I just had distal clavicle resection surgery (AC joint excision) on Monday May 7, 2007

[Doomsday]

First off, I just want to introduce myself. I'm new to posting here and look forward to learning alot from you guys and girls.

I'm 27 years old. I'm 6' 245 wth alot of body fat. I am a former amateur boxer (not that great, record was 2-2). On May 7, 2007 I had a distal clavicle resection on my right shoulder where my doc removed 12 mm of my AC joint. I also had arthroscopic exploratory surgery on that shoulder where, in addition to doing the distal clavicle resection, they removed a bone spur near the acromion and scar tissue near the AC joint. I had no arthritis of the AC joint but my doc felt it was necessary to do the distal clavicle resection so if scar tissue were to reform or a bone spur were to develop it wouldn't aggravate the AC joint. So that's why he did the procedure.

One week later my doc removed my steristrips and took a post op xray and said the xray looked good. He said the xray looked good because the resection was straight, there was no bone left behind, and he was happy with the amount of resection. He had me start PT last week where they work on my range of motion. He said it will take 3 months after surgery (2 months from now) before I can return to weightlifting and boxing training. He said in that 3 months (2 months from now) scar tissue will form where the excised portion of the AC joint once was, the raw bone where he cut the clavicle will be healed, and the post surgery inflammation will be gone in that time.

I'm 3 weeks post op and it kills whenever I do a front dumbbell raise MOTION (not even the lift, just the MOTION kills). It also hurts to do a pec deck fly MOTION (again, not even the lift, just the MOTION kills). I also couldn't use the shoulder right now to throw a punch if I had to. My PT says my range of motion is great but that I should keep icing and taking Motrin ofr the next 4 weeks to get rid of any inflammation.

I'm very concerned that my doc may have botched the surgery but he swears he didn't and said I could take my post op xray to any doc in the nation and they would agree that the surgery wasn't botched. He said 3 weeks is very early for a distal clavicel resection and he says he has done these in the past and his patients ALL returned to pain free weightlifting and sports.

Is there anybody here who has had this surgery and can tell me what I'm in store for? Will I ever be able to lift weights again? Will I ever be able to box again? I have alot of discomfort since the surgery especially when I use the shoulder to do certain motions. It also hurts to sleep on that side. How long until the discomfort goes away? Will the discomfort EVER go away? Also, can anyone who has had this surgery give me a relative timeline for recovery and rehab? If anyone who has had this surgery or is familiar with this surgery can please help me I would greatly appreciate it. I'm a nervous wreck.

Also, why does it kill if I try to do certain motions with the shoulder? Like a front dumbbell raise MOTION (not even the lift, just the MOTION kills) or a pec deck fly MOTION (again, not even the lift, just the MOTION kills). Why is that? Has anyone here who has had this surgery had discomfort when doing those motions at 3 weeks post surgery?

Thanks fellas. I'm glad to be part of this forum but I'm very nervous about this.

 

[TomoUK]

your in luck as ive had a very similar op on the 3rd may (arthroscopic subacromial decompression and distal clavical resection) i completely understand your anxiety. Your symtoms are perfectly normal tho, he hasnt botched it - these are standard time frames for this type of op, consider the amount of trauma the tissue around the joint has been put under, you are obviously going to get pain for some time afterwards but it will get better, just be patient and do your range of motion exercises - dont use ANY weights until your told to!

Try lying on your back when you do front raises with a broomstick, this puts gravity on your side so you dont have to use the damaged muscles and will allow you to get the range of movement back. Dont force movements either, just go a little bit into the painful area each time. Here are a selection of rehab exercises that i have found useful -

http://shoulderdoc.co.uk/patient_info/article.asp?article=445

again, dont use the strengthening exercises it shows at the end until given the all clear.

