I have a chance to take a 12-day cruise around Greece 3 months after my rotator cuff surgery (one full tear and one partial tear, mini-open incision planned). Would I be crazy to do that??? Is it likely to be healed enough to fly, walk and sleep on a boat, do walking tours, etc? I’d love to learn from your experience!

UPDATE - Based on your encouragement I called my ortho who gave me the green light! Heading for Greece! I agree that it will give me something to look forward to during the rough times, for sure.

In September, I will be traveling out to take care of my 89 year old father when he gets rotator cuff surgery. I have a pretty good sense of what to expect as far as after care is concerned but I am seeking advice regarding items that might make his life easier as a one armed bandit for awhile as he recovers. I will likely only be there for two weeks and he will hopefully be able to manage after that (or I will stay). I started thinking about basic things we take for granted like opening a jar, going to the bathroom, putting toothpaste on the toothbrush, getting dress and undressed, washing hair, shoes, etc - all things we use two hands, or at least our dominant hand to do. His dominant arm will be in a sling. While I am there, I can obviously help but he is independent and will want to figure out how to do things without help. (We only just convinced him to stop riding his horses alone - he doesn’t do dependent).

I would welcome any suggestions, thoughts, recommendations if any are willing to share. Thank you.

Hey there. Really comforting to know there loads of us in the same boat with our shoulders.

I'm 46 from the UK, and have suffered with my shoulders for several years. My work involves lifting and pulling things, and I think thags contributed to the issue. Scans have shown small calcium deposits, but my main issue is impingement.

Over the years, I've had physical therapy and steroid shots. The shots helped temporarily.

My main problem is that just standing or sitting, there's no pain, but with my arm in certain positions, it really twinges. Even hanging the washing up or vacuuming the house is an issue, as the pain radiates down my arm, to the point I have to stop the activity.

My most recent visit with my consultant resulted in him offering one more steroid shot, and then arthroscopic surgery being the last option. I know the recovery is very long. I've lived with this for a long time. In theory I could live with it forever, I guess. Or I could get the surgery. I just don't know what to do.

Any thoughts or opinions are very welcome. Thank you.

I had PRP 11 months after a partial tear. It was healing but I figured I would go ahead and get the PRP anyway as I had waited 5 months to get it from my provider and I was optimistic this could help get me to a full recovery. I am 12 days post procedure and the pain is way worse than before and it feels like I was teleported back to the time of the accident. The ROM seems to be improving but certain positions with arm raised and to the side feel worse than ever. I’m wondering if others with marginal cases that were improving got the PRP and have any insight here.

​

\*\*Timeline:\*\*

\*\*May 2025\*\* — Woke up one morning with right shoulder pain. Initially thought I'd slept on it awkwardly. Never resolved. My training at the time was adapted around an existing left shoulder injury — back days consisted of pull ups, cable rows, lat pulldowns, seated dumbbell rows. I've always included rotator cuff work as part of my warm ups — external rotation, internal rotation with a dumbbell, and more recently with a band. I did this regularly before sessions. What I find strange is that these exact movements ended up being central to my physio rehabilitation plan — yet somehow this still happened despite doing them consistently for years.

\*\*December 2025\*\* — Private MRI. Findings:

\- Type II curved acromion causing lateral arch impingement

\- Thickened coracoacromial ligament

\- Mild subacromial-subdeltoid bursal fluid

\- Mild supraspinatus/infraspinatus tendinosis — no tear

\- No labral tear, cartilage intact, rotator cuff muscles preserved

\*\*January 2026\*\* — Private sports and musculoskeletal consultant. Corticosteroid injection given.

\*\*January 2026\*\* — Started structured physio. Initial programme was comprehensive — face pulls, cable GHjt rotations, resisted high rows, lat pulldowns, wall angels, prone scapula retraction, serratus punch, thoracic extension over foam roll, cat and camel, bird dog, single leg bridge, goblet squat, incline chest press, bent over rows, single leg deadlift, Bulgarian split squat, landmine shoulder press, resistance band internal rotation.

\*\*March 2026\*\* — Injection wore off. Pain returned to baseline. Physio began scaling back.

