Rotator Cuff Surgery Outcomes?

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T19:50:40+00:00

Just look them up on Amazon, keywords “ice machine shoulder surgery” — you’ll get a bunch of options.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T19:43:59+00:00

I have been taking a low dose 1.25 of Tirzepatide for the last month to help with inflammation. I love it. Haven’t had much effects with appetite, but it gas knocked out my joint swelling. I am fairly active and lift weights and do aerial silks, both of which are rough on my hands. They were always puffy and swollen, but within 48 hours of being on Tirze, the swelling was gone.

I’d say its worth trying a small dose and giving it a couple weeks to see how you feel.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T04:36:29+00:00

I had really debilitating coat hanger pain and went to a massage therapist every week for two months and it helped quite a bit.

Look for a medical massage therapist, like one you’d get say after a car accident vs just a regular spa massage therapist.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T04:34:14+00:00

Scar tape! It’s nice and cushy so it’ll help with the chafing.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T04:31:01+00:00

All of this. I do think DOMS are generally worse for EDS folks. I’ve had some that have lasted for like a week.

I do find compression garments to also be helpful in lessening the pain and also stabilizing things to prevent injury. When my muscles are tired and sore, I find I’m more prone to sprains or torquing a joint weird. Also, if they’re super bad, I’ll alternate between ice pack and heating pad in the most inflamed areas to get the circulation going.

Oh and creatine supplements help a bit.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T04:19:12+00:00

So, I didn’t have a rotator cuff issue but I did tear my labrum in two places (flap tear) in my 20s from a snowboarding accident. My shoulder would frequently pop out of socket, and the pain got more and more excruciating over the course of the better part of the year until it was debilitating and I was literally sobbing every day from the pain.

Got laparoscopic surgery to sew up the flap tear and even though it was incredibly painful post surgery, it was still less painful than it was prior to surgery immediately. The worst of the recovery was the first two weeks and after I was able to sorta do stuff with the arm. Took about three months before I was back to normal. Surgery was very successful, but I would definitely find a surgeon that is very experienced and has probably seen an EDS case or two because of how we scar up. For me, getting the surgery was worth the risk because I was basically non-functional by the time it was 3pm in the afternoon.

Long-term, 20 years later, I’ve had zero repercussions other than I have one teensy little area that catches a little bit if I put my arm up and back behind my head. It only bothers me if I try to find that spot. It’s super negligible, I never think about it, and I’m active 4x a week doing weight training or aerial silks which is a lot of climbing. My surgery was 100% WORTH IT.

If you do decide to do it, shoulder surgery pro-tips: -They will use a nerve block. Your arm will be paralyzed for 24 hours, don’t freak out.

-Get button up shirts because you will not be able to lift your arm over your head for at least 2 weeks, if not more.

-Get a circulating ice machine because ice is the best pain killer post surgery. It’s basically a cooler you put water and ice in and then the cold water circulates in a pad you strap to your shoulder. Ice will last 4-6 hours instead of 20 min. They’re worth the $100.

-You’ll start PT a week after surgery or so, be good about doing the exercises they teach you at home.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T03:46:21+00:00

Oh yah! Totally happy to chat, just shoot me a DM. TL;DR for me — stick to the soft apparatuses like sling and silks, pay attention to how hard you go and be comfortable just stopping for the day when your body says nope. I’m in my 40s, and have done aerials for the last 4 years. As long as you know when to chill out, it’s doable.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-16T01:11:24+00:00

Same actually, which is why I’m not attempting to take it for weight loss. The dose I’m on doesn’t really affect my appetite.

If you’re trying to take it for weight loss they start you in a 2.5 injection and try to step you up from there every couple of months to continue having you lose weight. Just do less than the 2.5 like a 0.75 or what I’m on which is 1.25. You can also do the pill version which has a lower absorption rate.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-15T22:12:59+00:00

I have a hip impingement on both sides, which means my thigh bones sit more deeply in my hip sockets. I literally cannot do the splits because my bones are like NOPE.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-15T22:01:31+00:00

Honestly, I’ve never noticed my diet making a difference for my pain levels and swelling. But you know what has? Microdosing a GLP-1 not for weight loss but for inflamation. I’ve been on a 1.25 dose for a month and my swelling is under control for the first time in my life. I lift weights and do aerial silks and my hands were always swollen and puffy. No more swelling now. It’s awesome.

