I had a SLAP repair and a microfracture performed on my right shoulder in Aug and I am still struggling to get to full ROM. I had three anchors put into my shoulder to reattach the labrum. I am currently at 160 degrees front ROM and 40-45 degrees external. Still experiencing a lot of pain.
My surgeon is giving one more round of PT (12 sessions), which will be my fifth overall. If there is no significant improvement to bring me to full ROM or to pain free, he wants to go back in and perform a second surgery. He said that he would prefer to perform the tenotomy over the tenodesis because it’s an easier recovery.
Any insights to either of these surgeries and recovery would be greatly appreciated.
I ruptured the left bicep tendon at the shoulder in August 09 and had a re-attachement surgery about a month later. I was 46 and in my 23rd year of training. I did not require any additional work to the shoulder other than the removal of the small piece of tendon left after the rupture. I did no upper body training for the first 16 weeks and another 4 before direct bicep work.
I lost a noticeable amount of muscle from my left pec, shoulder, and tricep. My pressing was affected more than anything else and it took two years to restore pre-injury strength levels and muscle. I am very happy with my choice.
Biceps Tenotomy
In a ‘biceps tenotomy’ procedure the long head of biceps tendon is released from it’s attachment in the shoulder joint, allowing it to fall down into the upper arm and out of the shoulder joint. This removes the damaged, inflamed tissue by releasing it from the joint.
tenotomy is a quick and simple arthroscopic procedure, but can result in some biceps weakness and occasionally discomfort in the biceps muscle. A ‘popeye’ biceps deformity may occur.
This is generally minimal and does not inconvenience the sedentary person. It can be a problem for active and athletic people, where a biceps tenodesis is generally preferred.
Do NOT have either done. It serves no purpose and it will not restore you range of motion. You will lose stability in your shoulder. All of the doctors say it does not provide stability to the shoulder, but I guarantee they’ve never had it done, and never tried to push the kind of weight that people on this forum are attempting to move. I had it done and I regret it.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Lil Power in the O35 had bicep surgery last summer. Might check with her.[/quote]
I am a powerlifter, had biceps tendonesis done July '11, and some clean up of the labrum. Dec '11 competed in a bench rep contest, won pressing 1/2 bw for 37 reps Feb '12 did a raw bench only comp pressing 185#, only 30#s from my all time raw bench 7.5 months post surgery. Squat is at all time high and dl is still blah, but the surgery hasn’t hurt me much. Yes, it’s painful sometimes but as stable as it was prior to surgery.
Definitely took longer to gain the external rotation back. My PT lasted 12 weeks. Also had a friend who wasn’t processing in range of motion, she had a 2nd surgery to release some scar tissue, was an easy surgery and it worked.