jroland

I had acromial decompression, which I believe is roughly the same thing as acromioplasty, about two years ago. Before the surgery, I had persistent pain in my shoulder, a pain that my lift-weighting regimen exacerbated. My doctor, an excellent orthopedic surgeon (and excellent isn’t a term I use loosely on doctors, by any means), told me the pain was probably caused by my acromion rubbing into something—tendons or ligaments or muscle, most likely—and that acromial decompression would eliminate the pain. I was hesitant about having the surgery, but the pain was persistent, so I eventually agreed.

The surgery itself, if I recall correctly, took about an hour and a half, and the recovery time maybe an hour. At home that night, I felt my first post-surgery pain, and it was a bear, as though a moving blade were stuck between my shoulder and the surrounding tissue. I took a few pills for the pain, but found that the pain lessened almost right away when I repositioned my arm. Now, I can’t suggest one specific position that helped—I think it’s different for everyone---but if you find the right position, you’ll know it. For me, lying on my side (not the side where I had the shoulder surgery, of course) and propping a small pillow between my elbow and my ribs really did the trick. When I woke up the next day, I had some discomfort, but it wasn’t all that bad. After a few days, I felt no pain at all. Now, when it came to being able to lift again, that was a different story. I started back too early and ended up needing to see a physical therapist for a few sessions. One day, I just said “to hell with it,” and took a good long time off from the weights---six weeks, I believe. When I went back to lifting again after that, my shoulder felt a little odd, but there was no pain, and after a few days lifting again, the shoulder felt just fine; in fact, I “felt” I could do any exercise again without pain—and I was right. I’d lost almost no strength during all that time off, and in hindsight, I’m thrilled I had the surgery. To this day, the shoulder has given me zero trouble, and it’s stronger and more flexible than it’s ever been.

Good luck with your surgery.

Joe