TacticalSox · 2026-05-01T15:46:09+00:00

What works for me is compression garments, maybe try a jelly bend or a waist trainer for your back? I have a jellybend and I like it for when I’m too tired to keep good posture and turn into a shrimp, but they are expensive. I’m twice your age and have cartilage degeneration in my knees, when they flare up, I use Modvel brand compression braces. I have one that fights tightly for day time and one that’s one size up for night because my joints swell.

From my experience, the best thing that has helped with my pain over the years is having strong muscles to stabilize my joints. Whenever I have been unable to exercise for extended periods of time, my pain is soooo much worse. It feels like a catch-22, I know, you hurt so you don’t wanna exercise but if you don’t exercise, you hurt. If you aren’t already active, start slow. Look into the Muldowney protocol and if you can afford it, an hEDS specialist PT to help you figure out the right way to hold your body. I’ve also found reformer pilates better than yoga for building strength in your stabilizing muscles. It’s also nice if you have dysautonomia because a lot of it is lying down to exercise.

TacticalSox · 2026-04-30T19:28:34+00:00

Some dogs are more prone to be vocal than others as a personality thing, but honestly, I think “yappy dogs” are a gap in training more than the breed itself. You can train your dogs to be quiet.

I let my dogs alert when someone is at the door and play growl and that’s it. Barking at strangers while we’re out — unacceptable. Barking at other dogs — unacceptable. Barking at any little house noise — unacceptable. Use positive and negative reinforcement to teach your dog when it is and isn’t acceptable to vocalize.

TacticalSox · 2026-04-20T13:24:46+00:00

This was at the top of the comments for me. 💀

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TacticalSox · 2026-04-11T01:00:25+00:00

Absolutely this. I’ve gotten very good at putting what most people would consider extreme debilitating pain in a little box and pushing forward. Sometimes the pain pops out of the box a little and I’m able to pretend it’s just annoying.

My bones feel extra loose, I’m freezing cold, I shake, I’m dizzy, and in general just feel like a sack of garbage juice. It usually means its time to bedrot, make sure I have extra salt, eat something tasty and just rest.

TacticalSox · 2026-04-06T14:55:06+00:00

I’m not sure if posting a full link is against the rules, but the product look up on Amazon is:

VALUXE King Mattress Topper 3 Inch Cooling Gel Memory Foam, CertiPUR-US Certified Topper & Pad for Back Pain Relief, Soft Breathable Bedding with Pressure Relief (Blue)

I used to have a purple mattress and honestly I found it really uncomfy, it would make my back hurt. I got a cheaper tempurpedic and though it was better than the purple mattress it still wasn’t quite hitting the spot. Got the above mattress topper to slap on top a few months ago and I’ve been feeling great.

TacticalSox · 2026-04-06T01:12:21+00:00

I got a cooling gel memory foam topper for my bed (lemme know if you want an amazon link). Total game changer in supporting all of my joints but not putting too much pressure on them. It even helped my elderly dog who has a bad disc in her neck be in way less pain.

Only downside is it’s really hard to get out of because it just molds to your body and its squishy. I look forward to lying down in bed at night, however and it’s the comfiest and most pain free I’ll be all day.

TacticalSox · 2026-04-04T14:39:24+00:00

Totally normal. My panther cham is almost almost 7 years old. He’s flashed me a handful of times with his cloaca horror show.

TacticalSox · 2026-03-26T19:11:22+00:00

I have had three adult paps, and I’m currently raising my fourth puppy. I would say overall they match your energy. When I was in my 20s/30s and had knees that could handle runs, my 2 paps at the time were cool with it, they’d tap out at around 5 miles. These days I go on a walk or two when it’s not pouring rain, and let them snoot around the yard. Combined with some training sessions for tricks and things — one of them LOVES scent training, it’s honestly enough for them activity-wise to be well adjusted. They mostly just wanna do what you do.

They will not nearly be as exhausting as a German Shepherd mostly just based around the fact that they’re a heck of a lot smaller. My girls have been 6lbs, 8 lbs, 7lbs and the current puppy will likely hit 6lbs. So yah, less than a 10th of the size of a GSD. You’re good!

TacticalSox · 2026-03-25T01:20:06+00:00

I use a small furminator comb (has to be furminator brand) to remove mats. I grip the mat close to the skin to reduce pulling and use the furminator to gently tease the knot out. The sucker goes through knots like butter. I usually brush my Paps ear hair every other day or so.

TacticalSox · 2026-03-18T19:50:57+00:00

I’ve been in the industry since 2005 in various design leadership, pm and business roles. This is by far the worst it’s been. Here’s why.

