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Rotator Cuff Surgery & Riding

My problem was detached cartilage, not torn muscles. I've put lots of hours and miles on street bikes since my surgery and my orthopedic surgeon knows I ride. When I went for a checkup a year after surgery, he told me the pain I was having was a function of my age.

Certainly a fall puts more strain on a joint than riding. The shoulder is very flexible and minimally supported. If you fall, do what I did - make it a low-side and hang on to the bike :-)
 
I haven't had any problems at all with any physical activity, however I do continue to exercise the shoulder to keep it flexible. Every now and then I do hear the scar tissue crack but I've been told that this is normal.

I'm pretty sure however that a strong enough fall on that side would probably pop the shoulder right out again.
 
I haven't had any problems at all with any physical activity, however I do continue to exercise the shoulder to keep it flexible. Every now and then I do hear the scar tissue crack but I've been told that this is normal.

I'm pretty sure however that a strong enough fall on that side would probably pop the shoulder right out again.


Well, my doc's comments about a "fall" are obvious in that there is the potential for shoulder injury.

What I didn't get out of my doctor was an explanation for his implication that just riding a motorcycle was bad for my shoulder. He said that if I decided to ride I would be back in his office with the same complaints about shoulder pain I had prior to the surgery. I did not get a satisfactory answer as to why just riding would cause that. His comment about vibration after much sputtering made me suspicious that he was just grasping for anything to try to get me not to ride because of his predjudice against motorcycles. He may have been telling the truth but the way he said it made me skeptical. That is why I made my last post, to see what other doctors were saying about this subject.
 
I'm no doctor but, that is what it sounds like. IMHO, just keep exercising it to get the muscles around it stronger, and continue with the flexibility exercises you did while in therapy & you should be OK. Just common sense in taking care of it.

And remember MOTGMOTT (most of the gear most of the time):rider: Just be safe with it.
 
I had a neuro specialist tell me the vibration of the motorcycle coming up through my shoulders could aggravate my pinched neck issues. I told her I didn't ride a Harley. :lol2:

I poked around some and found this: SNSS pg. 10
 
:tab Glad you are back to "normal" for the most part Mick!

:tab As for the vibrations, I call B.S. No, I am not a doctor. However, I have a hard time believing that the high frequency but very low amplitude vibrations felt in a VFR or an ST would have ANY effect on muscles/joints. They just are not that intense. This is especially true for street riding. Now if you were on a KTM thumper and riding off road... Even then I don't think the vibration would be an issue so much as the simple jarring from hitting bumps and hanging on to the bike. Now I have had vibrations cause numbness in nerves, like in the hands/feet, but it stops there and does not go up into the shoulders or legs. But again, that was on a KTM that buzzed like nothing else I've ever ridden. It was so bad my GPS batteries could not maintain contact and it would turn off as soon as I went off idle. After several hours of riding, my hands and feet tingled for about 10 minutes after getting off the bike. I think perhaps your Doctor's anti bike bias may be interfering with his judgment... :wary:
 
Does anyone have personal experience with a shoulder surgeon in Houston that they coud recommend? If I decide to have the other shoulder done, I want to change docs.
 
My shoulder is a mess has been for nearly 20 years.

I damaged it, a dislocation that took 3 men to put back in. Never did physio never stopped work.... after 2-3 years went in after partial dislocations.

1st surgery Bankhart repair. Sorta followed instructions. Rode an ice race 6 weeks after surgery. Did a bad partial dislocation 2 - 3 years later went for surgery 2.

They built up the area under the rotator with pins/metal did another Bankhart. it was 6 months before I could ride. Nearly a year before I was comfortable. Bear in mind I rode sport bikes which placed my arm in the weakest angle/position.

3 years ago parking lot dump, complete dislocation. Took 2 guys to put it in. I was riding 8-10 weeks later, no confidence for 8 months.

I can't throw a baseball or football anymore, at all. I need some cartilage replaced. 6 months to a year downtime.

Do what the Doctors say, be careful, don't do more than you're comfortable with.
 
Mick, my surgery was July 16 last year, so I am coming up on a year. Though my shouylder is still a little weak, the pain is gone, my full range of motion is back, and riding does not aggrivate it at all. I did have a KTM 450 EXC and even that did not bother my shoulder when riding. I still have a trials bike, and KDX 200 and several old street bikes, and none of the bother my shoulder at all. I think the only real danger is crashing, and even then,m it would depend on how you hit the ground.
I think I would take the Docs statements as just being anti-motorcycle comments. Doctors in general see some bad injuries, and I am sure a lot of them from bike crashes, so they just generalize that bikes are bad and become anti-motorcycle becasue of it..

My doc was well aware that I ride all the time and told me I could ride as soon as it no longer hurt to do so. That was pretty close to 6 months.

Wayne
 
I'm at 12 weeks from rotator cuff repair and bone spur removal. I'm back to commuting on my Harley, but haven't ventured for more than a 30-minute ride. Physical therapy has restored about 80% of range of motion. One surprise was that I didn't have any atrophy of bicep, tricep or deltoid. My muscle deterioration is all back muscles. My doc said expect to be at least a year to pain-free, full motion. I know better than to ask him when I can ride.
 
I have experienced some bicep atrophy, but it is coming around slowly. I don't work on it enough, I guess. The pain that lasted the longest for me was in my back, sorta just above my shoulder blade. I thought that was never going to stop hurting, but it finally did.

Wayne
 
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