Two rotator cuff surgeries in 10 years- experiences
I've had two rotator cuff surgeries -- one on my right shoulder in 2015. One on my left shoulder in 2025. Both were virtually identical small-to-medium sized full supraspinatus tears that occurred through normal wear and tear activities, the first at age 40, the second at age 50. Both surgeries were arthroscopic. I remember when I had my surgeries, I was scouring the internet for information, experiences, recovery times, etc. So I thought I'd share mine.
Right shoulder surgery was a full success. Pain was pretty manageable. I took oxy the first day, then Advil off and on after that for a few weeks. I went back to my office job after about a week, using my left arm to drive without issue. I stopped wearing my sling after two or three weeks, based on articles I've read stating the positive benefits. The most well known article, which I bet anyone who's had this surgery has likely found through a Google search, is linked at the bottom of this post. My surgeon told me on my one month follow up that I could go ahead and stop using the sling -- even though I already had two weeks earlier.
During recovery, I had many "scares," where I was convinced I'd pulled an anchor or whatnot because of a sudden movement. This is really where the sling comes into play -- keeping you from making sudden, instinctual movements, especially in your sleep. That said, none of the scares turned out to be anything, even though I swore I felt "pops" and "tears."
PT went great. I had an amazing therapist who worked aggressively with me 2x a week for about three months. Four months after surgery, I was doing the "light" version of most of my pre-surgery everyday activities.
I remember I went scuba diving right at the six month mark. My shoulder still felt a little bit "off," but mostly normal.
At a full year, I was completely healed, and the only side effect from my surgery was a very slight stretching pain if I tried to cross my arms behind my head to their very fullest extent. I'd say the surgery was a 95% success, overall.
My second surgery was a little tougher, even though it was on my non-dominant shoulder. My experiences matched pretty much everything from surgery 1, but at about the four month mark, I had a setback where I believe a minor re-tear occured. I remember it happening after a week of intensified PT, but there was no single incident that I can remember causing the setback. For nearly two months after that, the pain subsided somewhat but didn't fully go away, prompting my surgeon to send me for a follow up MRI. Turned out I had a 50% re-tear along my surgery line. Surgeon said a revision surgery was an option, if the pain continued, but the chances of it doing good were about 50/50.
Fortunately, my shoulder seemed to mostly recover on its own. One year after the surgery, I'm mostly pain free in the left shoulder. It wasn't quite the success my first surgery was -- I'd say it's about 85% compared to pre-surgery -- but I rarely if ever notice discomfort anymore, and I'm back to pretty regular gym activities.
I really attribute the tougher second recovery to my age. My surgeon agreed, based on data, and his experience. Recovery time and success really starts to go down as you age -- even if it's only ten years.
These are tough surgeries, because the recovery times are so dang long. But they're worth it. Better to have some discomfort for a year out of your life instead of suffering for the rest of your life. My advice -- if you discover that you need this surgery, get it sooner than later. Also, don't freak out too much early on about perceived pops or pains -- but be smart about your activities, and don't take any dumb chances.
Finally -- if you lived a lifestyle that included a lot of heavy weight lifting before the surgery -- maybe reconsider changing your athletic routine to something a little more forgiving on your shoulders. I can tell my shoulders are on the edge when I up my shoulder routines, and I wouldn't want to go through these surgeries again, so I take it easy. Consider high rep, low weight activities for your upper body and for strength management, rather than maxing out the weight with low reps.
Good luck!
