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Shoulder replacement surgery

I have looked up old threads and such but I want to know if anyone has had a recent one where the latest procedures have been performed. I am scheduled for March 26th. and my surgeon has assured me that I will back to shooting 60#s in 12 to 14 weeks and it is a total replacement. New type of humeral inserts, very short and the way the implant is sewn in place makes the ability to gain strength and the healing process much faster. So anybody had one say in the last year or so? Thanks! Shawn

I should mention this type is normally done on younger folks who need a total replacement but in my case my bone structure and physical condition will allow him to do this type of surgery. Shawn

Did you ask your doctor if he has ever shot a bow?

My doctor killed 3 bucks all over 140"s this year with a bow. He has bow hunted for over 35 years. Has a couple of very good leases. I have known him for a lot of years and it is one of the reasons I chose him. He has done hundreds of shoulder replacements. Shawn

I don`t buy the "12 to 14 weeks" deal. But replacements are easier rehabs than say...mollying torn tendons to the bone. Most of these surgeons do these by separating the muscles instead of cutting through them like years past.

Do what you feel you are capable of....not based on someone else`s time line.

My bicep was torn at the labrum they re-attached it to the bone so not the same but my strength was not as good afterwards even with extra work. So I am shooting 50 lbs and killing deer. Good luck!

I had rotator cuff surgery which again is different and was full recovery in a year back to work in 5 months. 12-14 weeks sounds unrealistic but you never know everyone is different. Franklin made great point.

I had reconstructive surgery done 16 years ago after crashing on a bike. I had pretty much torn or separated all the tendons/ligaments in my shoulder and shot an elk 8 weeks after surgery. Everyone is different, so might not be the time frame your Doc says but plenty of time before hunting season.

I had the dye injected in my shoulder so they could look at my tendons and ligaments ecsp. my rotator cuff. All four are fine, my issue is I have bone on bone for 4 years at least. I have a couple major spurs as well. They detach the front rotator cuff tendon and my doc said that is the main healing that has to take place. The new way the prosthesis is attached and that tendon is attached has a lot to do having a good recovery. I trust my surgeon as I have spoken to several folks who have had shoulder replacement done by him but none with the new prosthesis. I am gonna try and do a follow along on here right from day one of surgery to me shooting my bow again after the surgery. Shawn

Don’t over do it you have plenty of time till hunting season. Best of luck with it.

Hey Shawn, I too am in NY and my brother is in a similar situation, where are you having the surgery done?

Ortho NY at St. Peters Joint replacement center in Albany NY. Everyone tells me 10 days after the surgery I will be saying I should of done this years ago. I know I have plenty of time til hunting season but I also have to get back to work so I can take the whole month of Nov. off.(LOL!) I have 4 points for Iowa and should definitely draw the unit I want so that s my motivation. Thanks! Shawn

I had total shoulder replacement surgery 2/9/18 on my left shoulder. I'm 58 years old / stay active / lift weights / exercise / do yoga and have shot archery for 40+ years / pretty much gave up shooting the last 3 years due to pain issues in both shoulders / bone on bone. 2017 cortisone shots in both shoulders at least 3 times. Was hoping surgery wold allow me to resume the things I had given up / as of today that has not occurred. Yes each individual is different but here are my experiences. Surgery went fine / surgery performed by a very well known / respected surgeon / all he does is shoulders. Implant is fine and in proper position. I am right handed and as of today I have great difficulty drawing my wife's 40 lb. compound. Yes I did / still do rehab / and continue to exercise to strengthen myself. Cannot and don't feel I'll ever be the same. took months before I could do a simple push up / great difficulty bench pressing 100 lbs. when before that was nothing/ lifting a gallon of milk into the refrigerator still not an easy pain free motion. Major issue was cutting rotator cuff / Dr. even stated after surgery he had to cut alot of muscle. Anyway that is still an issue / rebuilding strength in the rotator cuff. So some movements are still painful. I did push it and suggest you do too in regards to the range of motion. I have excellent range of motion in the repaired joint. As for your surgeon stating you will be fine in 12-14 weeks I say B.S. ( my opinion ) Be lucky if you can hunt next year. I suggest maybe a Mathews Genesis ( something extremely smooth drawing and LOW poundage ) to use for a while / that is when you are strong enough to even hold it up. If your not making progress in rehab / try another therapist at a different facility / different points of view on how to do everything. Again will I ever be the same - NO - am I living a daily life virtually pain free - yes- but that's not why I or you are doing this is it? You want to continue doing the things that give you pleasure ( archery - hunting ) . Wish you best of luck.

