Author Topic: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain  (Read 87336 times)

MindSpin

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #50 on: May 12, 2005, 02:35:38 PM »
thanks.  how long were you in the hospital?
w

VaTechMuscle

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #51 on: May 12, 2005, 02:40:59 PM »
oh yeah i forgot to add that in there...its an outpatient surgery, once you feel ok to leave and once the anethesia has worn off you are good to go.

freakfestMD

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #52 on: May 17, 2005, 10:40:02 AM »
Sorry guys, I was away last week at a conference. 

The procedure can be done under general or under local with sedation.  General is probably best for most, especially if both sides are done.  This may be up to the preference of the surgeon. It's a same day surgery with no overnight stay.  Recovery is fast.  I think the 4 month recovery sounds a little long.  Most are back to lifting at 4 to 8 weeks.  Maybe 4 months for a workers compensation bulls**t artist, but not an iron maiden  ;).  Again, like in all circumstances, a subacromial decompression works best in someone who actually has impingement syndrome. Any good shoulder specialist should be able to diagnose this with ease, and to be honest, from a purely "technical" standpoint the procedure is a 1 or 2 out of 10 in terms of technical difficulty (i.e a really easy procedure for someone who does shoulder surgery).   

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #53 on: May 19, 2005, 12:47:27 PM »
Hi guys,
I've seen my orthopaedist today; it's ok for him to get the surgery (subacromial decompression)done, but he told me he can't do both shoulders at the same time, unless I want to be unable to eat by myself (he told me I should wait at least one or 2 months before doing the other one). Freakfest, you told if both shoulders were done that it still was a same day surgery, so I really wonder why he told me that. Has anyone here had a subacromial decompresion on both shoulders the same day?
Thanks, hope you are all recovering well!

vatechmuscle28

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #54 on: May 19, 2005, 01:21:56 PM »
dont do both at the same time...i wanted to but my surgeon said the same thing.  There really is no way to do both and be comfortable in your own skin, it would be torture.  Do what your surgeon suggested, its what i did.

freakfestMD

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #55 on: May 25, 2005, 08:34:40 AM »
Tubbs,

Doing one at a time is probably the best way to go.  You'll be pretty miserable for the first few days after surgery and if you can't use both arms you cant eat, shit, drive or beat off ;D.  As I said, recovery is pretty quick, though, so you should be able to schedule the other side within a reasonable amount of time.  Upper body lifting will be out for a while,  but you can do legs and abs with no problem.
I recently had multiple surgeries myself (7 sites, including my back, trap, abdomen, both arm pits and both groins and man! all those sites at once was torture.  Anyway, good luck to you.  I think you'll be very glad you did it.

freak

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #56 on: May 25, 2005, 12:21:41 PM »
Thanks for the info Freak; Sambo and VaTechMuscle were back lifting, light of course, after 4 or 5 weeks; is this the average time between surgery and going back to the gym? Also I guess you did some physio sessions after the surgery, Sambo told me he did one every week, but for how many weeks?
Thanks again.
Sambo and VaTechMuscle and all the others, hope you're enjoying your work outs again. :)

freakfestMD

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #57 on: May 27, 2005, 05:12:46 AM »
That recovery sounds about right.  In an arthroscopic subacromial decompression, no tissue is "repaired", it's removed.  So, postop, there really isn't anything to protect.  This would be in sharp contrast to, say, a rotator cuff repair, where you are really at a high risk for disrupting the repair for quite some time.   
Post-op physical therapy will definitely speed your recovery.  Typical course would be 2-3 times per week for about 4 weeks.

Good luck to you.

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #58 on: May 30, 2005, 09:36:56 AM »
Thanks Freak for taking time to answer.

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #59 on: June 08, 2005, 03:18:25 PM »
Hi everybody,
I'm getting surgery on my left shoulder at the end of this month (29 th); the right one will be done 2 months after (if the left one is fine). Hope it'll be for the better...How are you doing VaTech, Sambo, and all the others?

bigjay34

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #60 on: June 09, 2005, 06:18:15 PM »
still training, it really hurts when i train cheast . I'm going for my operation DEC 16. I could have had it sooner, like in October, but i did not want to miss a lot of time off work, so i took two weeks off at Christmas time.I'm trying to come up with a good supplement stack, to speed up recovery. Like l-glutimine, dhea, glucosamine and a few others. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on this?

Sambo12

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #61 on: June 10, 2005, 03:29:22 AM »
Hey guys,

My recovery after my clavicle excision/subacromial decrompression is still going well. Its a long slow process, but with each week that passes I always see a marked improvement.

