Good Afternoon. I Had Rotator Cuff Surgery In July And

Posted on Fri, 24 Jan 2020

Question: Good afternoon. I had rotator cuff surgery in July and been having physical therapy for the last 5 months. I also had a manipulation done in. Earlier in December. It's been approximately 4 weeks after the manipulation and now I'm having some numbness and pain in my right chest area and back. The repair was the right shoulder. It was a large tear. After 5 months after surgery is normal or what is the problem? I can't sleep at night.

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (0 minute later)

Good afternoon. I had rotator cuff surgery in July and been having physical therapy for the last 5 months. I also had a manipulation done in. Earlier in December. It's been approximately 4 weeks after the manipulation and now I'm having some numbness and pain in my right chest area and back. The repair was the right shoulder. It was a large tear. After 5 months after surgery is normal or what is the problem? I can't sleep at night.

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Stiffness and TENS therapy

Detailed Answer:
Hi there

Thanks for the query.

Right side chest pain could be due to numerous causes although stiff muscles can cause the pain. Physiotherapy should help as well as applying warmth over the painful area in the firm of hot water bag or you could speak to your Physiotherapist about TENS therapy to relieve the pain.

If there are any concerns with the shoulder, do get it seen by your surgeon as well.

I hope I have answered your query.

I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Thanking you.

Regards,

Aashish Raghu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (0 minute later)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (2 hours later)

The numbness and pain is in the arm that I had the surgery. That's the right shoulder. The pain also as stated seems to be together with the arm. Sorry I wasn't real clear.

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (0 minute later)

The numbness and pain is in the arm that I had the surgery. That's the right shoulder. The pain also as stated seems to be together with the arm. Sorry I wasn't real clear.

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (12 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Nerve compression in the cervical spine

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for clarifying that.

It is possible that there could be some nerve compression in your spine especially if you have any pins and needless sensation or weakness of the upper limb.

If Physiotherapy isn't helping you can get an MRI if the cervical spine to look for a slip disc or degenerative changes in the spine that can cause nerve compression.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D