How old is too old for rotator cuff surgery? Does osteoporosis hurt

Posted by pgn @pgn, Aug 18 12:34pm

I’m a 74 yr old female and I’ve been diagnosed with a moderate rotator cuff tear and bicep muscle involvement and slight damage and I have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. How old is too old to have surgery to repair?

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hyde3357 | @hyde3357 | Aug 18 6:04pm

It all depends on you! I was 66 when I had my total reverse shoulder replacement and the rehab was tough—I won’t lie— but today, 1 1/2 years later? NOT a SINGLE TWINGE!
I religiously kept with the PT for about 8 months. I also had a bicep that had torn and fallen down into my arm. That probably was the worst of it.
Prior to that two years earlier I had a rotator cuff repair and that I think was worse than the replacement!

When I think back to how miserable I was sobbing from the pain prior, I smile.
It’s a journey and it’s about having an honest orthopod who knows this takes time and supports you in this. If they start telling you to take Tylenol switch doctors.
You don’t want to let one of these geniuses who says you’ll be better in 3 months fill your head with that baloney. You might be better that fast but most shoulders take 8-12 months if you read, for example, blogs from fellow patients or have a genuine orthopod who will tell you it can be hard.
Good luck. If you are committed and want to stay active and positive get it done and commit yourself to having a great positive supportive orthopod, a lot of PT, and sone pain your doctor should help you deal with.

ddsack | @ddsack | Aug 19 10:14am

Are you talking about just rotator cuff repair, as opposed to a Total Shoulder Replacement? As I understand it, rotator cuff surgery rehab is always time consuming in itself. If you already have pain from arthritis, loss of cartilage, bone on bone grinding, as well as osteoporosis, chances are good that you would need a TKR at some point eventually anyway. If your rotator cuff is weak or eroded, you would need a reverse TKR in which part of the rotator cuff is removed. This is actually faster to recover from than a normal TKR, as you can start rehab a little sooner since you're not waiting for the rotator cuff muscles to heal. I had constant arthritis pain in my shoulder, and limited ability to raise my right arm, no combing, shampooing, blow drying - all had to be done with the left hand. Anything like a pot of coffee or a frying pan, I had to support my right hand with my left to lift and move. My surgeon gave me a choice of regular or reverse TSR as he said my rotator cuff was just borderline useful. I chose the reverse, since I did not want to go through another surgery later if my rotator cuff failed in a few years. I am very happy with my surgery, I did my PT and recovered strength and vertical reach that is equal to my left arm by about 4 months after surgery, and no more arthritis pain. My surgery was done 3 years ago when I was 74.

pgn | @pgn | Aug 19 10:40am

Well, I had rotator cuff surgery 13 years ago with great success. He repaired the complete tear and I was back to almost 100% in 4 months. I was committed to the PT and worked at home to regain full motion.
I don’t have any arthritis pain. Just soreness in the bicep after using the arm and now weakness when trying to lift. MRI revealed torn rotator and a shredded bicep muscle. This was 4 years ago.
I’ve lost muscle mass due to age and being sequestered due to COVID. I’m lucky that I still have function. Can’t lift any amount of weight. Just lots of discomfort after simple gardening or Household chores.