I can now train Chest and shoulders without pain which is great. Its still very light at the moment, and Im using 15kg dumbbells for my chest pressing and doing steep incline. low incline, and flat presses. I have stopped bench press altogether now as I have read many an article about the damage it can cause your shoulder joints due to the forced/rigid movement. Same thing with flies, again because of the damage they can cause, especially when the ROM is extended too far.
Other modifcations to my training in order to maintain the health of my shoulders are as follows:
*No BN pressing or BN pulldowns. For some people (obviously me and most others on this thread) these movements can be absolute killers as they force the rotator cuff out of position and give the shoulder incorrect tracking in the glenhumeral joint, causing impingment. The BN pulldown and press are especially bad for the AC joint and cause the AC ligamants to become stretched and therefore give you a greater chance of AC joint erosion (distal clavicle osteolysis).
*No Upright rows. This is a dangerous movment for the shoulder joint and shoulder be excluded my nearly all trainers. Again, it can cause impingment and tendonitis in the joint.
*Any extremes of ROM should be avoided. Stretching the shoulder joint too far can make the ligaments and tendons loose and cause problems.
*For me personally dips are off the menu, as they cause pain at my AC joint, and I mainly attribute doing lots of dips with heavy weights attached as the root of my problems. It shoulder be noted however that most trainers can do them with no problems, it all depends on your physiology and structure. If it hurts or clicks stop.
*I regularly train my rotator cuff muscles with internal and external rotations with rubber tubing and light dumbbells. I also perform lateral raises whilst lying in my side on a bench, this exercise engages the rotator cuff muscles to a high degree (mainly the supraspinatus) and aids in strengthening and supporting the shoulder joint.
*Stretching is done after the workout and pre-WO I always make sure I warm up with light cardio and light weights before progressing to the main sets.
*humility and focus are my main tools at this time. Immaculate form with easy weights.

I can now train back, triceps, bicpes, forearms at pretty much 90%, coming short of failure and taking no risks, but any pain with these movements are gone. Just a general weakness from months of non training. My muscle is returning very quickly even though my weights being used are REALLY light. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. Your body wants to get back to where it was, so keep faith and keep driving on carefully and you will all get back to your best. Its just now we must train twice as smart.

BigJay.. With regards to supplements my main tools for joints are a Glucosamine MSM, Condroitin stack for connective tissure regeneration. Couple this with EFA's in the form of Linseed oil for me. Before my surgery I also took a couple of Anit-inflam tablets after a workout to stop any pain and swelling. I also iced my shoulder regularly.... I still do this now and often alternate it with a heat pack. It helps increase healing blood flow to the area. IMO ice ice ice baby... Its been great for me.

Hope this helps you guys. Any questions you have I am more than happy to help.
Good luck fellas

Sam

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #62 on: June 11, 2005, 12:01:33 PM »
Good to hear from you Sam!
I see you recovery is going well, you are almost training at 100% (minus the pecs and delts which is normal at this stage), that's great, wow I can only imagine how you're feeling right now :D
Yeah, all the exercices you've listed are really dangerous and that's why I've never done them, except for the flies (if your elbows don't go behind the horizontal line of your upper pecs I think that's ok to do them).
Do you still do physio right now or is it just the first 4 or 5 weeks after the surgery? Thanks, wish you all the best.
Oh, and bigjay, Sam is right about those supplements; a friend of mine told me wonders about Celadrin (www.celadrin.com);before I get the surgery I'm gonna try it, just to see if it's really that good. You can find it at VitaminShoppe if you don't want to order it on the site. Hope to hear good news from all of ya all soon!

Sambo12

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #63 on: June 12, 2005, 05:55:03 AM »
Hey Tubbs,

Yeah it feels good, but 100% will not be for a good while, im going to be ultra careful...
i was checkin out that Celadrin, yeah man it looks good... I was laughing to myslef with all those pictures of old people in the pages... haha guys, what is wrong with us, we are like 60 year olds.. haha

later bro's

Sam

Dr. Xavier

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #64 on: June 17, 2005, 02:45:29 PM »
Testing, testing :o)

bigjay34

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #65 on: June 18, 2005, 06:26:19 PM »
Thanks for the link to celedrin i bought a bottle 90 tablets, 25 dollars canadian, i found this a little pricey so i'am going to shop around. i'll post back in a few weeks, or when the bottle runs out and let you guys know if it worked for me. They say that it works better when taken with glucosamine.

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #66 on: June 19, 2005, 11:12:36 AM »
Yeah BigJay, let us know how it works. Good luck.

Sambo12

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #67 on: June 26, 2005, 07:00:49 AM »
Just a little note in relation to the supplement/ joint healing question....

Well last time I listed my joint care stack, this time I would also like to point out that it is not only foods that you can take to help problems, but also foods that you can eat which can exacerbate problems. In my own personal experience I have found out that certain foods can trigger off joint aggravation, and many trainers I have talked to (especially old guys) have told me of foods which can really trigger off their joint pain. For me citrus fruits and coffee seem to not agree with me and since elliminating them from my diet i feel much better.

another one which seems to crop up over and again is tuna..... probably the mercury content. But I know a guy that even if he has so much as a spoonful of the stuff, it can cause him extreme joint pain.

