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Old 07-03-2019, 10:11 PM   #1
Tyestick
 
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Exclamation Rotator cuff surgery and driving stick

I’ll be having rotator cuff surgery in the near future, and I quickly thought about if driving stick is going to be an issue...

Does anyone have experience with rotator cuff surgery, and operating a manual transmission, regardless of car?
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Old 07-03-2019, 10:14 PM   #2
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Is it the left or right hand?
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Old 07-03-2019, 10:19 PM   #3
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Is it the left or right hand?
I’m not sure which shoulder will be operated on first, but it’ll be on both shoulders.
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Old 07-04-2019, 01:08 AM   #4
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One of my friend’s dad had a ford pickup with 3 on the column (a long time ago) and he didn’t have a right arm. I think u can use your left hand to shift after your right shoulder surgery if needed. Go for a ride and see what you think.
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Old 07-04-2019, 06:03 AM   #5
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You can drive with one hand. I usually do for a good bit of my morning commute. Just do everything more slowly. I have an open top coffee cup and the roads here are crap. Having typed that out, I realize I should probably procure a lidded coffee cup...
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Old 07-04-2019, 06:56 AM   #6
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It might be at first or when your right side is done. It is very hard to shift with your left hand. I had a catheterization done, where they went in my right hand and I could not use it for 2 weeks. I tried using it right after the surgery to shift a manual and it hurt and I decided to not drive a manual for the 2 weeks time frame. A guy at work had rotator cuff surgery and his arm was in a cast for a few weeks. But once healed he has more mobility than ever...and without pain.
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Old 07-04-2019, 08:10 AM   #7
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Rotator cuff surgery SUCKS. I had it done when I was 38 yrs old and it was, without question, the most painful rehab of any injury I've ever sustained (and I've had a lot). There were times when I started to think I'd never have pain-free mobility of my arm/shoulder again. The biggest limitation after surgery was reaching upward (above my head) and outward. Fortunately, reaching forward (to a degree) was manageable pretty early on. I think after a week or so (if you cheat and remove your immobilizing sling) you'll be able to drive stick without too much difficulty. Just plan on learning to wipe your a$$ with your left hand for a while.

How far apart are you planning to have them done? I'd imagine at least 6-8 months in order to get over 1 before doing the other.
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Old 07-04-2019, 09:13 AM   #8
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Another reason to relinquish the stick!

So I've had 2 orthopedic surgeries on my left arm, LE and Martial arts related along with 4 other surgical procedures, 2 of them also caused by LE scuffles with perps. And my wife a left arm rotator cuff repair. I drove my Gen 5 stick in a cast and my Gen 6 stick in a cast. I even sent my wife to the dealer in the Gen 5 to get a scheduled oil change while she was in a cast, to the "WTF" chagrin of the service writers when she rolled up in the driveway. In America, driving a stick with only the right arm is easy. However, if your right arm is in a cast its a "whole nuther ballgame" because we don't live in the UK. It can be done by reaching across with your left arm to shift and using your knee/thigh to steer but it is difficult and definitely not a fun ride albeit challenging. ANY type of surgical recovery due to the inflammation of healing nullifies the "fun" part of driving a standard.

I used to be a "Manual only" "Stick for life kind" of guy when I was younger an incurred fewer injuries. Yes, I get the connected driving experience with a stick: real cool and great four limbs neuro-feedback. But as I got older...and a little smarter, I rediscovered and found Jesus in the A8 by swapping out my 2017 SS's. I saw the light! Moving less is more and faster- much less work. Pure Wing Chun!. The standard shift transmission is an anachronism- outdated technology. The human body often breaks when you age as well as playing hard in sports or overtraining in manual labor. We're just talking about an immobilized right arm here. Imagine a f****d up left leg, ankle or knee. Depressing a clutch in pain is no fun. Some guys will never relinquish their Blackberrys or their 6 shot revolvers. I'll take a high capacity auto any day along with my I phone.

And if you're really into HP driving you have an advantage by keeping 2 hands on the wheel at all times. Ask any emergency responder who has to do actual stunt driving for a living where the real stakes are life and death.

Forgive my rant, It's not my first. Just preaching the gospel of the superb modern automatic transmission.

Good luck and godspeed in your recovery!

PS: Get a Bidet attachment for your toilet. Its life changing.

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Bidet-Z-3...gateway&sr=8-1

Last edited by wingchunsifu; 07-04-2019 at 09:23 AM.
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Old 07-04-2019, 10:16 AM   #9
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Listen to your doctor; each shoulder surgery is different, but it likely will change your life for longer than you want it to - 6 months to a year. My right shoulder had gotten bad enough last summer that I actually had to lean my body to the right to force the shifter into 5th and 6th - and it hurt like heck all the time. After surgery, my doctor’s orders were to not drive any vehicle for 2 months; otherwise, I’d just undo the work he just did on my shoulder. In addition, the shoulder is so weak after the surgery that you’re driving one-armed and cannot properly control your car. (Think soccer mom talking on the phone with one hand, yelling at her kids in the back seat and trying to control her SUV with the other hand in an emergency situation.) It was awful having my wife or a friend drive me everywhere for 2 months, but in the end the recovery went as expected - although the shoulder didn’t start to feel anything like normal until after about 4 months of physical therapy. BTW, in some states if you drive in a sling or against doctor’s orders, you’re officially driving impaired and any accident will be your fault.

