Shoulder pain 5 years after replacement

Welcome back to Connect, @farmgirl57.
You'll notice that quite a few things have changed on Connect since you last participated. Glad to have you back. However, I'm sorry to hear that you're still having pain 5 years after shoulder replacement surgery. Allow me to bring in a few other members into the conversation who have had similar surgery, and who may be able to share their experiences. Please meet @joyful556 @fivejsandp and @ripley263.

Farmgirl, how are you managing your pain at the moment?

It actually is feeling better today. I work retail in a home store where some of the merchandise is rather heavy. I probably just over did it. I am using orencia right now and also sulfasalazine and plaquenil. I take 5 mgs of prednisone and Celebrex. I don't like taking so many drugs but what do you do. My rheumatologist said I could try xeljanz but decided to stay the course I'm on until I see her again. My RA is the problem. My elbows are pretty bad too. I couldn't do as much therapy as I should have because my elbows were getting worse. So that's where I'm at.
Thanks for responding.

I had total shoulder replacement 3 years ago... I have started have pain in the same place I had before surgery....I don’t know why...the first 2 1/2 years very good...

Hi, @cathymay, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm hoping that @farmgirl57 will return with some insights for you on this pain that has started in the same place you had before your shoulder replacement surgery 3 years ago.

I'd also like you to meet @seniorsoftball @mimi99 @mschock, who've mentioned shoulder replacements, into this conversation to add their thoughts. Also, @josephmike @jpdunlap @misscheryl @robseverson @annmerc may have some input for you.

What has your doctor said about this pain you are now experiencing, @cathymay?

Doctor suggested doing home therapy a couple of times a week for the bicep muscle..it has not helped

Yes. I can only lift my arm up half way and I have no strength in it. It is worse than before the surgery.

Welcome, welcome to Connect. You may already know that Connect is quite a large online community of patients, former patients, caregivers, and providers. With more than 60 groups and lots of discussions, I am sure we can find some folks to share their stories and patient journeys. It just so happens that your first post landed in the middle of some rather outdated posts. So....I am going to ask @johnbishop to move your post to a more current discussion of shoulder issues.

Once that has been done, I will be back and we can sit down for a chat and find out what is going on with your shoulder. Either fortunately or unfortunately, I have had four shoulder surgeries including a reverse total replacement. I am thrilled at the result even though the outcome did not completely fix my shoulder like it was when I was playing softball and could throw from catcher to second base. Oh....those were the days. I will see you again soon.
May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

I had a total Right shoulder replacement in 2015. The first two years I had some improvement but now I am in much worse shape than prior to surgery. Mine was done by a private doctor paid by the VA. Now I am using the VA totally and have an appointment on Aug 17 2021 to be reevaluated once again. It has been suggested to me on my prior consult they feel the tendons/muscles failed to reattach to the bursa area. I also have major muscle atrophy in my right arm's bicep. In addition I had 3 surgeries in my Right dominant hand last year due to a major sepsis infection after a minor surgery. I was antibiotic IV therapy in my chest for almost two months. They say I have Psoriatic Arthritis. Their suggestion at that time was to do an exploratory surgery followed by a probable Reversed Total Shoulder Replacement. The problem I'm having in making this major decision, is that I now live alone at age 63 with a roudy and large puppy. If you have had a replacement you know the difficulties you have at home. I truly have no support system. I want a clear list of choices explain to me and really desire to avoid surgery if they agree to do cortisone injections into the bursa area. At this time they from what I gather are afraid to do that as per their policy with Vets who have implants.

I had a full reverse shoulder replacement about three years ago and the pain is now back to what it was before I started. What a waste of time & money to achieve noting. I suppose I am going to just live with it. I am open for suggestions though. Feel free.

I had reverse total shoulder in 2019 was extremely long recovery was in physical therapy for a year and when done at therapy still had some pain. Therapist told me to keep up the exercise regimen for life. It did get better but I sometimes overdue and my muscles get ticked off. Hopefully you have been back to surgeon to make sure all parts are still in place and are still working otherwise I’d recommend finding a good therapist that knows how to do dry needling which I find myself going back for every month to two months and it works as does taping the shoulder for me. These parts also, apparently, in most people don’t last forever but should last longer than yours. I find it hard to accept limitations having a reverse total shoulder which is what gets me into trouble sometimes, but to date my therapist is able to fix it each time so far. Insurance does not cover dry needling so I pay for it out of pocket but well worth it so far. It beats living on a aleve during those episodes.
Exercise regimen is so important to keep going. I do pulley everyday, weights twice a week, gym machines I’m allowed with weights twice a week and therabands twice a week
Good luck to you.