A stroke? No, a torn rotator cuff. ??

[babylonsister]

80 year old dad has been suffering since June from this, and thought he was a goner.
Found out today that was the problem, so I've heard.

Question is, should he have surgery at 80 for this? One arm is useless.

Has anyone had this repaired? How bad is it?

[bkkyosemite]

1. Surgery is pretty stressful for a younger person but I do not know how healthy your dad is.

I have a rotator cup problem and my arm is in awlful pain but I will not have surgery because it would be too hard on my system but I'm not in the greatest health either.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks. His arm isn't in pain, but he can't use it.

He's in good health, but he is 80. So, will the pain trump the usage? I don't know which way to encourage him.

[madfloridian]

4. I had a frozen shoulder, suspected rotator cuff problem.

I could not raise my arm at all. My chiropractor xrayed, I showed them to my doctor....who said there seems to be not much there. The chiropractor and accupuncturist who works with him used muscle stimulation and other alternative therapy with excercise. It took 6 weeks but I can raise it over my head and it is very flexible.

They could not see a tear, but suspected.

[babylonsister]

5. Thank you for your experience, madfloridian. That helps. nt

[madfloridian]

6. The cause could not be proven.

My medical doctor said go with the alternative stuff first because doctors only do surgery.

It worked. I see a massage therapist regularly and it is almost good as new.

Every case is different.

[illuminaughty]

17. Hey, Mad. That's what worked for me.

I had torn rotator and ended up with frozen shoulder. No surgeon would touch me because of MS...even Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. After almost a year of pain, my chiropractor did accupuncture and it worked wonders. About two months of therapy.

[madfloridian]

25. The muscle stimulation technique plus accuncture worked wonders.

Without drugs. I could not raise my arm at all, came on about a month after a surgery I had. They suspect I had my arm inadvertently twisted around during the surgery...that when an injury like that happens the frozen shoulder takes a few weeks to show up. It was weird.

[auntsue]

3. My mom had a total replacement

of her left shoulder when she was 86. She also had congestive heart failure at the time but it was stable due to the meds she was taking. Her arm was so bad she couldn't move it. After surgery she had complete recovery and full range of motion. If you have a good, experienced Doctor who you trust I say go for it. Oh and rotator cuff surgery is probably easier on the patient. If he has a good scrappy attitude - well if if was me I'd do it.

[KitchenWitch]

7. Try to get a referral for physical therapy.

Try to avoid them cutting it if at all possible.

[babylonsister]

8. He does have another appointment with another doc, from what my

sister told me. I'm calling tomorrow to find out what's going on. The guy has been miserable, but pain-free. Weird.

[elleng]

13. b'sister, can you speak with him directly,

or someone in the family? Your sister?

Seems all of the comments here offer confusing options, and he should be aware, if possiblez. The 'misdiagnosis' last seems to have lasted for a long time. Can you be assured of decent docs now? AND do look for good physical therapy advice.

Good Luck!

[Agent William]

9. Honestly I would have to yes to surgery.

Or at least some kind of physical therapy. To me, the point is that something should be done to attempt to remedy the situation. One useless arm to is a terrible burden to carry around and a depressing one at that, and surgery could present your father with at least some hope, of course that depends how he feels about having an arm in such a state since it could be tolerable.

:hi:

[Qanisqineq]

10. I don't know your dad's health condition

And I know nothing about rotator cuff surgery. That being said, my 95 year old grandmother and 96 year old grandfather have had surgery for knee replacement, hip replacement, stomach cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer -- all within the last 10 to 15 years. They make it through just fine and keep on ticking! My grandmother still cannot walk very well after her knee surgery but a lot of that is due to her weight. She has been overweight to obese all her life and doesn't cut back on the sweets and cream on her cereal.

Good luck to your dad. I'd say if his doctor thinks he would do okay, then it is up to your dad. My grandparents will do anything to keep going and they are still going strong.