I had total shoulder replacement surgery 2/9/18 on my left shoulder. I'm 58 years old / stay active / lift weights / exercise / do yoga and have shot archery for 40+ years / pretty much gave up shooting the last 3 years due to pain issues in both shoulders / bone on bone. 2017 cortisone shots in both shoulders at least 3 times. Was hoping surgery wold allow me to resume the things I had given up / as of today that has not occurred. Yes each individual is different but here are my experiences. Surgery went fine / surgery performed by a very well known / respected surgeon / all he does is shoulders. Implant is fine and in proper position. I am right handed and as of today I have great difficulty drawing my wife's 40 lb. compound. Yes I did / still do rehab / and continue to exercise to strengthen myself. Cannot and don't feel I'll ever be the same. took months before I could do a simple push up / great difficulty bench pressing 100 lbs. when before that was nothing/ lifting a gallon of milk into the refrigerator still not an easy pain free motion. Major issue was cutting rotator cuff / Dr. even stated after surgery he had to cut alot of muscle. Anyway that is still an issue / rebuilding strength in the rotator cuff. So some movements are still painful. I did push it and suggest you do too in regards to the range of motion. I have excellent range of motion in the repaired joint. As for your surgeon stating you will be fine in 12-14 weeks I say B.S. ( my opinion ) Be lucky if you can hunt next year. I suggest maybe a Mathews Genesis ( something extremely smooth drawing and LOW poundage ) to use for a while / that is when you are strong enough to even hold it up. If your not making progress in rehab / try another therapist at a different facility / different points of view on how to do everything. Again will I ever be the same - NO - am I living a daily life virtually pain free - yes- but that's not why I or you are doing this is it? You want to continue doing the things that give you pleasure ( archery - hunting ) . Wish you best of luck.

My experience with shoulder surgeries are more in line with dk`s….unfortunately. But that is what I expected. I sure hope yours goes well for you Shawn and I applaud your optimism but be sure to temper it. I know some that mentally....fell into a hole after it didn`t go as well as expected.

Results vary from person to person....I hope you are one of the lucky ones. Work hard and don`t over do it, you have plenty of time.

Wow, no clue who did your guys surgery but something is very wrong. One of my best friends who is 80 now and had a full replacement 6 years ago, long stem and resurfaced the glenoid. He was shooting 65#s 6 months after surgery and actually shooting 40#s about 14 weeks after surgery. The procedure has come a longs ways since than. I am surprised by the last two posts. Even on you tube it is hard to find someone who was not back to being pain free and doing everything they did and more before they had the surgery and all at the 6 month mark. I do not think luck has anything to do with it. Literally over 85% of people in the last 5 years who have had replacements are better off thn before their surgeries. Shawn

I had my draw shoulder done on 11/15/18. Very similar to yours Shawn. I had two torn tendons (front two). Most of my long term pain was caused by the bone on bone and many spurs. That part of the recovery is fully healed. My PT now is only concerned with the tendon recovery.

My PT says most people are afraid to push past that discomfort of breaking up the scar tissue. The result is limited motion and strength. I get A LOT of snap-crackle-pop in my shoulder while doing PT. Each time I hear and feel that, I get looser the next day.

My advice is to listen to your PT. Each case is slightly different. Wait at least 6 weeks for the surgery to heal before pushing things. Once you have the green light to increase motion.... push yourself as far as your PT will allow you to.

