Physical Fitness Couple questions to those that have Ruptured Achilles Tendons or Severely strained shoulders.

[DIBBS]

Well in short, old age kinda sucks. At least the injuries, retirement is not so bad.

About 13 months ago I ruptured my achilles tendon, subsequently had surgery and physical therapy... but the feeling in a couple toes has remained tight... like perhaps the tendons controlling them are slightly shorter. Will this eventually get back to normal?

My latest mis-adventure involved a fall on the ice coyote hunting approximately 5 weeks ago. According to the PA & xrays, no broken bones. Mild sprain on left wrist, severe right shoulder sprain.
Initially very little movement in any direction w/right arm caused extreme pain. My range of motion has been improving, I try to push through the pain without wetting myself... to maintain movement/motion. Also minimizing NSAIDs as much as possible.
Due to a scheduling snafu, PT assessment/therapy starts tomorrow. Hopefully I will get some good positive information.

No MRI was done at the initial clinic visit, and the PA stated that I will do PT for a while...whatever that is, and if things don't progress like they should, physical therapist will refer me back to Clinic for MRI and possibly surgery.

So questions to those that have had a similar injury. How many weeks/months to get back to normal with PT and no major setbacks. Second, if I do have to have surgery to repair things... best guesstimate on that timeframe for recovery.

Perhaps I should be happy that the magnums are collecting dust and I am saving on components. I would , however, rather be target shooting on occasion.

Thanks in advance for your feedback/experiences.

 

[_Windrider_]

Well in short, old age kinda sucks. At least the injuries, retirement is not so bad.

About 13 months ago I ruptured my achilles tendon, subsequently had surgery and physical therapy... but the feeling in a couple toes has remained tight... like perhaps the tendons controlling them are slightly shorter. Will this eventually get back to normal?

My latest mis-adventure involved a fall on the ice coyote hunting approximately 5 weeks ago. According to the PA & xrays, no broken bones. Mild sprain on left wrist, severe right shoulder sprain.
Initially very little movement in any direction w/right arm caused extreme pain. My range of motion has been improving, I try to push through the pain without wetting myself... to maintain movement/motion. Also minimizing NSAIDs as much as possible.
Due to a scheduling snafu, PT assessment/therapy starts tomorrow. Hopefully I will get some good positive information.

No MRI was done at the initial clinic visit, and the PA stated that I will do PT for a while...whatever that is, and if things don't progress like they should, physical therapist will refer me back to Clinic for MRI and possibly surgery.

So questions to those that have had a similar injury. How many weeks/months to get back to normal with PT and no major setbacks. Second, if I do have to have surgery to repair things... best guesstimate on that timeframe for recovery.

Perhaps I should be happy that the magnums are collecting dust and I am saving on components. I would , however, rather be target shooting on occasion.

Thanks in advance for your feedback/experiences.

Get the MRI. You could be doing something you shouldn’t be. I’ve torn my rotator cuff before. With the proper PT, from surgery to back to 95% (cause u never get 100 back) took about 16 weeks.

 

[Choid]

You probably have at least a labrum tear.

 

[Jigstick]

Shoulder surgery is going to lay you up for a while. I typically do supraclavicular or interscalene blocks for any shoulder work. Be it an arthroscopy or open repair / replacement. All shoulder surgery is very painful. One of the most painful outside of thoracotomies. Even with the nerve blocks you’re only comgoing to be comfortable for 24hrs max. Then you’ll be gobbling up narcotics etc. Your shoulder has mad movement in it and it just flat out hurts. Just from a pain perspective you’ll be laid up for a good while. Let alone the surgical healing.

most health insurance companies will make you suffer through PT for X amount of time before they will cover surgical intervention. But if you’re losing mobility and having that kind of pain I’d be pushing for that MRI big time. If you have torn labrum, ligaments, tendons in there then PT could be aggravating the injury and making things worse.

 

[Texasflyer]

I shattered my right knee cap about 20 years ago. I was looking into having it repaired but at the time what i read was after surgery i would have about 70 percent use of my leg.... i have about 95 percent most of the time, wasnt willing to risk it. If i kneel across a bed, or the couch on it, it feels like its made of needles but otherwise unless its about to get cold im fine lol. Took me about a year to mostly heal from it though. And several others to feel like its fine. Every now and then i will walk into a trailer hitch i dont see or something and it reminds me that itll never be right again.

 

[MK20]

I dislocated my shoulder badly in the military. after 6 months I still couldnt raise my arm up my back past my tailbone, and I have really flexible shoulders normally.

I went to see our PT and he said he would try "cupping" it. Not the normal chinese thing where they put cups on and then have you sit there. He put cups on my shoulder and had me move it every which way possible. It hurt. I walked out of there 5 minutes later with full range of motion and have had it ever since.