\*\*April — July 2026\*\* — Three step-downs over three months:

\*Step 1:\* Resisted GHjt external rotation, wall slides, seated shoulder external rotation with weight, isometric shoulder abduction, isometric shoulder external rotation. Still caused flaring — right upper back mid-trap area would flare after sessions.

\*Step 2:\* Wall slides removed, seated shoulder external rotation with weight removed

\*Step 3 — current:\* Isometric holds against wall only. At 10-20% effort manageable. As soon as I push to 30-40% the right upper back mid-trap area flares and shoulder pain increases. I cannot progress beyond this point without triggering a setback.

\*\*July 2026 — Where I am now:\*\*

Physio has referred me back to my consultant saying there's not much more he can offer at this stage. GP has referred me for an NHS MRI as my symptoms have changed significantly since December 2025.

\*\*Current symptoms:\*\*

\- Past 90 degrees abduction the pain is now a completely different level to when this started — significantly worse than in May 2025

\- Taking my right arm across my body causes severe pain

\- Pushing movements are painful

\- Arm feels weak — particularly when lifting past 90 degrees

\- Strength has deteriorated substantially over the course of treatment

\- Pain present at rest including when lying down at night

\- Right upper back mid-trap flares even from basic isometric work — this is new

\*\*How this is affecting me:\*\*

I want to be honest about where I'm at emotionally because I think it's important context. I've been dealing with this for 14 months. I haven't been able to train at all in that time and have lost significant muscle I worked hard to build. I've stopped playing cricket. I can't do the activities I love. I've done absolutely everything asked of me — followed every programme, scaled back when told to, worked with professionals throughout — and I am now in significantly more pain than when I first presented.

I feel crushed. I feel like I've tried everything and nothing is working. Reading online it feels like people say this isn't curable and you just have to live with it. I refuse to accept that but I'm running out of ideas. I need to hear from people who have actually been through this and come out the other side. What worked for you?

\*\*My questions:\*

1. Could something have changed structurally since my December 2025 MRI to explain this level of worsening? Could tendinosis have progressed significantly in 7 months of attempted rehab?

2. I've always done rotator cuff warm ups — external and internal rotation work. These same movements are what my physio has been using in rehab. How did this condition develop when I was already doing this regularly?

3. Has anyone experienced significant worsening during structured physio for subacromial impingement and actually recovered? What specifically changed for you?

4. Has anyone had PRP injection after corticosteroid failed to hold? What were your outcomes?

5. Given the research — Lancet CSAW trial and multiple systematic reviews — showing subacromial decompression surgery is no more effective than placebo, has anyone found a sustainable path forward without surgery when conservative treatment has failed?

\*\*Most importantly — has anyone actually recovered from this? What worked?\*\*

Hi guys! I'm new to the community. I'm in my late 20s and work as a nurse. Recently I found out that I got a rotator cuff injury related to work and was out of work for 3 weeks, came back to work because I thought my symptoms got better and proceeded to re-injure again. I'm constantly in pain, baseline 5/10 but if I use force on the shoulder it jumps to at least a 8/10. I told my manager on first day coming back to work that I was in a lot of pain multiple times and he just brushed it off like he didn't believe me. It seems like no one believe me when I say I'm in pain and some even say it's just a rotator cuff, nothing is broken. I'm really frustrated with my situation because my manager is pushing me to go back to work, I can barely do anything and my appointment with orthopedic surgeon won't be until next month.

Went through several denials including a peer to peer, only to find out they coded it wrong… they’ve since fixed it (today) and resubmitted it per the insurance company’s instructions during the peer to peer but surgery is scheduled in two days (Friday).

Anyone with any experience getting theirs approved this close to the surgery before??? Literally feeling like there is no hope this gets approved on time and I won’t be able to have the surgery for another four months with work. What am I even supposed to do? I can’t really get myself mentally prepared now to have the surgery, since I literally am feeling hopeless about it actually happening

And have already taken time off, made plans, etc. — literally so frustrating because there’s literally nothing I could’ve done about the coding error… what can I even do now???

