Shoulder replacement- How bad is this going to be

Large friend had a knee replacement a little while ago, similar circumstances. Said he wished he'd done it sooner. Keeping up with PT will be even more important with a shoulder because it moves in so many more ways. If you cheat your body out of the PT, you'll pay for it later.

I hope it’s not as miserable as rotator cuff surgery

I wish all that was wrong was a rotator cuff.

According to my surgeon the procedure I had at Tulane in the 90s is not utilized anymore due to long term degenerative issues which is where I am now.

I have lost significant range of motion due to arthritis and bone spurs. I have very little soft tissue in the joint due to the tension and pressure created by the original procedure. This has created a situation where there is no space between the ball and socket so it doesn’t rotate freely like a normal shoulder joint. This has also caused the rim of the socket to become thin and micro fractures to occur and heal and refracture and heal.

The real world result of all this is that any activity, swimming, golf, throwing a ball, painting a room, even casting a fishing pole for an afternoon is going to cause 2-3 days of significant pain. I’m only 40 but the older I get the worse the pain gets and the longer it takes to pass.

Damn that sucks, good luck to you, the results of the surgery have to be better than that

Had 2 spinal fusions , hardware and the works, lower back bottom 4 discs, virtually pain free now , but they would have to kill me to do it again

Shoulder joint replacements are an easier rehab than rotator cuff repairs. Not saying "easy", but "easier." Swapped out hard tissues like joints is easier than soft tissues like rotator cuffs and other complex shoulder reconstructions where the bones are fine, but it's all soft tissue recon.

Good luck and keep us posted.