 

[RPN]

I've had both.

A ruptured Achilles tendon and surgery to repair left me with pain in the side of my foot - apparently it is not unusual for the nerve to be damaged by either the injury or the repair. It lasted for a couple of years, and in the end hypnosis stopped it - I'm not the guy that believes in that sort of thing, but it worked, and 8 years later it still works.

The shoulder I am working through now - PT doesn't really seem to be making much progress, but surgery isn't a guaranteed fix either. Rotator cuff injuries are really a case of the individual situation matters.

What I would say is that if your only tool is a hammer, then the whole world looks like a nail. Surgeons cut. Physiotherapists manipulate, and they are both right in their opinion.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I had an open bankart repair and capsular shift in 2002 after a fight with a c-130 in flight. I have never been completely right since. It is much better but I still have some instability and a lot of apprehension with certain movements. Weather will make it feel fantastic some days.

 

[tomcatmv]

I had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder about 8-9 years ago. Just about two months ago I've been getting these really weird tingling events in my left shoulder neck area. It happens several times a day. It's not really painful but annoying. It's like I've got some sort of electrical shock going from my left shoulder/neck area. Lasts for a minute or so then subsides. Any ideas??

 

[Choid]

I have a pretty good slap tear in my right shoulder. I decided to forego surgery, and can basically do what I could do before, other than that I use a chuckit with my dogs. I can bench and overhead press more now than before. I think each shoulder is individual, and shoulder surgery has some significant long term effects.

 

[37L1]

Ruptured Achilles tendon, 1982, still got the scar but that's it. Don't ever think about it any more and haven't in decades.

Went through rigorous rehab, including running bare foot in soft sand at the beach. Dealing with muscle loss and flexibility was a bitch but it helped get back to almost full range of motion. I still run plenty (approx. 20 miles a week) and it never gives me any problems.

Other things hurt though, hah.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

I'm recovering from a shoulder reconstruction and elbow surgery at present.
It's been six miserable months, but thankfully will be back at work soon, even though light duties is mandatory for a while longer.
Ideally, you should have had the MRI first, so they know what they are dealing with.
I learned from from my other one, four years ago, steady wins the race.
Gently into the physio, and focus on the end goal of full recovery.
My Babe is on me like a hawk, always reminding me not to push it. That sucks, because my nature is to go hammer and tongs.
Been lucky that I had two very good surgeons, so no butcher horror stories.
The shopping bag full of meds is insane.
I took minimal amounts just to take edge off.... I am not a fan of opioids.
@DIBBS I would get the MRI, there could be something more going on there.
If physiotherapists are like the ones here, they will just keep billing till you break. Zero Fucks Given.
Get a surgeon's opinion.
I hope you recover 100%

 

[ma smith]

Ideally, you should have had the MRI first, so they know what they are dealing with.

Get the MRI. You could be doing something you shouldn’t be.

Get the MRI. And then a surgeons opinion. etc.

Shoulders are complex joints, try watching some you tube videos on them.

It really helps to know what the actual injury is.

Both for your sanity and to keep PT in check so they don't hurt you.

 

[DIBBS]

I sincerely appreciate your experiences, thoughts, and recommendations/suggestions.

I absolutely do not understand why they (PA, insurance company) have you start Physical Therapy prior to a complete understanding and knowledge of what the injury is, and the best way to proceed. Simply cost savings I suppose- the bottom line, not necessarily what is best for the patient.

I will have a serious discussion with the therapist tomorrow about the MRI and my wishes... and hopefully come up with a plan for success. I have been assigned the same one that I had for my achilles injury, and fortunately have a very favorable impression.

 

[Tack425]

This was #5 of my 6 shoulder surgeries on my left shoulder. I have had 4 SLAP, 5 rotator cuff, 1 tenodesis, and whatever else repaired. To be honest I can not really remember what I truly had past that.
I have learned one thing: your body only heals as fast as IT WANTS to, not how fast you may want it to heal. That was a very hard lesson for me to learn. I hate sitting and not feeling I can contribute to work, family, household chores, etc. I absolutely HATE to say I can’t. But it is that mindset that has caused me to have so many reconstructions and surgeries before I was even 45.
If I can give any advice, please get a second opinion if you are not satisfied with the care or course of treatment you are getting. Get an MRI as soon as you can. PT can help but not to the point where you hurt more than when you arrived, just keep the joint moving to maintain range as much as is comfortable. Pain/numbness is not good and talk to your doctor. Lastly if you have to have surgery, and I hope you don’t, but if you do take your time to recover. All the things you love to do will be there when you are better. Your body will only heal as fast as it wants to not as fast as your mind wants it to. Make those things you love your goal before, during and after surgery to help you recover and have the best outcome you possibly can.
You or anyone are welcome to PM me for further details on experiences, triumphs and pitfalls post surgery.
stay safe and good luck sir.
Tack425
Typed on my iPhone so sorry for any errors

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

My surgeons both advised me to ignore the recommendations of physiotherapists and the insurers, until I had been given a clearance from themselves.
They have years of experience in relation to doing repeat surgeries, due to physiotherapists causing further damage.
Good luck, and keep focused on the end result, 100% recovery.