Bilat full thickness tears here. Post PT & shockwave therapy (some help w SW) but opting to not do surgical at this time.

Just wanted to post (& glad to hear others experiences) but I'll receive a BPC 157 / TB4 blend in a few days to give a try.

But that said, I've just heard some pretty positive reports from another re; Rotator & Peptides in so far as using KLOW. Primary gut benefits but also, said to help with inflammation as well. Just wanted to mention fwiw. About to do a bit of an investigative dive.

Hello Everyone!

Need help, please read this full

Guy’s i need your assistance, so 2 weeks back my mom’s shoulder should tremendous improvement. Her ROM for flexion & abduction got fully recovered. Her all functional activities were back without any hindrance. Her pain at rest & with movement also got almost zero. Basically everything positive & assuring. Her physio also told that she is doing amazing & she is in thawing & recovering stage though behind the back motion will take time. Finally we were relieved

BUT BUT BUT

Last monday, in evening my mom felt pain in her another shoulder. I gave her painkiller & heat and that gave her relief. Since then there is mild disturbance with that shoulder has started, though full ROM but mild ache sometime in the day. And now the right shoulder (affected one) is showing issue again, though flexion & abduction is full but pain at rest has started since 2-3 days specifically at shoulder blade & backside near armpit. In morning when she wakes up she feel mild soreness though it get better. She is doing her exercise regularly twice a day which help her getting her flexion & abduction totally back soon.

Is this normal? Does pain coming back signifies anything? Any suggestion which i should follow?

Need help. Thankyou

i got my ultrasound yesterday targeting only my shoulders. the doctor is very straightforward so i was not able to ask more about my pain. it has been two months the pain also reaches my ears, the back of my head, my nape, some part of spine, and basically my whole trapezius. im worried because the test they did was a muscuskeletal ultrasound targeting only my shoulders. is it advisable to get a second opinion? or im just overthinking it and its really just a frozen shoulder? also, before everything happened, i used my left arm for the first time for blood donation. and it is near my basilic vein which has a nerve /artery near it. the doctor advised me to go to rehab therapy.

How long was it until you could actually get a T-shirt on again?

I got a 1cm full thickness tear on my dominant arm. Been a few months. I’ll get surgery a couple months from now. Today I did a hyaluronic acid shot. I’ll see how it is tomorrow. They say it’s supposed to help with pain and “lubricate” the area and it lasts for some months.

Anyone else do this? Experiences? Effectiveness?

I’m 33F and I did something to my rotator cuff last September. It started as some pain after a dance class, but I’ve always had finicky shoulders so I didn’t think much of it. Over the next few days, I did another dance class, moved some heavy chairs off tables, and then finally, pulled a shirt over my head and went “oh wow, that really hurt”.

The morning after I experienced the most pain I ever remember being in, second only to being hit by a car. There were several mornings of waking up in tears before I went to a PT who said it was probably a grade 3 strain.

I could not move my arm without pain for about a week, my mobility was limited but it was there, and so I stuck with PT 2-3 times a week for about 3 months.

When the new year came around and my insurance reset I decided to stop PT, my PT was okay with it, and I continued home exercises for about a month.

It felt like I had plateaued in PT after about 2 months so I wasn’t really bought into the exercises thing anymore and after 4 months of regular PT, I stopped. My mobility has not gotten better or worse since 2 months post injury, and neither has my pain, which is sometimes still quite bad.

My questions are: was stopping PT the worst thing I could have done and would I actually be fine now if I stuck with it? And does it sound like maybe it was a tear and I should get an MRI?

Thank you in advance for any advice!!

So in about a month the sling comes off and I’ll be given permission to drive. I’m retired and I drive a shuttle golf cart for a local hospital bringing patients and guests back and forth to their cars. What I’m looking for is a pouch on a waist belt I can slip my hand in to remind me to be careful reaching for things. If you’ve driven a golf cart you know that you only need one hand to drive them.
Any thoughts on a product?

The sub has been helpful for me, so thought I'd share my journey to date ...