I am doing pushups against the wall with no pain and have at least 90-95% range of motion without help. Using my other arm or other aids, I can reach full range of motion now. It will come but, I don't plan to pull my bow back until after the snow melts. And I will start with our Genesis bow set at 20#.

Shawn, I'm paying close attention because that's where I'm headed. Please keep us updated. Glad to hear you're doing well too X Man.

x-man I am lucky in that non of the imaging has revealed any tears or anything. My doctor also told me some doctors do not do enough to free up the joint when doing the surgery. He tries to free up everything and said even though I am 54 the stemless implant is the way to go. I have been told by to other surgeons(one in Chicago and one in California) that in the next ten years stemless will be done on almost everyone under 60. X-man please keep me posted on your recovery!! Hope all goes well!! Shawn

That`s exactly what they said about "stemless hip replacements". Now after all the class action suits and replacement costs they no longer use those.

When I got my 1st hip replacement I looked at those as those were for the "younger, more active individual". Luckily my Dr. said no.

There are more issues that go into this than you think there are. I compare my post surgery to my original pre- issue shoulder. They are no where close to being the same. Of course it`s better than the "train wreck" before the surgery....but to the original shoulder....no way.

Franklin your surgeon must be a joke!! Sorry but there have been more stemless performed world wide than any other since 2004. They have been around a long time and less than 1% have an issue with the prosthetic. That is a fact not just doctors talking. I work for one of the largest health organizations in the world and I have much info and fact to go on, just looking for recent real people to speak to. I have spoke to a lot of folks about shoulder replacement but most are older people 70 plus and they rarely get the stemless prosthesis and even all those folks have not had an issue returning to there daily regular activities in 4 months or so. Also most anyone would be nuts to do a stemless hip replacement and I know of no doctors in my area who even recommend them. Major weight baring and a true ball and socket joint as to where the shoulders glenoid(socket) is just a shallow cup, more like the head of a golf tee. Again you should really seek more opinions from other surgeons before having any more joints replaced. Shawn

You sound like you know it all already so why bother asking? I Don’t understand why you ask for someone’s experience and then when it does not fit the narrative that you want to hear you lash out at them. Sorry but the truth is not what you want to hear the fact is that your shoulder is never going to be the same. My 27 year old brother had that procedure and couldn’t draw his bow weight for a year. Still not at max weight now.

Because I have only spoke to a few who have had it done and I wanted to hear from people who have had it done recently. That is my point, I do not know where these folks are finding their surgeons, I have looked in the net and again most say their shoulders are as good as new. 27 years old and could not draw his bow a year later, than he did not work at it or he has rotator cuff damage or his surgeon sucked. One or another cause from what I have read and even read here on bowsite that is rarely the case. We will see, I plan on shooting 60#s within 4 months of my surgery. I am motivated and am confident I have one of the better surgeons in the states. Time will tell I was just hoping someone on here had the newest procedure performed with the new stemless implant. Shawn

Shawn is this your bow shoulder or draw arm? My bow shoulder is the one that is bugging me bad. Can't hold very long, and moving up on the target is tough. Will be doing this in the coming years I suspect.