 

[alamo5000]

My latest mis-adventure involved a fall on the ice coyote hunting approximately 5 weeks ago. According to the PA & xrays, no broken bones. Mild sprain on left wrist, severe right shoulder sprain.
Initially very little movement in any direction w/right arm caused extreme pain. My range of motion has been improving, I try to push through the pain without wetting myself... to maintain movement/motion. Also minimizing NSAIDs as much as possible.
Due to a scheduling snafu, PT assessment/therapy starts tomorrow. Hopefully I will get some good positive information.

No MRI was done at the initial clinic visit, and the PA stated that I will do PT for a while...whatever that is, and if things don't progress like they should, physical therapist will refer me back to Clinic for MRI and possibly surgery.

So questions to those that have had a similar injury. How many weeks/months to get back to normal with PT and no major setbacks. Second, if I do have to have surgery to repair things... best guesstimate on that timeframe for recovery.

Perhaps I should be happy that the magnums are collecting dust and I am saving on components. I would , however, rather be target shooting on occasion.

Thanks in advance for your feedback/experiences.

I have had numerous shoulder injuries and two shoulder surgeries. One was a total reconstruction job from an extremely bad accident. (Imagine wearing a pair of handcuffs behind your back but then having your right arm jerked over your head until your hand is touching your pelvis...) Basically my whole life has been full of shoulder issues on both shoulders.

Personally I cannot say what will happen because you didn't give enough data for me to make an educated guess. What exactly happened? What direction did your shoulder move? Was it anterior? Posterior? What kind of action or motion caused the initial problem?

Basic principles though: Imagine a rubber band. Now stretch that rubber band. If you really stretch that rubber band farther than it was intended to go what happens? There are several options:

1. The rubber band can break
2. The rubber band can stretch too far and in the process lose some of it's elasticity.

With your shoulder an injury like this can (and most likely will) become a chronic problem forever unless you get it fixed. A broken rubber band (the stuff holding your shoulder in socket) in ways is easier to deal with. They will do surgery (most likely arthroscopic) and tighten everything back up. It's kind of like a clear cut problem and solution.

With the second option where it just stretched too far, your shoulder will be loose in the socket although it may not be obvious that it is. Because it's not an overtly obvious problem it's still a problem. You could suffer from dislocations very easily once the joint becomes compromised. Once I dislocated my left shoulder simply getting up from the sofa. All the angles were just right and bam. 30 minutes later I was in the ER.

It will really depend on a whole lot of details to give you a solid answer. At this point though DO NOT work on range of motion. Immobilize that sucker and quit effing with it. Back to the rubber band analogy...if the rubber band is stretched too far but not all the way torn, while it is still injured if you are doing range of motion exercises you are compounding the problem.

Your body can heal but it will depend on the details. Right now doing exercises is in my view one of the dumbest things you can possibly do. #1 you don't know the full extent of the injury yet so don't eff with it and potentially cause years of trouble by 'trying to get back to normal' too soon. On the flip side if you don't try to do all that stuff and the injury isn't severe enough it can get back to normal by not doing those exercises until MUCH LATER. Otherwise you are taking what could be a simple injury and turning into a more severe injury.

 

[ma smith]

IMHO, You need to get an MRI, full stop.

Don't let the insurance put you on PT in lieu of an MRI to "save money" in the off chance that the injury sponateaously heals. While there are some injuries that will spontaneously heal with PT, that is basically rolling the dice not proper medical diagnosis.

PT can create problems because the joint isn't resting/healing properly. However, PT/ROM exercise sometimes needs to be done to keep an injury from locking up with scar tissue....Google "frozen shoulder".

There are also certain injuries that have time windows to do the surgery. You want to do some surgeries close to the injury date. Delaying diagnosis while "rolling the dice" with PT can create a problem by delaying definititive diagnosis by the Ortho.

TLDR: You need to actually know WTF is going on sooner rather than later...

 

[powdahound76]

It all depends.

How fit, tough and dedicated to hard PT are you?
If you were dedicated to your health and fitness beforehand, you will do better.

I have seen the gamut.

and get the MRI sooner rather than later. Few PAs but a good ortho trained one can tell much about a shoulder injury based on exam and plain films alone. Its a complex joint, not just a tibial shaft thats either good or not.
I saw one of the best surgeons in town for a shoulder years back. Quick exam and then an MRI.