Recovery delay after reverse shoulder replacement
I need to decide what I should do.
I had reverse shoulder replacement (non-dominant arm) on 23 May but four months after RSR I am still in worse pain and function than before my surgery - the surgeon has not advised me why. What should I reasonably expect and should I be insisting on further attention/diagnostics from him? The post-operative physiotherapist progressed me through exercises that- I can see now- I shouldn't have complied with due to the pain they caused, but I was ignored by physio and surgeon and told to push through the pain, now I have damaged my muscles. The pain is worse in biceps - its tendon has been flicking over the prosthetic since I first started mobilising the joint after surgery. I don't know if this is ok or not. The biceps pain has got worse, also painful pectoralis minor, latissimus dorsi, subscap and rhomboids. I am disapppointed to say the least especially since I did strengthening exercises under supervision of a trusted physio for 18 months before reverse shoulder replacement top optimise my recovery. This trusted physio, unfortunately for me, then went on extended leave before my surgery and has only returned 2 weeks ago, but at last I am seeing them again. I stopped all exercises about 3 weeks ago and began independent research to work out what to do. Now the physio has taped my shoulder and given me arm length compression to protect the shoulder muscles while restarting gradually on much gentler muscle work this week.
The surgeon reviewed me at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 13 weeks, now next review is not until November, but prior to surgery he said the other shoulder would be done at 90 days after the first one. He has not explained my poor recovery or forecast when the second side will be done. He has not ordered diagnostics for the soft tissue problems I am experiencing. They include limited range of movement and sharp pain that prevents me doing most things I could still do before surgery. This was despite severe osteoarthritis and rotator cuff disease in 3 out of 4 of the cuff muscles- leaving only subscapularis functional. Subscap remains, I can see from the operative report.
Any advice or comparison with similar situations would be appreciated so I can plan a way forward together with my physio's advice and prepare for the surgeon's review in November, which will be 6 months after surgery.
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