Torn tendon

[CNC Paul]

I have torn a shoulder tendon in car crash last October which has not healed, rendering me unable to work. Today I got the option for surgery or physiotherapy.

Has anyone suffered a torn shoulder tendon and what were you experiences ?


Many thanks

 

[Russell]

I ripped off my ACL in my knee, Physio will build up the muscles to help support the joint but it wont repair it. Go for surgery either way you will have to have physio usually before and after any op to speed recovery.
Surgery would be a no brainer for me.

 

[Jake]

Not in the shoulder, but I snapped my Achilles (at the ankle). Had the same option, was encouraged to go for surgery, and don't regret it. That was immediately after it happened, rather than 6 months down the line, though.

The only real downside they could point to on the surgery side were the risks of anaesthesia and surgical trauma/infection etc, which seemed a small % gamble for a large % gain in expected results.

 

[wizer]

Bite their hand off

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Go for it.
I damaged tendons in my shoulder in my teens. Took 20 years to properly recover without invasive treatment.
Steve

 

[woody67]

Hiya Paul - I've had both an Achilles total rupture and torn shoulder tendons. In both cases I wasn't offered surgery; plaster cast and physio for the former and cortisone injections for the latter. I can honestly say since both treatments, I have had NO problems whatsoever. Horses for courses I suppose, but to be honest I wouldn't have fancied surgery anyway - as already mentioned, the risks, scars etc, etc.

Good luck fella and hope this helps.

Mark

 

[dickm]

An old pal had his Achilles repaired a few years ago - was on crutches for several weeks, but as soon as he tried to walk, it went again. Second attempt seemed to work, though.
My wife tore (but not completely severed) her Achilles, which recovered with physio alone.
And lastly, some thirty odd years ago I cut right through the tendon that works the end of my left thumb. This had to be repaired with surgery, and with lots of physio recovered almost completely and has worked fine ever since. But the knife-man had to search some way up my arm to find the loose end of the tendon, and this brought on Dupuytrens contracture of the little finger on that hand, so that's now completely curled up.

So some successes, some failures. Not much help to your decision

 

[head clansman]

hi

I went for surgery last November 17 th on a Saturday morning as a day patient to have the tendons on my left angle + also to have removed at the same time and on same angle a hag-lands deformity removed whilst they repaired the tendons , the hag-lands deformity is basically is a spur of bone growing on the heal which was the cause of the ruptured to the tendons. I waited nearly eighteen months in sever pain.

During the eighteen months i attended physiotherapy which did no good at all, which lead to getting it operated on. I attended again after the operation as well , also it did no good at all.

I'ts now seven months down the line and i cant say theres been any real improvement I have even change my car to an automatic as the pain was to much using the clutch , the surgeon say it will take at least a yr to get back to normal :shock: :x i think it will be much much longer .

unless you can afford to take this sort of time out i would think twice about having it done, luckily i am retired but i have so much i still want to get done in my workshop and home and it'd been so bloody frustrating having to sit and look at what you would love to be doing al i can do is potter about for about an hour then i'm knackered and have to but my feet up .hc

 

[Dave S]

I dislocated my shoulder about 8 years ago. At A&E they didn't consider it worthy of physio, but my GP thought differently and referred me for physio. A personal friend who is a physio also thought differently and I did some excercises under guidance.

However, the shoulder only improved to a certain extent - it is now left rather unstable and causes me quite a lot of pain at times.

If I was offered the chance of surgery with good chances of improvement and a low chance of it making things worse, I would definitely go for it.

You haven't indicated what are the chances of success and the chances of it making your shoulder worse (how much worse could it get if it prevents you from working?) so it's hard to say for sure, but I'm pretty certain I would go for the operation myself.

my understanding and experience of physio is that it's too late now (although you would still need to have post operative physio).

Dave

 

[dickm]

You haven't indicated what are the chances of success and the chances of it making your shoulder worse (how much worse could it get if it prevents you from working?) so it's hard to say for sure, but I'm pretty certain I would go for the operation myself.

my understanding and experience of physio is that it's too late now (although you would still need to have post operative physio).

The problem with that logical approach is that it's hellishly difficult to get data on which to work out the chances of success/failure. Gross UK figures don't tell you much, even if you can get hold of them, because from what I've found out, there is enormous variation between surgeons. I was lucky with mine in that (I was told after the event by another surgeon) the guy who did the op was reckoned to be the best in the UK. Moral - chose to have any such accidents with care, having found out if there is a good surgeon nearby

But if you do have the op, whatever you do, go to a physio afterwards. They generally know more about dealing with these repairs than the consultants!