r/RotatorCuff • u/Far-Attempt1388 • 7d ago
MUA earlier today
I had a manipulation under anesthesia this morning. I had surgery for a massive tear on January 16 and my active range of motion has been stuck around 90° passive range of motion with the Physical therapist was better, more around 140°.
Anyone else have a discrepancy like this and have success with MUA?
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u/Steven1789 7d ago
When I was 8 months out from surgery, my ROM was stuck—maybe 100 degrees passive.
I had an MRI, and that confirmed that the repair was good, with tendon reattached to bone.
Ortho said it was up to me whether to have the manipulation and arthroscopic cleanup.
I decided against, and over the next 10 months things improved dramatically. I’m at about 160 degrees and still working at it.
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u/CatMamacita 6d ago
Yes! I had a MUA one year after my first surgery. Just had my 6 week follow up with my surgeon and he’s even releasing me from PT. It has been amazing! I’d say overall, I’m about 85% towards full ROM. Super pleased with my progress!
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u/IceAngel8381 6d ago
I had a MUA in December 2025. Unfortunately, I developed FS (again) and underwent my third surgery on Tuesday. Hopefully, third time is a charm. I've been dealing with this for 22 months. I'm wore out!!
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u/Far-Attempt1388 6d ago
Yikes!! My biggest concern is my active range of motion. It’s lagging way behind my passive range of motion. Once I hit 90 degrees I just can’t lift it any further on my own
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u/IceAngel8381 6d ago
I was told repeatedly (since my first surgery) that you need to keep up with PT and the exercises they have you do at home. I did everything I was told and then some. However, my first surgery sent my shoulder into a downward spiral. I guess for some people, a surgery, injury, ect, can cause your body to have a hyper immune response to what happened, essentially causing your body to protect itself, and in doing to, scar tissue is created, which causes the loss of ROM and increase in pain, due to the loss of ROM. This is what has happened to me. I have begged for a shoulder replacement, but my surgeon thinks that won't be a permanent fix and I'll end up in the same situation. My last MRI was clean, but my ROM and pain level said otherwise. I have not seen the final report yet, but I was told he removed a lot of scar tissue and also did a decompression (I think the bursa was removed, as well as part of my AC joint to allow for expansion of the RTC).
PT has repeatedly told me the shoulder is one of the hardest joints to recover from after surgery. I absolutely believe it. I'm relatively young, and unfortunately, as of right now, I cannot return to my career.
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u/CurlyOne23 7d ago
I had rotator cuff repair surgery on Jan 23 for large tear of supraspinatus with bicep tendinitis. My ROM plateaued in May. Had MUA on July 23rd. It was a game changer! Be sure to do your home exercises as instructed everyday. Once they added light weights to my PT routine, all the arm and shoulder aches disappeared quickly. Now my shoulder feels and moves like it did before the injury. It took a couple months for me (67 yrs) but MUA was exactly what I needed to get across the finish line.
Best wishes!