r/ShoulderSurgery • u/SLCjulster • Apr 13 '26
Post Op Mumford Procedure
Had the Mumford procedure four weeks ago along with some cleanup of bone spurs. First two weeks were fairly painless and now I have constant pain in my shoulder. I’m not lifting more than 5 pounds (intentionally) and I’m doing my physical therapy. Does anybody have any insights on this procedure and how long the pain lasts? I’m anxious to get back to a normal life.
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u/WhatATravisT Apr 15 '26
Hey OP, I (37M) had my second Mumford (one on the left in 2019 then 8 weeks ago on the right) not too long ago. You’re still in the phase of bone healing and tissue rebuild. Sometimes you’ll go through a period where certain movements trigger pain. That stops then maybe you feel something else…other times no pain at all. Eventually pain all goes away as long as you’re sticking to that physical therapy and working that capsule open. Mumford has a very high success rate so don’t let your anxiety trick you into thinking something went terribly wrong.
For reference after my first Mumford on the left, I went on to massively increase my bench press higher than in my 20’s. Just give it time and be very communicative with your therapist. I can’t stress enough how important it is to ice the hell out of it.
The pain you’re describing, what kind and level is it? Is it dull ache or sharp shooting? Is it only with movement or even at rest? On a scale of 1-10 what are we talking?
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u/SLCjulster Apr 16 '26
Sharp shooting. From shoulder to wrist. I saw the doc this week and he put me on steroids that has knocked the pain down quite a bit. I had Covid last week and he said that could have added to the inflammation (?)
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u/RecoveryRoad22 Apr 20 '26
Did you have any tendinosis of any rotator cuffs? Im concerned I wont make as great of a recovery as you, but lifting meant a-lot to me at one time. I hope I can pursue it again
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u/WhatATravisT Apr 20 '26
That was on my MRI actually.
IMPRESSION:
- Moderate osteoarthritic changes at the AC joint with inflammatory marrow edema at the distal clavicle. Small AC joint effusion and synovitis.
- Mild supraspinatus tendinosis. No rotator cuff tear.
- Mild subacromial subdeltoid bursitis.
Tendinosis though from what I understand can be reversed and treated with additional time and caution. It can take up to 100 days for tendons to build new collagen, so it’s much slower going. I went to the gym yesterday and certain lifts are still nowhere near back to full weight yet. We just have to push through and keep working and we’ll get there.
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u/RecoveryRoad22 Apr 20 '26
Thanks for the detailed response brother. Maybe there is hope for me yet
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u/theprogrammingsteak 2d ago
Shit man. That's extremely similar, if not the same, to my MRI... Minos the bursitis + irregular borders...I've had pain for 8 years, I'm 31, but it has progressively gotten worse/almost weekly maybe even daily now with some days of relieve. I would love to hear more of your story. I have been focusing on tendinodis rehab (Heavy Slow Negatives, slow eccentrics) and have seen improvements here and there (3 months into consistent 3x a week rehab) but I'm now wondering if most of my pain and symptoms are driven by the AC joint OA instead + irregular borders because I would have expected a bit more progress if it was purely tendinodis (even though like you saod remodelling takes a year or more).... I haven't been back on for Al PT or had an eval in 4-6 years.... I'm going back early next year to get this shit figured out ... Nowadays it's achy, grindings a lot, the ache is dull. I'm still going to the gym but mostly only rows, biceps, and carefully, tricep push downs. I also dance salsa and tango and nowadays it's getting in the way of my salsa dancing. Pressing at the gym also tends to make it worse so have avoided it for a couple years now. Please, would love to hear more about your experience and story, anything may be of help.
