Glad you got some good information from a surgeon you trust. Figuring out a good time is wise, I think 3 months is probably wise. I am now at 12 weeks post shoulder surgery, not replacement, and it is just now not so awful. The pain has been awful but I think joint replacement is not as painful because the joint is not painful. The surgical site and muscles are painful but heal. And then learning to use muscles one never used due to pain. I do not use voltarin like it says either but more like when I need it. I was talking to a friend who uses lidocaine patches (OTC by the voltarin) on her shoulder and it helps a lot. I find the patches hurt like heck when removing them from the shoulder skin. I must have sensitive skin! Remember to try ice or heat, depending on what you find and look at your sleep position. We side sleepers curl our shoulders, that may be inflaming this issue. Or we back sleepers have the wrong pillow to support our neck and shoulders. I kind of think using the voltarin at least twice daily would get the inflammation and pain down. I sometimes do it twice daily but I keep thinking "be lazy today." I think I will go use it today, did a lot of shoulder stretches yesterday and took my first walk outside in 3 months yesterday. But the pain is muscle pain today not the joint pain. Unused or changed muscle placement as you found with your rotator cuff surgery. I wish you the best, billwfriend. I also use turmeric 95% 500 mg twice daily and it helps my OA the most.

cutting bone to do shoulder replacement will be very painful not like you said.....I do not know what OA is or what Turmeric has to do with anything....

thanks for writing about the issues....I am waiting and will make decisions later about this....

whew, grumpy sounding post dude

OA is osteoarthritis.
Turmeric is pain reducing and inflammation reducing herb that was prescribed by my OA doctor. A real doctor. Prescribed but it is OTC, over the counter. And it is researched based.

Yes, of course a surgery will be painful and some people never do have a good replacement situation afterwards. But others do have relief and go back to pain free afterwards. I worked in a rehab facility and many people told me they had less joint pain after their replacement surgery. Some told me it was less painful than before so they were happy after surgery. I also know of some serious cases where infection set in or the pain never went away or what they call "revision" surgery after the first one. You will make the decision you need to make.

I caught your screen name. Me too. Complicates the matter for sure.