and have occasional pain that's enough to wake you up. There is also a noticeable divot on my shoulder. I would still do it again because like you, I couldn't even put a coat on. But I'm not sure I'd have another on that arm - if that makes sense.

Be Interested to know more about the nonsurgical polyethylene glenoid replacement procedure? I had a total shoulder arthroplasty back in 2008. Haven't spoke to original surgeon since my procedure, but other orthopaedic docs have told me conventional wisdom was about a 15 year lifespan on that particular part. The steel rod they pounded down into top of my humerus with the ball end of the artificial joint, I presume has a lifetime warranty?
Recovery when I had mine done was miserable, had the ice water circulating pump, but could have easily consumed twice the pharmaceuticals they handed me. Anytime they saw bones off and pound metal rods down your arm,, it ain't a fun ride.
Guess I'm fortunate, after long rehabilitation, PT that was torture, within about a year, I could tell things were going to go well.
Range of motion is far better than before surgery as well as strength. I'm 68, still shooting, working shoulder hard as I want, hit the gym, cautious about to much weight, but can do a 200 pound bench, good enough for an old fart. I do worry about the artificial glenoid joint thinking that's the weak link in the whole deal. .... going to investigate that new procedure the other poster mentioned.

Just to show that everyone is different. My surgeon said I don't need antibiotics before dental procedures but I've heard that some do.
I was given an intravenous pain pump while in the hospital. I was discharged the next day (overnight stay). The pump lasted about three days. After that, I had maybe a couple of hydrocodone but didn't have any pain so I just used Advil for "twinges" and after PT and I was fine. I've read studies that when you have long term pain, that your body adapts to what "pain" is. Since the discomfort was less than I had before surgery, it didn't really register as uncomfortable.

My surgeon quoted 400+ per year, with over 50% being the reverse. He is known as the top surgeon in Colorado Springs for shoulders..He is also the chief surgeon for the U.S. Olympic teams that has their base here.
The nerve block almost killed me. It paralyzed one side of my diaphragm. I had been sent home the day after surgery. I woke up at 1 AM. I could hardly breath. My O2 blood level was 72% . It took the ER over 6 hours to get it above 80% and then I spent the next 24 hours in Cardiac Observation Unit

One other point I just thought of...do some weight workouts before your surgery, if possible. Your muscles are going to atrophy while they're immobile so get them in shape so that it happens less.

Had 2 female anesthesiologists hit me up about trying the nerve block as they were wheeling me into surgery, like a dumb fug I said sure, I also suffered phrenic nerve paralysis, it usually affects opposite side diaphragm of the shoulder which is getting worked on.
Left shoulder had the surgery, right diaphragm suffered paralysis, the bottom third of my lung is" like a dishrag " in the words of a pulmonologist. Didn't know, what I didn't know about that particular nerve block.

Yep I had right shoulder done , left side of diaphragm went.
They don't tell you about all the risk of these surgeries which is one reason I won't have another back surgery ,knee replacement, or stomach tied up to relieve reflux

Already doing, I started training with lower weight higher reps over last few years, just to cut back on the wear and tear. Who knew it was going to be forced upon me by surgery!

You all are making me nervous about the nerve block, that’s the plan for me and doing as out patient in and out same day. My surgeon will not prescribe PT for me..3 reasons, one referenced above, most don’t know how to deal with a replacement and has had PT do more damage then good and second because I live and hour away, in house isn’t an option and third, since I’ve had a repair before, I know all the exercises and how to push myself as needed and back off.

Good luck. If you live a hour away and go home the same day, you are going to be in a world of hurt if things don't work out 100%.
I am not trying to scare you,but this is major surgery. Between hip replacement, knee replacement and shoulder replacement , shoulder is the worst in terms of difficulty. Do not take it lightly.

My advice is focus more on the post surgery. Do what the PT guys say. Don't do any more than they say. It is a slow recovery on purpose. Take it slow and things will be back normalish in 9 months or so. Shooting 22s is fun and a 260/6.5 Creed will kill most things walking. It's gonna suck short term but after you're done you won't have to wake up in the middle of the night with a dead arm. That sucks.
Patrick