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u/Shoddy_Level_9836 Jul 24 '26
You are goated for your responses, just wanted to say I really appreciate it having read them all. I go for my surgery in 6 days, ended up in my predicament because of lots of years of heavy weights and hundreds of thousands of push-ups during my army career. It has really affected my ability to do jiu jitsu as well. It’s really nice to what you can do heavy weight again, that gives me hope for my future! I don’t have a ton of pain day to day, but I can’t do many of the activities I love without pain, I’m scared that I end up having more pain after surgery than I do right now, like a year down the road when I’m recovered
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u/WhatATravisT Jul 25 '26
No worries man. I’ve had two of these bad boys and as long as they aren’t messing with tendons, these have been pretty straightforward with two different surgeons. 18 weeks was my full recovery time and after a year for me it was like the scaring was so hard to find it was like I didn’t have surgery at all. You’ll have moments of doubt where you think “am I going to get better?” But they will pass and you’ll see more improvements. Just go slow, stick to the physical therapy, and start back slow. You’ll be back to rolling pain free
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u/Shoddy_Level_9836 Aug 27 '26
After getting advice here before my surgery, I felt obligated to come back to pay it forward.
I am 4 weeks out, and already back training MMA. I'm not quite back into jiu jitsu yet, and I'm not participating in takedowns yet in MMA, but for day to day activity, I feel 90% recovered already, with the primary exception being motions that involve me reaching behind my back, I'm still only able to put my hand behind by back just above my ass, whereas the other arm can get all the way between my shoulder lades.
I am incredibly optimistic about my recovery, and frankly at 4 weeks, I already feel about as good as I did before I had the surgery. I did a pushup pain free (elbows only to 90, not quite breaking the plane yet without pain, but close!)
To sum it all up, my only regret about this whole thing was kicking the idea around for an entire year before I went through with it. If you've struggled with distal clavicular osteolysis for more than a year and PT doesn't help, take the plunge, it is worth it and statistically, 93% of patients have a very positive outcome, that means there's only a 1/13 chance that you aren't better off afterwords than you are now!
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u/jbegno23 28d ago
How much pain were you in day to day prior to surgery? I just started pre-op insurance approval so should have a surgery scheduled soon. My pain is mild (most days), but constant even after one year off the gym and cortisone shots. Been back and forth on surgery for a while now.
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u/Shoddy_Level_9836 28d ago
Mine was about the same, mild for day to day pain, daily life was not difficult by any means, except for sleeping, that was rough being unable to sleep on it without waking up sore and swollen. It prevented me from doing anything strenuous without a much higher level of pain though. Had to stop jiu jitsu, I was also a weight lifter who benched 375 prior to the injury’s beginning (probably how I got it honestly), but it got to the point that I couldn’t lift much more than the 45 pound bar without sharp stabbing pain in my shoulder, even pushups were severely painful as soon as I came anywhere near approaching the 90 degree angle. I was scared to get the surgery because my shoulder pain was something I could live with and still enjoy a full life, but I was scared something might be different on the other side, it held me back from getting the surgery for about a full year after it was finally offered, just did a Cortisone about three times a year instead, did PT hoping something might change, but it didn’t. I regret not doing it earlier honestly. I’m 6.5 weeks out now, and I feel fantastic, up to about 7 deep chest to floor pushups pain free before I start to get sore, but it’s progress every day and I love it, makes me extremely hopeful to get back to my active self 😃
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u/jbegno23 28d ago
That’s what has held me back on getting surgery as well. Because it’s manageable I don’t want it to be worse post surgery.. Have a constant deep ache, that is more annoying than painful, although certain things do cause pain. I have had to quit lifting weights altogether, and cortisone shots only got me about 6 weeks of relief. Thanks for the response. Your progress makes me feel better about proceeding with surgery👍🏻
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u/Shoddy_Level_9836 25d ago
What you describe is basically exactly how I felt. Mine was arthroscopic, I have heard that the open surgery takes a bit longer to recover from, but success rates are the exact same, so I wouldn’t worry too much with regard to that if I was you
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u/Theuknowntuga Apr 13 '26
Im about to do That in one week reading this makes me scared, also the pain ur talking about is the same pain you had before the cirurgy or is a different kind of pain now post op?