in Nov 2012 I had a partial replacement (humorous head replaced) due to a bone spur and a full clean out of debris, etc. By May, I was drawing my bow at lower weights under 60lbs. I was chasing elk again by sept, it was probably late July-early august before I could pull 70lbs again. once I hit the 12 month mark after the operation, I was back to normal bench pressing 300+ lbs, etc. although, I've been doing more workouts with lower weight and body weight only movements in recent years.. Prior to my surgery, I prepared by gaining muscle and strength in my upper body to aid in recovery. Also, right after surgery I was doing cardio work (recumbent bike, treadmill walking at incline, rowing with one arm) and light weight workouts (leg press, light one arm dumbbell work) to aid in my recovery, no science to back it up, but my thought was by doing the cardio, I was getting my heart pumping and getting oxygenated blood moving through the shoulder and moving good nutrients in there to help the healing.. And of course I was doing PT about 2 weeks after surgery.... 4.5 weeks ago, I had surgery on my right shoulder (bicep tendonitis, bone spur shaved off and major debris clean out). I started PT 12 days post op. And have recovered full range of motion in my shoulder. BUT the big piece to this surgery is waiting until the 6 week mark to start strengthening my bicep, as this was the bigger deal, if I tear that were it is reattached, it means they have to go back in and re-do it.. I have full confidence that once I can start strengthening that, I should be back to shooting my bow by March. I rely a lot on science and knowing that the 8 week mark is the magic number, meaning that once you hit 8 weeks post op, all should be healed (biologically). I tend to push myself in PT past the discomfort, I know all the popping and snapping and cracking is all part of the process. But discomfort and pain are not the same thing. Sharp quick pains are not good... discomfort from your shoulder moving again past the soreness and breaking up scar tissue is normal. You need to remember that typically with any of these surgeries, your in a sling for 4-8 weeks. That means when you doing PT and regaining strength, you arm is starting at ZERO because it has not been used for some time. You are waking up muscles that haven't been used in many weeks. And depending on the injury, maybe years.. I know with my recent surgery, there was range of motion haven't had in probably 10 years, but now in PT I can complete those movement, I know I am bound to have some muscle fatigue.

But his world famous Doctor "assured" him he will be pulling a 60 lb bow in 12 - 14 weeks....lol

COHOYTHUNTER, how old are you? Just curious.

12yards.. I'll be 40 in Sept

I was thinking the same thing Leo17 lol

My Mother-in-law fell and shattered hers, had a total reverse shoulder replacement and is 15 months out now. To say it was a long road is an understatement but she is elderly. Was a full year in therapy.

Not lashing out just looking for first hand recent knowledge, not some brothers cousins mother who had surgery or had it performed by some po'dunk doctor. It is like anything I have researched this for at least 4 years and there are certain doctors through out the country that have way better results. Most believe it or not are from Illinois east. My surgeon has consulted and done surgeries for many sports teams in the Eastern US. I do not want second hand info but real world folks who have had a replacement in the last couple years. In particular the new stemless procedure!! Shawn

Have not had that. So my input would be to talk to the physical therapist you plan on using to check out these questions. They are the ones that see the good doctors and bad. They see how some patients respond, some good and others not so good. You mentioned in a post (85 percent of people) keep that in mind. I had knee replacement and ended up with hives for 13 months do to being allergic to the antisetic. They said it happens in about 2 percent of patients. Things happen. Hope the best for you. Greg

Shawn: can you draw your 60# bow right now?

Shawn my doctor is better then yours. I cut my shoulder and arm off with a chainsaw. He sewed it back on in 10 minutes and the next day I was drawing my 800lb bow back. No joke.

I had total shoulder replacement surgery done December 11, 2017 at age 62 with bone on bone and the ball was flat from grinding on the socket. Rotator cuff and other ligaments in good shape. I guess I have the standard metal ball and socket. I know the X-rays look pretty cool. Started professional PT 3 weeks after surgery. After three weeks of professional PT to loosen the scar tissue around the joint and incision the surgeon gave a list of exercises to do at home at 4 times a day. I followed his instructions religiously and by early June I was back pulling 70 pounds on my bow which I hadn't been able to do in over 3 years prior. Speaking of bows, I would suggest staying away from a hard cam style bow to make drawing the bow easier. From my experience don't beef up muscle before surgery. My incision is 2-½ inches longer than normal because more muscle had to be "released" to perform my surgery.

I had a total reverse shoulder replaced (Bow pulling arm) surgery 21 days ago. The surgeon that did the work does between 200/300 shoulder replacements a year. Had to wait several months before I could get on his schedule. The pain has been excruciating. Was on a ton of pain meds up to two days ago. The pain meds put me in la-la land & so I stopped taking them. Started PT & its very painful. Hopefully PT will get me back in the game. I have a S. Africa plains Game hunt scheduled in six months. Need to be able to pull least 60 lbs...

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