[babylonsister]

24. Thanks for the hope! And good on your grandfolks! nt

[alarimer]

26. If I make it to 95 I am eating whatever the hell I want too! n/t

[madrchsod]

11. i`m 62 and into my 7 week of pt after rotator cuff surgery

personally if i were 80 i would`t have it done. i`ve had several major operations in the last few years and this is by far the worse. it`s not the surgery it`s the pain and discomfort for weeks after the surgery that is the killer. i`m finally off the pain killers and on over the counter medicines. it`s getting better..i`m able to type with out to much pain. i`m still not able to lift anything yet and the pt and doctor is looking at the start of jan. for weight lifting. i`m 62 and the doc figures 85% max do to my age.

the doctor should be able to help you and your dad make the decision what is best for your dad and who will be taking care of him.

[raventattoo]

12. I had my rotator cuff repaired

in 2004 at age 38. I am also a physician board certified in Family Medicine but I will offer some personal advice.

For myself, I workout a lot, about 5 days weekly lifting weights. Over about 6 months I had to keep decreasing my weight because of ever increasing pain in my left shoulder. My ortho injected it which helped for about 3 or 4 weeks. I had some arthritis and a tear in the cuff and finally elected to have it repaired arthroscopically.

I hope I never again have to eperience that searing pain! I had no idea what people went through. It was very intense for about 2 days. Unable to use it at all for 6 weeks. It was still quite tender at 6 monts around the time I started to lift light weights again. But I persevered. It was a good 1.5 to 2 years before I had made maximal recovery. There were times I thought to myself never again. I feel like the shoulder is about 95 to 97% of it's best. While not 100%, I now have much less pain and much more strenth that before and I would do it again in a second.

Now, with your dad's age and not being in the best of health, I would also recommend doing physical therapy and injections to improve the mobility. Be as conservative as possible.

Best of luck!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. How useless is his arm? The rotator cuff in and of itself shouldn't cause that.

They rarely repair rotator cuffs in the elderly unless they are extremely active. How was it diagnosed?

David

[babylonsister]

22. Happened in June after tearing some decking apart. His arm

has been pretty much useless. He got diagnosed yesterday by an ortho. Went to a walk in clinic prior to that where they gave him antibiotics. I kid you not.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

29. Did he have an MRI with contrast?

[Crunchy Frog]

15. I would say that it depends on how otherwise healthy and physically able

he is, and to what extent he is being disabled by the injury. If he's very healthy and active, and this injury is significantly limiting him, then he might want to strongly consider surgery.

[BanzaiBonnie]

16. My dad had that surgery when he was over 75

and he was very happy to have his arm to use again.

If your dad is in relatively good health and he docs okay it, then it's a good surgery to have done.

[BigBearJohn]

18. Have you ever considered seeing a physiatrist (not a psychiatrist)...

I saw one and he helped me with my bad hip. I know a hip is a lot different
than a rotator cuff, but it's worth investigation IMHO.

Physiatrists, or rehabilitation physicians, are medical doctors who are:

. Experts at diagnosing and treating pain

. Restore maximum function lost through injury, illness or disabling conditions

. Treat the whole person, not just the problem area

. Lead a team of medical professionals

. Provide non-surgical treatments

. Explain your medical problems and treatment plan

. Work not only on treatment but also prevention

Rehabilitation physicians are nerve, muscle, and bone experts who treat injuries or illnesses that affect how you move. Rehabilitation physicians have completed training in the medical specialty physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R).

Rehabilitation physicians treat a wide range of problems from sore shoulders to spinal cord injuries. Their goal is to decrease pain and enhance performance without surgery. Rehabilitation physicians take the time needed to accurately pinpoint the source of an ailment. They then design a treatment plan that can be carried out by the patients themselves or with the help of the rehabilitation physician’s medical team. This medical team might include other physicians and health professionals, such as neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, and physical therapists. By providing an appropriate treatment plan, rehabilitation physicians help patients stay as active as possible at any age. Their broad medical expertise allows them to treat disabling conditions throughout a person’s lifetime.

See more at: http://www.aapmr.org/condtreat/what.htm

Hope this helps. :hug: BBJ

[Hekate]

19. Have it fixed, but find a specialist who does arthroscopic surgery. I've had 3 shoulder surgeries...

... for calcifying tendinitis that impacted the rotator cuff (2 times on the left, once on the right), and it made a world of difference. In my case, I was in severe pain for a very long time (I'm talking years, with occasional frozen shoulder) before the surgery, and the relief was immense.

The procedure is done under general anesthesia, and if it can be accomplished arthroscopically there will only be 3 small incisions. In one case my doc had to open the shoulder up more, but otherwise it was just the small holes.

