"Good evening. So here's my story...
Like you, I am at the fifteen month mark. I had my surgery in June of 2018. Before the surgery, I was in really bad shape. I started noticing pain in my right shoulder in 2013 when I was bench pressing and, over the years, it got worse and worse. By the time I showed up at my surgeon'office, I could not bench press, do pull-ups, or box. I could not even ride my Harley or play my guitar without suffering. I was down to about 100 degrees of forward flexion, and could not get comfortable in any position. I had put the surgery off for too long because I was afraid of the activity limitations that a Total Shoulder Replacement imposes. Finding a surgeon experienced with this procedure was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. The prospect of being able to lift weights, box, and ride my Harley without pain was worth any risk and any price, to me.
After the surgery, I was incredibly diligent with my rehab, sending my surgeon weekly progress reports, with photos. At the six week mark, when he cleared me to drive, my operated arm flopped onto the steering wheel like a baby seal on the beach. I was shocked at how little strength I had in it. Over the next several months, I was very methodical, taking a step-wise approach to gradually increasing the load on the shoulder. I'm a competitive guy and wanted to be the champion of recuperation. It was enormously frustrating to watch a video of one of his patients, climbing a rock wall in Laos after only nine weeks. At nine weeks, my shoulder would have fallen off if I had tried that! Another one of his patients, at the six month mark, sent a video of himself benching 225 pounds for couple of reps, and reported a pain level of 2. At the six month mark, I was pressing a 25 pound dumbbell overhead and benching 95 pounds, but my pain level was a 6 or 7.
I read everything on the shoulder blog and there were two stories which caught my eye. One was about a patient in his late 30's, who was a Naval Special Warfare Operator (SEAL or Special Boat Operator), and it took him eleven months to return to active duty. Another patient, a firefighter in his mid 40's, also took eleven months to return to active duty. So as frustrated as I was, I had to acknowledge that these guys were much younger than I am (I'm turning 59 next month), were in amazing condition in physically demanding professions, and it still took them 11 months to heal up.
I continued at my tortoise pace, and went back to see my surgeon for my one-year x-ray. Everything was perfect so, at that point, I decided it was time to ramp it up. From the beginning, I had a ton of pain where the Dr. took down the subscapularis, and all of the soft tissue in the shoulder was, and sometimes still is, cranky in the morning. I spent a month doing pushups to get ready for the weight room and, after a few weeks, completed 800 in a day. After that, I began lifting again and last month started doing sets of 135 x10 on the bench. Yes, this is warm up weight but, after every work out, the soft tissue hurts less and I can tell that it is only a matter of time before I regain my strength and start moving some real weight. I also got on the heavy bag yesterday, and was finally able to deliver some good shots with my right arm. The soft tissue is a little sore afterwards, but there is no joint pain. I consider both of these events to be miraculous. When I think about the pain that I was in, and the incredibly limited range of motion that I had, I cannot believe the difference.
So if I had to reduce this story to a few pieces of advice, here's what I would say:
1. Adjust your perspective. Even if my shoulder never got any better than it is today, my surgery is still the best thing that ever happened to me. I am continuing to improve, with less and less discomfort, and I suspect that you will, too. Stay with it, and think about where we would have been thirty years ago before this procedure existed. Or if we didn't have the blessing of access to medical care of this caliber. Things hurt a little less when I kept these realities in mind.
2. It's going to hurt. There are no two ways around it and the comfort that I enjoy now, was paid for with some very painful moments on the bench and pull-up bar. Every time that I worked out, the atrophied and contracted tissues were screaming afterward. But a little less each time. Now, I don't fear the barbell or heavy bag. But this only came after many moments of looking at the bar thinking, "Damn, this is going to hurt." I reminded myself that my surgeon certified my shoulder as good to go, and got on with it. Be intelligent at all times but, at a certain point, you may have to push through some more pain to get to the next level of function and comfort.
3. Do not compare yourself to others and their recovery rates. I have always been in great shape, trained hard (probably too hard), and otherwise taken care of myself. But it still took on the longer end of the range for me to recover. Why? Who knows, but who cares? It is what it is and every day of incremental progress moves you closer to that day when you feel 100%. Stay in the fight! But stay on your own timetable. The methodical, step-wise approach will get you there.
4. If you haven't already, have the bicep tendon examined and treated, if possible. It seems very clear that you know what is hurting, and that it may not be related to the surgery. If you can get the tendon pain under control, the whole shoulder may feel different.
I hope that this is helpful. I would be happy to reply to any questions that you have, or give you more specific information about the specific exercises that I used. I wish you all the best in the rest of your recovery and know that you a have brother in arms struggling right along with you!
All the best,"
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