i have a tear in my rotator cuff, i think i may need surgery, i'm scared....?

Question

what should i expect?

Answer 1

The surgery usually goes quite well. Please do not delay and let it tear worse. I have known several people who have had this surgery and everything turned out just fine. They will more than likely do this laproscopically. You will have a few "holes" drilled and the doctor will do the surgery with the guidance of a surgical camera. They will probably have you start doing some type of physical therapy right away. Generally there are excellent results with this surgery and you should recover, have no more pain and have full range of motion.

Good luck to you.

Answer 2

My dad is a butcher (for almost 40 yrs) and has severe bone spurs in both shoulders that have torn some of the muscle tissue in his rotator cuffs. He has had laproscopic surgery on his left shoulder already, and is due to have his right shoulder done in a month. His surgery went beautifully, and he is not a physically fit man (obese, inactive, stubborn). He had three small incisions, and they had to install a pin to connect the muscle. The surgery took about three hours for him, but it had slighlty more damage than the doctor expected. He felt no pain afterwards, since the staff stayed on top of the medication and never let the pain get ahead of the drug levels. After he was discharged he had a ball of lidocaine that kept the nerves numb for some time, and then a perscription for painkillers. He only felt pain when he physically jostled his shoulder by walking around too much or bumped it. He had restricted motion for some time. His arm was in a sling and strapped to the side of his body with his elbow bent. It is now about four months later and he feels as though his shoulder is "brand new." He had one month of healing and two months of rehab before he was allowed to return to work (light duty). He has almost full range of motion and strength back, and he is expected to make a full recovery (thuough he is realistically already better than he has been in years prior to the surgery.) He is looking forward to the operation on his other shoulder.

Answer 3

if you don't have insurance, you can expect the hospital to charge you $30,000+ for the surgery plus an overnight stay. uninsured folks pay 3-10 times more than medicare, medicaid, major insurance plans. a few states are now forcing hospitals to charge you only what they charge insurance companies if your income is below a certain limit