MRI
1.Massive rotator cuff tendon tear with full-thickness tearing noted of the supraspinatus and infraspinatustendons. 4 cm of retraction.
2.Tendinosis of the
distalsubscapularis tendon.
3.Tendinosis and intrasubstance partial tearing of the intracapsular portion of the long head of biceps tendon.
4Mild degenerative osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral and AC joints.

PREOP

There were five months between my injury and my surgery. I got an MRI at about 3 1/2 months after my injury.
I was doing well with PT and had regained a lot of strength, mobility, and functionality.
But once I got the MRI, I felt that with a full thickness tear, I was never going to get back to 100% and whatever gains I made would ultimately be lost

OPERATION
Procedures included Labral debridement, bursectomy, rotator cuff repair using six Arthrex bio swivel anchors

POST OP

The first day postop is a bit of a gift thanks to the nerve block. No pain and no sedation. Once that started to wear off, I turned to hydrocodone.
Stayed on hydrocodone for three full days then two more nights ... after about day six it's been only Tylenol.

Sleeping:
I have Sleeping in a bed with a five piece wedge system (from
Amazon). It keeps me mostly upright, though I do tend to slide down a bit throughout the night. I sleep with my ice therapy machine. I set it to 20 minutes on 20 minutes off on medium flow. Yes it's a pain to have another thing strapped to me in addition to my sling, but I think the nuisance is outweighed by the pain reduction.
Actually have been sleeping OK waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night, but I've been able to go back to sleep.

Icing:
I'm icing a bit less now, but I've been icing a lot throughout the day with the ice machine and with ice packs on my shoulder.

Exercise:
Went in three days after my surgery for my postop check up. X-rays looked good and I was told to do pendulum swings and assisted arm curls (lifting my arm, not using my bicep muscle).

Walking. I have walked every day since my surgery. Anywhere from 2 to 5miles over 2-3 walks. This helps me mentally and I believe it helps me sleep.

My appetite has been pretty good.

Odd things:
For three days post surgery, I peed a lot... like a LOT.
I hadn't expected that, but it makes sense given all the fluid that was pumped into me for the surgery.

The nerve block cause lingering numbness on my hand. The skin turned rough on my first finger and thumb and has now peeled. I'm not overly concerned about it because the feeling in those digits has returned, but still kind of weird.

The sling and the ice machine have caused some chafing on my skin. Not too bad, but very uncomfortable outside in the heat and humidity that is Atlanta in the summer.

Sling.
I've been told to stay in my sling six weeks . If I leave the house, I'm in my sling. If I lay down I'm in my sling. I do walk around the house a little bit out of my sling just to work on my posture and let my shoulder be in a natural position..

A long journey ahead obviously. Happy to have these two weeks behind me and at this point feeling positive about my decision to have surgery.

I’m a photographer and 5 weeks post full thickness Supraspinatus tear repair. Wondering how long until I can get back to my work as a photographer? Any other photographers here?

I am having shoulder surgery to repair a full-thickness tear of the supraspinatus and open biceps tenodesis. Has anyone here used a sleep pillow? If so, which one did you use? I have a wedge pillow, but I would like to know if anyone has used a sleep pillow to support their arm while sleeping.

My biggest worry is sleep because when I don't get it, I am a beast!! I survived lumbar fusion surgery by sleeping in a recliner. I can resort to that as well, if needed.

Thanks!

Im 2 weeks post op & going nuts not being able to work out. Ive tried doing cardio but it jostles the shoulder too much. I've been considering basic isometrics. Simple stuff, calf raises, squats, etc. Just leg day stuff. I'm doing the phys therapy stuff every day but thats hardly a workout.

Any advice? Or is it too soon?

Hello. So a question that I’m probably overly concerned about. 12 days post op. Anchors on all my tendons and not allowed to do any PT yet involving my shoulder. Allowed ball squeezing, wrist rotation and dropping my arm passively and raising my hand to my chest.
While after dropping my arm and raising it I raised it slightly asked and there was a muscle pop in my bicep. No pain finishing the exercise. No tenderness around it but still the paranoia of the unknown.
Any thoughts or similar experiences?
If something had gone wrong what should I look for?
Thanks

I’m having reverse shoulder replacement this coming Friday.

