I have finally being able to see a surgeon who specializes in arthoscopic repair of the shoulder/rotator cuff. This is his bread and butter, he only sees people with injured shoulders and I waited over a year now to see him as his waiting list is so long, he is very well respected.

I have had a long standing problem with shoulder pain, 4 years of it. To start with it was on and of and of course it got bad very quickly.

He did a few examinations and he said it was clear that my tendons were being rubbed due to the very small space in my shoulder, impingement was clear. He told me that if I want to continue playing sport and weight lifting, that more space must be made inside the joint and whatever other damage there may be inside the joint will also be assessd and adressed during the surgery.

I have however managed to get much of my strength back in the past year, I am doing weighted pullups with 25kg plate attached for sets of five, overhead pressing my bodyweight and if I can address my hamstring strain can deadlift close to 3 times my bodyweight. I cannot laterally raise even a small weight though, if I done flyes I get the feeling of popping and crushing inside the joint so I just do not do them anymore.

He told me rehab will be 6 months, looking close to a year to get back to my previous level of weight lifting. He said that is for one shoulder only and that my bone structure of my shoulder joint in its current condition does not accomodate my RC very well. He said the RC itself can thicken due to weight lifting etc.

My question is

When you had your shoulder surgery, what did you have done and how did you rehab your injury? I want to avoid playing with thera-bands excessively for over 3 months and get back into the gym keeping my shoulder as strong as possible. I of course have never experienced shoulder pain post surgery so I do not know what to expect but others have told me it can be horrific for a couple of weeks.

Is there any tips ann tricks on how to get back into the swing of things? How long did it take for your shoulder to settle down and are you now currently pain free?

Do you have a rehab programme for shoulder surgery?

thanks