I underwent shoulder surgery to remove some bone spurs on July 8th. I'll give everyone the productive short-version.
If you are young and think you can escape injury, rethink that position.
If you are old and thinking about it, here are some things that may help you.
1. Choose your surgeon carefully; get 2nd and 3rd opinions.
2. Choose your therapist equally as carefully.
3. Consider supplements and lifestyle during your recovery.
I'll expound on #3 since this is a supplement forum.
I asked what could accelerate my progress. My therapist told me there is a dramatic difference in the recovery rate of people with a healthy lifestyle/diet vs. not. For example, people who drink, smoke and eat **** take a lot longer to recover.
So, stay on a reasonable diet. Keep the 5-6X feedings.
I also took the following supplement stack:
- Joint Care
- GH Factor
- Synergy
- Super Pak

I'm still not back at full strength yet, but I have a job and family obligations so recovery is not my only job like it would be with a pro athlete. However, my therapist says that I am very much ahead of the projected recovery rate. I see people in therapy who had similar operations doing work that I dropped 2 weeks ago.
My range of motion and strength are both steadily increasing. I think it won't be too much longer before they turn me loose.....

MW2kMrC - Sorry to hear about your shoulder. I would add an EFA supplement to your supplement stack for joint health. And for the record, for evey hour trained perform an hour of static stretching OR expect some sought of joint pain - PERIOD. Static stretching is still the most underated recovery/injury prevention practice around. Not only will you avoid injury, you will also look alot better, gain greater range of motion in exercises, improve recovery and perform optimally. Yes it's not as sexy as deadlifting, squatting, benching, dipping or cleaning 500lbs, but it will keep you healthy!For many this will be more than they can appreciate. Also many believe stretching does very little, as they train for around 5 hours a week and stretch for around 20 mins a week. You can easily see how far in the red many people get so to speak and over time this becomes an ugly situation for the joints where evidence for surgery is present.

Good luck with your recovery. Thanks!

I am a physical therapist and see SADs (sub-acromial decompression, aka bone spur removal) almost daily. The key to preventing a return formation of this calcium build-up is to make sure each and every muscle supporting that shoulder joint is equally as strong and in balance. Many times bone spurs develop because of excessive stress place on the acromion (scapular bone palpable on the upper shoulder region). It's like forming a callus on your hand from the stress from weight-lifting. (Wolff's Law = bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.) When there are muscle imbalances around the shoulder, the head of the humerus may continuously hit up against the acromion causing the bone spur to grow. This a lot of times is related to a person's job or hobbies which involve repetitive above-shoulder elevation of the arm. If the person is not properly rehabbed, then sometimes the bone spurs come back. It is important to look at all shoulder, chest, rotator cuff and scapular muscles and be sure they are all in balance (strength-wise).

So there's a little more knowledge from a PT's standpoint.

Nutrition and health are very important. Protein and EFAs in particularly help you heal faster. Smoking and alcohol decrease the oxygen deliver to the injured area, thus decreasing healing time.

Ivanov and RiptGirl,
Thank you for your input. I get EFA's from Flax and Olive Oil added to salads and shakes, so I didn't include that. I just consider that a part of my normal food intake. In your experience, do you believe it necessary to take additional supplementation in that area?
I'm definitely going to pay more attention to a regular maintenance routine of stabilizer exercises and stretching. I don't want to be back here again!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ivanov:
Regarding EFA's, always take them from one source or another. Increase them slightly when going through an injury. Depending on your age. Dr Serrano reads day and night on this information and believes if you are under 35 then Flax oil is fine as an Omega 3 source. However as you begin to get older, Fish Oil should be the primmary source of Omega 3 as the body may convert and utlises it much more efficiently than other oils.

I have found other joint products like Glucosamine, Chrondroiten and MSM to be more beneficial for the lower body and compounding joints including the knee and ankle. However that's not to say that it won't help your shoulder. Give it a go, it may well be beneficial for your condition.

Many of the supps help, but nothing will rebuild injury like a clean diet. Movement, stretching and use to rehab and keep blood pumping into the region.

RipGirl, that was an awesome explanation!