shoulder lowering - 1 yr. post-op

[HGD24]

My right shoulder was always noticably higher than my left. I had a rib removed on my right side and now a little over a year later, I am noticing that my right shoulder is lower than the left. I feel like I'm tilting again, just in the opposite direction of how I tilted prior to surgery.

After surgery, I was unable to use my right shoulder at all (could not lift it away from my body) so my surgeon had an occupational therapist come to my house twice a week for 6 weeks to work with me so that I could once again eat and brush my teeth and bathe using my right arm. I thought I was back to normal but now I'm feeling really concerned about this.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of tilting in the opposite direction? Should I try to go back for phyical therapy to get my shoulder back up where it belongs? I'm worried that if I let this go, it might get worse....

[Breeze]

shoulder levels

Hi,
Just spotted your post about shoulder levels and was wondering how they are doing now. My daughter is 4 months post op and her shoulders are much more uneven than before surgery. Has any one else had this issue? She is going to PT but that doesn't seem to make a difference.
Kate

[HGD24]

Hi Kate ~
They're still a bit uneven, but everyone who sees me says how amazingly straight I look. I guess to the unbiased eye, they're even, but I've looked at my body so closely in the past 18 months, that I tend to notice every little change now. I think they were much straighter when I was first fused and doing PT to strengthen my back and shoulders. I think that if I was doing the same PT routine with the same machines and weights, they might straighten out...then again, I think maybe not. I think that sometimes, in order to correct one thing, we might need to sacrafice something else. If it continues to be a concern to me, I will definitely talk with my surgeon and PT about it. Does your daughter's PT specialize in working with scoliosis patients? Mine was very knowledgable about scoliosis and spinal fusion...Good luck!

[CHRIS WBS]

It was my understanding that ribs regenerate. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, when donor bone is required in any surgical procedure, it is often taken from the ribs because they do grow back.

Chris

[HGD24]

The rib did regenerate.

[LindaRacine]

It was my understanding that ribs regenerate. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, when donor bone is required in any surgical procedure, it is often taken from the ribs because they do grow back.

Chris

Hi Chris...

I believe that ribs regenerate if they are removed while leaving the periosteum (soft tissue rib covering) intact. (Mine never grew back.) And, I think ribs are only taken for fusion material if they need to be removed to gain access to the front of the spine. (That is, they're not removed for the sole purpose of providing fusion material.)

Regards,
Linda

[HGD24]

That's what happened with me Linda. My surgeon accessed the upper spine through my right side and removed a rib to do so. He left a little nub of rib on either end which helped with the new growth. Then he used the rib to make the fusion material.

As time went on, I could actually feel where the rib was growing back and where it was still not grown in you could feel the hardness of the rib and then the open space by running your finger along my side! I thought it was cool...but I'm a junkie of all things medical....