I had to have rehabilitation afterwards to restore full range of motion and rebuild strength, but it was not terribly difficult. (I just read some of the other comments. I mean it was "not terribly difficult" in comparison with the agony I was in *before* the surgery.) In your father's case you say his arm is "useless", which means his muscles will have withered through inactivity over the past many months. His rehab will be harder and longer because of that.

I would sincerely hope there would not be any difficulty with getting insurance and/or Medicare to pay for this type of surgery, because without it he is significantly impaired.

Unless he has another condition that makes him a poor candidate for surgery of any type, I would strongly recommend doing this.

Best of luck!

Hekate

[illuminaughty]

20. Bab, lots of good advice here.

Throwin' my two cents in.

I have MS so it's sometimes difficult to diagnose a new pain and I can imagine how frustrating it's been if they thought it was a stroke all this time. With me, they wouldn't do an MRI, didn't believe it was a torn cuff and started me on excruciating physical therapy.

We now refer to these days as my "Zeig Heil" movement. Reason being, I wore a support band on my upper arm which really helped with pain, but it was black. Then I'd teach dance classes with the help of my assistants. My arm, at that time, had become frozen and I couldn't use it. Now, even though there were three other teachers, little ones have a tendency to only pay attention to the guy who's talking (me) So, we were constantly saying "both hands up, both hands" and yet you'd see a dozen five year olds raising one arm up, Hitler style, along with me standing there with a black arm band. Sorry, I just had to share that, it went on for months and we still laugh about it.

But seriously, I had to demand the MRI and of course they found the tear. The surgeon said she wouldn't touch me because of the MS. I then went to Mayo in Scottsdale to see a neuro there and they had me see the Ortho. He said they don't like to do rotator surgery on anyone who might not have full strength use of legs because that person will end up needing arms to be mobile and the "stitches" will not hold. So, I wondered how mobile your father is. It really limits your functions for quite some time. I have friends that are physical therapists that tell me it's one of the most painful rehabs they work with. My mother did have surgery on a small tear at 82 and she did well.

MadFloridian sounds like he ended up doing what eventually worked for me. And I had my doubts.
After close to a year of severe pain and loss of the use of the arm, I had extensive acupuncture and therapy. It took a couple of months, but I got some pain relief immediately. Slowly, I regained use of my arm. My insurance (back when I had it) covered this. It is definitely the least invasive
and is worth a try. sorry to be so long winded, but I hope it helped. Good luck to your Dad!

[TexasObserver]

21. My dad had the operation at age 79

He got tangled up with the mule at the farm, and pulled the arm badly.

It took an operation, a couple of months of rehab, and it's still not 100%, and it's been a year.

If one is 80, then one's life expectancy is usually at least five more years. As with any operation, it's hard on the body. Is your dad up for such an operation?

[babylonsister]

23. I don't know. He's in physically good shape, only meds he takes

is aspirin. He's been referred to someone who I guess is supposed to gauge his ability to endure the surgery.
I just tried to call, but he must be out celebrating a diagnosis finally with French Toast. :party:

[TexasObserver]

27. it wasn't the operation, but the rehab, that was the hard part

My dad had to wear this contraption to keep circulation in his shoulder, and it was kind of cumbersome for a while.

[pitohui]

28. a friend of mine had a torn rotator cuff

he was able to avoid surgery by doing the physical therapy and he has regained full range of motion of the arm and shoulder, but he was in his 40s, not in his 80s

has the surgeon worked on anyone of your dad's age before? it is not usually a difficult surgery and usu. has good results, my friend had no health insurance tho, that's why he had to try the nonsurgical option first

he had "frozen shoulder" and had lost use of the arm similar to madfloridian's description, he said part of the benefit of the physical therapy was learning it was safe to work through the exercises and the pain, to regain the range of motion

the frozen shoulder and inability to use the arm came because of the fear of the pain (caused presumably by a tear in the rotator cuff) and he then avoided using the arm for a long time and then it got frozen up...

it has been a number of years, no re-occurence, and he is very active and often lifts, for awhile he was involved with weight training

[littlebit]

30. I had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff two years ago.

I was 34. The surgery wasn't that big of a deal. The physical therapy was. I spent six months regaining the strength in my arm. I still have problems with pain and inflammation.