This observation is supported by a study showing that in patients who have had rotator cuff surgery, strength in the shoulder muscles is not fully recovered until nine months after the surgery.
During your recovery period, you will work with your physical therapist to regain motion and strengthen the area. The rotator cuff surgery recovery timeline can vary case by case, but a full recovery typically takes four to six months. It may take longer than that to return to heavy lifting.
It takes six to eight weeks for the tendon to heal to the bone. Complete recovery time varies by size of the tear. For a small tears, full recovery time is about four months, for large tears, six months. For severe, massive tears, a complete recovery can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months.
However, it is important to realize that it may not make your shoulder feel 100% normal again. Research studies have shown that one year after surgery patients will have shoulder function which is about 80% of normal (see the attached graph from a publication in JBJS).
The greatest improvement in strength consistently occurred during the first 6 months after surgery. Patients also showed marked increases in both work and power. By 12 months after operation mean work had increased to 70% in flexion and abduction and 90% in external rotation of the uninvolved shoulder.
Rotator cuff tears do not heal on their own without surgery, but many patients can improve functionally and decrease pain with nonsurgical treatment by strengthening their shoulder muscles.
In addition to the risks of surgery in general, such as blood loss or problems related to anesthesia, complications of rotator cuff surgery may include: Nerve injury. This typically involves the nerve that activates your shoulder muscle (deltoid). Infection.
This observation is supported by a study showing that in patients who have had rotator cuff surgery, strength in the shoulder muscles is not fully recovered until nine months after the surgery. As a result, it is normal to expect some continued symptoms of pain or soreness after rotator cuff surgery for several months.
Another type of muscle loss occurs following surgery. Surgical interventions, especially for shoulder and knee problems, lead to considerable muscle atrophy. This can begin as soon as eight hours after surgery.
It takes 1 year to fully regain external rotation after small and medium tears, whereas mild residual stiffness remains after large tears. Full forward elevation is restored by 3 months for small tears vs 6 months for medium and large tears.
Rotator cuff retear rate ranges from 7.2% to 94% [2-5]. The risk factors for rotator cuff retear are larger initial tear size, older age, and degree of fatty degeneration [6,7]. The retear rate for ARCR is reported to be higher than that for primary ARCR [8].
The potential symptoms of a failed shoulder surgery include persistent pain, stiffness, swelling, joint instability, and muscle spasms. A person may not experience symptoms of failure right away, but they may become apparent later on.
Conclusions: In patients experiencing stiffness after rotator cuff surgery, the repair is less likely to fail at 6 months. Although the stiffness generally resolves by 5 years, this protective effect still persists at 9 years after surgery.
Share on Pinterest Surgeries involving the bones tend to cause more pain than other types. In general, research has found that orthopedic surgeries, or those involving bones, are the most painful.
The knee replacement is much more painful than a hip or shoulder.
Swelling and Bruising.
Tissue injury, whether accidental or intentional (e.g. surgery), is followed by localized swelling. After surgery, swelling increases progressively, reaching its peak by the third day. It is generally worse when you first arise in the morning and decreases throughout the day.
If pain persists following surgery, it is typically the result a damaged nerve. The other possibility is advanced shoulder disease which does not respond to conservative options and surgery is not recommended. In this case modulation of the primary nerves responsible for shoulder sensation can be an answer.
Persistent pain, loss of function and shoulder movement several months following surgical repair is usually an indication of a recurrent rotator cuff tear. Sometimes, recurrent tears are asymptomatic and show up during your periodic follow-up visits to your doctor.
Throughout this process, healing of the rotator cuff repair should be respected. The healing process is divided into three stages: inflammation (0–7 days), repair (5–14 days), and remodeling (> 14 days) [10].
Despite this, the literature suggests that a significant proportion of repairs fail to heal following rotator cuff repair. Reported healing rates vary from 91% for small tears to 6% for large and/or massive tears in some series[5-8].
Conclusion: At an average of 7.9 years, patients with recurrent defects after rotator cuff repair still had an improvement in terms of pain, function, and satisfaction.
Surgery may be a good idea if you tore your rotator cuff in a sudden injury and the tear is making your shoulder weak. But surgery can't fully reverse problems that occur over time with wear and tear of the rotator cuff.