I have had similar anxieties and posted on this shoulder forum - this is a link to my post and the reply - maybe you will find it useful

http://www.shoulder1.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=71&threadid=16782&enterthread=y

I think the most important thing you do is relax and dont force it, hes right 3 weeks is early, i was told 6 weeks before i have full range of motion and only then can I start strengthening work with bands etc. I fully understand your nervousness (i am an Olifter desperate to get back to training) but my shoulder has improved a lot the last week since I just accepted it was gunna be a while before im training again. The pain will start to ease off, you just need to be patient - im sure you will be back to lifting and boxing no problem if you dont rush back to early.

p.s did your surgeon give you any photos of the op? He gave me some taken from the arthroscopic camera that helped me to understand how much the shoulder has been through - theres a tendency to think its just a small op becasue the scarrs on the outside are so minimal.

 

[skullcrushin22]

You shouldnt be worried just after three weeks. Its gonna take some time for the body to heal itself.

 

[Tweakle]

go to www.elitefts.com and read the rehab articles, I'm not in the same boat as you but I have a torn RC and some AC damage to deal with right now and it's very useful to read how PLers approached the rehab vs some old guy curling soupcans

Post surgery I'd personally use GH and IGF in whatever doses I could afford to speed the healing.

 

[Doomsday]

Re: I just had distal clavicle resection surgery (AC joint excision) on Monday May 7,

I had some bad luck. The other day I was working security and did my absolute best to avoid any possible physical scenario. Well sure enough I had to physically restrain someone to stop them from assaulting a female staff member. Could not be avoided at all. I had to wrestle around and it lasted a couple of minutes. Immediately thereafter I felt my AC joint was EXTREMELY SORE AND INFLAMMED. Right after the incident I took the day off and went right to my doctor. He said all I probably did was cause the AC joint to become inflammed. He doesn't think I did any permanent damage and he doesn't think I did anything that will prevent me from returning to weightlifting or boxing one day. In fact he said there is no way I could've done permanent damage because he didn't repair anything when he did the last surgery. He said the reason why it was inflammed is because I used the arm very aggressively too soon (only 3 weeks post op). He said at this time there is no scar tissue present where the excised AC joint was so therefore the raw bone is rubbing up against the acromion with no cushioning in between. Also there is still raw bone there from where he cut.
He said it takes a couple months for that scar tissue to form.

Is my doc right...Did I just irritate and inflame it, or do you guys think I did permanent damage? What do you think?

 

[skullcrushin22]

I think your doc is right. I think your getting a little worked up about all of this and I prob would be too. But like I said before your only three weeks post. You have some healing time ahead of you and its gonna take time but I am sure one day you will be in the gym again with no probs.

 

[Doomsday]

skull, so you agree with my doc that I just inflammed it and did nothing permanent to it? He claims that he didn't repair anything last surgery, he said he just removed stuff (AC joint excision).

Anyone else ever have this procedure done?

 

[TomoUK]

skull, so you agree with my doc that I just inflammed it and did nothing permanent to it? He claims that he didn't repair anything last surgery, he said he just removed stuff (AC joint excision).

Anyone else ever have this procedure done?

just relax and trust your doc - if he claims he didnt need to repair anything in the op then he didnt, why would he lie about that?

 

[Doomsday]

Re: I just had distal clavicle resection surgery (AC joint excision) on Monday May 7,

I'm not saying he's lying. I just hope I didn't do any damage to my shoulder after that little incident I had. He swears I didn't.

 

[Doomsday]

Re: I just had distal clavicle resection surgery (AC joint excision) on Monday May 7,

Anyone wanna share their 'distal clavicle resection experiences'?

Also, have any of you fellas who have had this surgery ever trained in boxing or MMA after your surgery? Basically what I'm asking is, will I ever be able to throw a punch again pain free? Will I ever be able to train in boxing again? That means throwing lots and lots of punches on a 150 lbs. heavybag 5 days a week. Will I ever be able to do that again? If my surgery was on May 7, 2007, what month will I be able to go back to full speed ahead-no holding back-balls to the wall boxing training?