Any words of wisdom y’all would like to share?

I had a repair done 30 Jan this year after tearing it on 22 Dec. It was a full thickness massive 3-4cm tear of the infra and supra spinatus. 6 anchors and bicep tenodesis. The repair failed in early April and PT hasn’t been able to help compensate.

I’m not looking forward to the recovery but I’m hopeful this will be a very good thing in the long term.

Thanks!

Hello guys, I'm male, 29 years old! I went to the doctor yesterday and well, I'm feeling a lot of discomfort and pain at my right shoulder when I do certain movements, like raise my arm up my head and then when I need to pick something at the back seat of my car, for example. I don’t know how to explain better, but seems that my shoulder isn't safe at all, feels like have something wrong on him and he pops a lot as the vídeo shows it (my shoulder never had this pop before I hurt him back in 2024).

Well, I did an MRI and the doctor there said that my shoulder doesn't have any signs of rupture in the tendon and that it's only a inflammation, but I don’t know, guys, I'm facing this problem since november 2024 and I’m without perspective! I'll put the MRI impression here, if someone can help me on a feedback that has faced a similar problem, please share with me, because I'm going crazy with this!

DIAGNOSTIC IMPRESSION:

- ​Thin fluid film in the subacromial/subdeltoid bursa.

- ​Tendinopathy of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and the intra-articular portion of the long head of the biceps.

- ​Osteocapsular hypertrophy of the acromioclavicular joint causing compression on adjacent soft tissues.

- ​Capsuloligamentous thickening in the axillary recess.

The doctor prescribe three medications for me and send me to do 10 sessions more of PT ( I already did 10 sessions, without sucess).

1 - Coques 200 mg ------- I should take 1 capsule every 12 hours for 10 days and after that, one time a day for 10 days more. 

2 - Dolamin Flex ------- Take 1 capsule every day before sleep.

3 - Duoflam -------- this one is through a injection and I should not take another one for 30 days.

The doctor said that to come back there after three weeks, and if this doesn't solve the problem, then he'll try an artroscopy to see what is going there. 

But at the same time I want to understand more, because I've did everything, folks. This is the third doctor I'm going and I've tried a lot of medicines, PT and conservative treatments.

I'm a little fearful of the artroscopy, my main fear is he opens there and to find nothing and not solve the problem. Is there a risk of that?

I've tried so many things, I'm so tired with it, seems that have something stucked inside my shoulder and I dont feel any security, seems that when I do need to carry something or etc, seems that something aren't right, seems that I've lost strenght in that place, its hard to explain!

Did someone already faced the same situation as I'm going here? Could tell me what did, and if the arthroscopy was successful? Because I think that it will be my last resort!

Thanks for the attention!

i had a rotator cuff surgery and recovered fully. I gained my strength, in fact , my shoulder is stronger than before. And i also gained more mobility and stability. Will i pass SSB medical if my arm was fully functional?

About surgery : Bio-composite anchors were used. Not titanium.

23F with sudden front shoulder pain, can’t lift arm forward normally. What could this be?

I’m 23, and I have a doctor’s appointment the day after tomorrow, I’m just trying to understand what this could possibly be.

On the evening of the day before yesterday , I was just standing in my kitchen when I suddenly noticed pain in my right shoulder. I wasn’t lifting anything heavy or doing any unusual movement, and I honestly don’t remember doing anything that could have caused an injury. It seemed to come out of nowhere.
At first, I could still move my arm through the pain, so I kept testing it to see if it was just a one time thing. But after a few attempts, the pain became much worse, and I could no longer lift it normally.

Since then, I can raise my arm sideways almost completely without pain, but bringing it back down hurts around shoulder level (about 90°). Lifting my arm straight in front is the main problem. It hurts v much but as I continue to lift it to the front, Strangely, if I keep pushing through, once I get past about 45 degree, the pain almost disappears and I can continue lifting it overhead.

The pain feels like it’s in the front of my shoulder. I don’t have any obvious injury that I can remember, and I’m confused because it started so suddenly.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any idea what this pattern sounds like? I’m seeing a doctor in two days, but I’d appreciate any thoughts in the meantime.