I should have told you guys this but I left it out (like the idiot that I am). I had my last surgery on April 1, 2008. During that surgery I had my labrum repaired (1 anchor anterior and 4 anchors posterior), I had an interstitial RC tear repaired, scar tissue removed, and my bursa removed.
I met with my doctor yesterday. I spent nearly an hour in his office. He fully went over the MRI report with me and he even looked at the MRI himself. He said this:
*That I have some mild degeneration of the labrum but that it is normal considering I've had 2 labrum surgeries before (last one being April 1, 2008). He said it's very mild and that it should no way prevent me from boxing and weightlifting in the future. He said that taking glucosamine, chrondroitin, and MSM should slow down the progression over the years and even help fight inflammation.
*I have mild bursitis but that is normal considering my last surgery was on April 1, 2008 and during that surgery he removed the bursa so it's just grown back.
*He said my RC looks like it's healing nicely since my April 1 surgery. He compared it to the pre surgery MRI.
*He said I have some inflammation and scar tissue in the long head biceps tendon near the tenodesis (that I had done in Nov 06). He gave me 2 cortisone shots, 1 in the biceps attachment near the tenodesis and 1 in the front delt. He said that would kill some of the inflammation and dissolve some of the scar tissue. He said if he gave me the shot and it didn't work, 6-12 months from now he would go back in and clean out any scar tissue near the biceps attachment and would maybe even detach the biceps tenodesis and re tack it down.
I must say my biceps and shoulder feel ALOT BETTER!!!! Here is the time line my doc went over with me:
*Had surgery April 1, 2008
*Started PT April 2, 2008
*Mon June 9, 2008 start the 10 shoulder PT exercises (prone rows, dumbbell abduction with external rotation, external cable rotation, full can scaption dumbbell raises, full can dumbbell front raises, serratus punches, internal cable rotation, shoulder phone book pressdowns, seated dumbell curls, and tricep pushdowns). Do for 6 weeks.
*Mon July 21, 2008 stop doing 10 shoulder PT exercises and start doing normal weightlifting routine but start VERY LIGHT and each week gradually move up in weight. Do for 6 weeks.
*Mon. Sept 1, 2008 keep weightlifting but now I can start my boxing training.
A few questions I have for you guys:
1. What do you guys think of my meeting with my doc? Did he do the right thing by giving me the cortisone shots? Do you like his time line for me?
2. My doc told me that the cortisone shot will not only kill some of the inflammation in the bicep but more importantly it will dissolve and break up some of the scar tissue that is causing me problems. My question to you is...how long does it take for the cortisone to affectively dissolve some of the scar tissue? I know a cortisone shot usually kicks in and kills some inflammation in about 48 hours but I doubt it will dissolve scar tissue in that short time frame. I'm wondering how long it takes to dissolve scar tissue? When should I see the effects of the scar tissue being dissolved? 4 days? 3 weeks? 1 month? When?
3. When I start doing exercises again (PT exercises and normal weightlifting exercises) will that help break up the scar tissue near my bicep? What about when my PT stretches out my shoulder next week? Will that help?