Post shoulder arthroscope problems Posted: 04-04-08 16:04pm
6 weeks ago I had arthroscopic surgery to
debride a small tear in the rotator cuff,
remove an extra large bone spur and clean
away nasty arthritis. Therapy has been
going very well. From the end of the first
week the therapist was able to get my arm
within normal range of motion. Since then
I have been doing active range of motion
to within normal limits (with mild pain at
end ranges).
Monday was my appointment with my doctor,
so he did some manual muscle testing. He
had me put my arm out to the side, in
abduction, he pushed down and I was to
resist this motion. I had had this done
many times since I hurt myself last July,
and nothing was out of the ordinary. This
time when he did this we both heard an
audible noise that sounded like paper
tearing, it was such an acute pain, much
worse than after surgery. I have retained
extension of the shoulder, but have lost
almost all abduction and flexion, due to a
combination of pain and weakness. I have
the constant feeling of a cramp in the
anterior and mid deltiod area. The
therpist is able to passively move my
shoulder to almost full range, this is
fairly painfull but tolorable. They have
now added ultrasound and dexamethasone to
my therapy.
After this happened the doctor lowered my
arm, said he was sorry and had never had
that happen before. He said it was
probably scar tissue releasing, but we
will need to wait and see. Tomorrow will
be 5 days and I still can not raise my arm
forward or to the side on my own.
Does this explanation seem reasonable
considering I had full ROM before this
happenened? Has anyone experiences
anything similiar? Any advice would be
helpfull. Thank you so much for taking the
time to read and reply to my post.