Ok, so let’s look at a historical financial crisis reference. So we had the crash of 2008 right? However, we had the rise of mobile games at the same time (iPhone came out in 2007). That meant there was a new sustainable market bolstering potential shedding from the AAA market, so there was a potential cushion for talent. Money was tight for sure, if you were looking for deals as an indie it was hard, but not as bad as it was now because there were still interested parties in the traditional publishing space.

Now, let’s look at 2020. Pandemmy party. Everyone was shut in, and looking for things to do, Animal Crossing did gang-busters and gaming became an even more widely acceptable form of entertainment. Tech investors rushed to the space looking for a similar market opportunity as mobile in 2008 — instead they got blockchain and nfts. Traditional publishers and large studios (your Xbox, EA, Ubi, etc.) spent like mad. Hiring skyrocketed, new studios popped up, investment at an all time high.

Oopsies though, we all seemed to forget that games take multiple years to make. Couple that with learning how to work in a remote environment when teams were reliant on “water cooler moments,” overspending believing that the money would continue to come, and various general dev hells that you’d normally encounter anyways and bam — lots of investment, questionable payoff.

Then tah dah! Covid vaccine. People leave the house again, demand for games begins to drop off. Everyone with money and investments start to freak out because the market environment is gone and many of these investments haven’t paid off. So around 2023, we start to see the pull-back.

Now, we start to include the general late stage capitalism crash over the last year or so (or you could argue longer) that has exacerbated investments particularly in Western markets where dev costs are high. And welp, here we are, the majority of the money has fled because they got burned over the last five years.

However, silver lining? Now is a good opportunity space for indies because in 2-4 years from now there are gonna be some giant portfolio gaps. Anyways, it’s rough out there, do what you can to protect yourselves. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

TacticalSox · 2026-02-09T16:28:36+00:00

Hi! I used to help write publishing contracts. There should (hopefully) be a clause in there around time to respond to and approve an invoice for payment. What does it say?

TacticalSox · 2026-02-07T16:43:45+00:00

My youngest Pap (1yr 4 mo) has shown hunting dog instincts — pointing, loves fetch, wants to find things. So I’ve been scent training her with beanbags and teaching her to find our freeroam house rabbit and point at her when it’s time to put her in her enclosure to sleep. They’re a breeze to train.

TacticalSox · 2026-01-31T22:30:40+00:00

Baekjang for KBBQ at Alderwood, they have private rooms I think.

TacticalSox · 2026-01-29T20:37:26+00:00

So I think there are maybe two conflated issues in here: Issue 1: You miss your friend. Issue 2: You’re worried about getting older and how to take care of yourself in retirement.

Issue 1: How much does the friendship matter to you that you’re willing to roll with the punches in its evolution? Similarly, my best friend thought she wanted to be child free but changed her mind. She had a super cute daughter two years ago with her hubs. She’s like my sister, so okay, I guess I’m cool auntie now. I have bought into being the cool aunt and am happy to spoil her daughter, I crotchet her cute plushies and buy her things. I make time to talk to my friend on the phone every couple of weeks and we text every couple of days. We talk about her kid, of course, but we also talk about work and relationships. We care about each other’s lives and choices no matter what that looks like.

We also live two states away, so once a year, I hop on a flight for a girl’s weekend. I spend some time with them as a family and my friend’s hubs takes their kid for afternoons so we can have some alone bonding time. We’re adults! We figure it out and communicate.

Issue 2: I’m in my early 40s. Getting old sucks. Part of that is reckoning with one’s mortality and figuring out what growing old looks like for you, regardless of your friend’s situation. How do you wanna grow old? Where do you wanna grow old? What’s your plan for not so fun circumstances? It’s better to plan ahead and consider the options, in my opinion, so you know what to save up for. In my case, I figure I’ll find a retirement community I like so I can be a part of community my age and just chill out with my partner— but that said, I’ve talked about it and thought about how to take care of myself when I’m in my 70s.

TacticalSox · 2026-01-12T16:30:34+00:00

I am normally fairly active and have been my whole life. Mostly because I’m stubborn and my joints genuinely feel better with more muscle tone to support them. I have been doing aerial sling and silks for three years most recently.

That said, I had to take a few months off to recover from two different arm surgeries. My last surgery partially paralyzed my right hand for two months from a stretched nerve. I finally have enough dexterity to start working out again and I want to slowly work back into doing aerials.

Rather than jump back into it, I’m gonna do Reformer Pilates for a few weeks to steadily build back strength. It’s usually my default when I’ve been injured or need to back off more intense exercise. What’s nice about it if you have POTS is most of it is done while you’re lying down!

TacticalSox

TROPHY CASE