Eight months later, I can tell you that the surgery will be worth it - but it really is temporarily life-changing. My driving (and shifting) skills are back to normal. Good luck!
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Old 07-05-2019, 02:49 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ebbsnflows View Post
Rotator cuff surgery SUCKS. I had it done when I was 38 yrs old and it was, without question, the most painful rehab of any injury I've ever sustained (and I've had a lot). There were times when I started to think I'd never have pain-free mobility of my arm/shoulder again. The biggest limitation after surgery was reaching upward (above my head) and outward. Fortunately, reaching forward (to a degree) was manageable pretty early on. I think after a week or so (if you cheat and remove your immobilizing sling) you'll be able to drive stick without too much difficulty. Just plan on learning to wipe your a$$ with your left hand for a while.

How far apart are you planning to have them done? I'd imagine at least 6-8 months in order to get over 1 before doing the other.
It depends on the severity of the RC surgery. Mine was in my late 40s and wasn't bad. What was far worse was a damaged ACL that was torn too bad to repair in my late 30s. I wore a Donjoy brace for a year until I decided I hated it and had it replaced.
I had no issues driving a MT just a few weeks after my FC surgery.
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Old 07-05-2019, 03:01 AM   #11
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You should definitely NOT drive stick for a good long while after surgery. Go very slowly, and, my honest advice, just don't do it until you are at least 90% improved.
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Old 07-05-2019, 06:59 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wingchunsifu View Post
So I've had 2 orthopedic surgeries on my left arm, LE and Martial arts related along with 4 other surgical procedures, 2 of them also caused by LE scuffles with perps. And my wife a left arm rotator cuff repair. I drove my Gen 5 stick in a cast and my Gen 6 stick in a cast. I even sent my wife to the dealer in the Gen 5 to get a scheduled oil change while she was in a cast, to the "WTF" chagrin of the service writers when she rolled up in the driveway. In America, driving a stick with only the right arm is easy. However, if your right arm is in a cast its a "whole nuther ballgame" because we don't live in the UK. It can be done by reaching across with your left arm to shift and using your knee/thigh to steer but it is difficult and definitely not a fun ride albeit challenging. ANY type of surgical recovery due to the inflammation of healing nullifies the "fun" part of driving a standard.

I used to be a "Manual only" "Stick for life kind" of guy when I was younger an incurred fewer injuries. Yes, I get the connected driving experience with a stick: real cool and great four limbs neuro-feedback. But as I got older...and a little smarter, I rediscovered and found Jesus in the A8 by swapping out my 2017 SS's. I saw the light! Moving less is more and faster- much less work. Pure Wing Chun!. The standard shift transmission is an anachronism- outdated technology. The human body often breaks when you age as well as playing hard in sports or overtraining in manual labor. We're just talking about an immobilized right arm here. Imagine a f****d up left leg, ankle or knee. Depressing a clutch in pain is no fun. Some guys will never relinquish their Blackberrys or their 6 shot revolvers. I'll take a high capacity auto any day along with my I phone.

And if you're really into HP driving you have an advantage by keeping 2 hands on the wheel at all times. Ask any emergency responder who has to do actual stunt driving for a living where the real stakes are life and death.

Forgive my rant, It's not my first. Just preaching the gospel of the superb modern automatic transmission.

Good luck and godspeed in your recovery!

PS: Get a Bidet attachment for your toilet. Its life changing.

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Bidet-Z-3...gateway&sr=8-1
I agree with most everything you said, especially the bidet part. For those of you that poo-poo the idea (no pun intended), trust me.
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Old 07-05-2019, 07:03 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by protovack View Post
You should definitely NOT drive stick for a good long while after surgery. Go very slowly, and, my honest advice, just don't do it until you are at least 90% improved.
I had right rotator cuff surgery 1 yr and 3 months ago now. I can promise you you will not be driving a manual car for months after surgery. Like at least 3. I didn't have my camaro yet at that time but I remember going one year ago this week to drive an M6 ZL1 and I had to be very ginger moving the shifter around, so that would've been just over 3 months or so. . There is just no way to do it using the affected shoulder. You have no idea the pain you will feel with your arm out of the sling even after a month. It is one of the longest, most difficult surgeries to recover from. Even just this week I rolled a couple coats of paint on a ceiling and my repaired shoulder was pinching really bad last night. I was really worried I did something to it even though I didn't really feel like I was abusing it at the time.

I did drive my truck a week or so after surgery but that was auto and pretty much to my shoulder and therapy appts. The DR and the PT guy both told me that it was a bad idea because if I get stopped or in an accident I was going to get cited, etc. But I had no choice really, everybody that could take me worked.
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Old 07-05-2019, 08:06 AM   #14
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I had rotator cuff repair 6 months ago on my right shoulder. I couldn't drive my 1LE for about 5-6 weeks. My Dr. was very specific about not driving it until he cleared me.

Even after he cleared me, it was very uncomfortable for a week or so.
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