Obviously everyone is different and their digestive systems deals with foods in different ways. A great way to find out what foods can cause you problems with health (not just joint) is to get a hair analysis test. they take a strand of hair and analyse what foods agree with you, what foods you need to take more of if you are deficient etc. Its very detailed and could really help in injury recovery and re-hab. A friend of mine has had it done and says he feels like a new person since dialing in his diet to his test results. I am going to get mine done soon, and will let you know how it goes.

Well good luck guys and take care

Sam.

p.s. my recovery still going well. Slow but surely I am getting there. Now inclince dumbbell pressing with 20kg bells.... Its light but its getting better each week.
On every exercise I continue to add a little more every session. Making sure that if I even get a twinge of pain, I back off and rest up till there is no pain at all. Caution and humility are hard virtues for a weight lifter/trainer to practice but essential in making a full recovery.


Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #68 on: June 26, 2005, 09:26:10 AM »
Hi Sambo, recovery seems to go pretty well for you. Thanks to point out the food topic; I eat two cans of tuna a day, sometimes four! Maybe I should slow down with it :-\
Now I have a question for you; next week I'm getting my left should done, the right one will be done early september (I hope); I know the rehab is gonna take some time, but I should be able to train light before I get the right one done, so what should I do in your opinion? Resume my training as soon as the first one is ok or wait till the second one is healed?
Thanks, see all of you soon!

Sambo12

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #69 on: June 26, 2005, 10:47:37 AM »
The answer to that question is pretty simple. Anything that hurts your shoulder, just plain and simple dont do it!! You have got to be patient with your recovery. I know that I can lift more than I am doing right now but the risks of doing this are simply not worth it. I have had a year of hell with my shoulder problems and as tempting as it is to jump in again and push myself I know how important it is to properly recover. I first partially tore my AC ligament and was told it was only sprained, so I pushed on, drove throught the pain and ended up giving myself severe arthtitis in my AC joint which had to be surgically reconstucted to be cured. Now I realise just how important it is not to rush back from injury.

I am slightly confused about your question however. Are you talking about training when your first shoulder op is healed up and before you other shoulder is healed. If so this is a bad idea. Only train again when both your shoulders are healed. Carry on with your rehab on the first shoulder and keep hitting your legs and midsection to keep mass and keep you sane. If u start to train while still carrying injury then your body will eventually pay the price. For example I was still training after my initial injury to my ligament, and not only did this cause the DCO but also in my MRI scans there was some mild wear on the biceps tendon. My point is that if you try training while your shoulder is not working properly u can never know what damage you're doing to it in other places.

Like I said before, only do what does not hurt. Keep increasing what you do sensibly and slowly. If pain comes knocking, sit back and let it heal before trying again.you will have all of July and August to re-hab your left shoulder, this should be just right....  then after your second surgery, do the same with your right while maintaining the re=hab  on your left. Its prob not best to do too much one sided training on your left if it has healed up and your right is still lagging behind. Just keep pressing on with your physio and try to come back so you can train both sided equally. This will ensure you dont pick up any muscular imbalances and that when u do try training both sides at once the forces of the weight are not unevenly distributed. As this can cause more problems as one shoulder is forced to do an excessive amount of work to compensate for the others weakness.

I hope that is clear, if not just ask. I'm glad you're getting the op done soon bro. That has come around pretty quick. Im sure not quick enough though. I wish you the best of luck for the operation. speak soon.

Sam

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #70 on: June 27, 2005, 03:34:40 AM »
Thanks Sambo, yeah that's what I was talking about; well, so I guess  training the upper body is out of the question for at least the next three months :'( I can only hope that one year from now I will be back at the top of my game, that's my only wish :-\

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #71 on: June 30, 2005, 03:36:09 AM »
Well guys, I'm back home :) It's all good this far, beginning rehab tomorrow; don't worry BigJay, it's not that painful; of course, rehab ain't gonna be fun the first couple of days, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to be back in the gym; the only bad thing is I did have an hypoglycemia crisis yesterday, but that's normal, 18 hours without eating is something I had never experienced; like most of you here I eat every 2.5-3 hours; luckily I had taken 3 Nitro-Tech bars with me ;D
A big hello to all of you.

bigjay34

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #72 on: June 30, 2005, 03:03:53 PM »
I'am glad things went well for you tubbs, can you move your arm or shoulder at all? Also how is sleeping, does it hurt to sleep? I have not found any noticable affect with the celedrin, but it can't hurt to keep taking it.

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #73 on: July 01, 2005, 01:24:55 AM »
Hi bro, I don't have a great range of motion right now, but that's normal, I begin rehab this afternoon. No, it doesn't hurt when sleeping, you just have to sleep on your back. I will tell you more later, have to go now.

Tubbs

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Re: ac joint, or for anyone with shoulder pain
« Reply #74 on: July 01, 2005, 09:09:51 AM »
Hi again, have done my first physio session, I'm feeling ok right now. BigJay, just ask if you want further details or advices on the surgery.