Vaping before and after shoulder surgery

[OyVape]

I will be having arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery in a few weeks. Been reading various opinions online as to whether it is advisable to consume MJ before and after surgery. My orthopedist/surgeon cautioned against smoking nicotine because it can affect your blood. When I mentioned that I vape MJ flower, he said it wasn’t
a problem. Yay!

But several doctors online say it is really bad in terms of affecting anesthesia as well as healing time. They say to stop several weeks beforehand. I fully intend to use whatever is necessary for the pain during recovery, including some heavy Indica and probably Vicodin.

Does anyone here have experience or advice about this? The last time I had surgery, the initial IV post-op pain meds they gave me didn’t work and the doctor said that was because I use MJ for aches and pains...I think that is a bullshit excuse for a less- than-competent anesthesiologist. Post-surgical pain is many orders
of magnitude greater than Aches and pains!

But if there is any truth to that, it would be good to know. Qualified opinions, anyone?

 

[xblutz]

I was operated on the rotator cuff last March. The night you spend in the hospital, you are under morphine pump. After the surgeon prescribed tramadol. I always have vaping before and after my operations and never had problems with anesthesia or after recovery. On the other hand smoking joint is rather disadvised because of the tobacco and the combustion.

 

[Hackerman]

I have had 16 surgeries from falling off mountains and crashing cars and motorcycles and I smoked before and after all of them. I'm sure I didn't smoke a joint the morning that I went in for surgery. But, I never stopped for any length of time before or after.

Unfortunately, I tore my rotator cuff a couple months ago and so now that goes on the list of 'pending' surgeries that I need. Good luck with yours.

 

[OyVape]

Thanks folks! They just told me I will be on oxycodone so maybe not so good to combine with vaping afterwards. But they only suggested laying off for a day or 2 beforehand, no big deal.

 

[Vaporware]

I stopped as soon as I knew I was going to have surgery just in case, but that was only a few days and I don’t think it was necessary.

Post-surgery I was afraid to mix cannabis and oxycodone so I just switched completely after a few days and it helped my recovery immensely.

In physical therapy in particular I was struggling to even close my hand half way; I couldn’t even force it closed with my other hand. A good dose of cannabis let me get there. I didn’t use it when I went in to the office (maybe I should have), but for working on it at home it made a huge difference and dramatically increased my recovery rate.

The closest I’ve come to using them together is using cannabis as the oxycodone effects were trailing off, but I saw earlier this year that there was a new study showing the two could work well together. They were lowering the oxy dose though, so if you try it don’t just go straight to a maximum dose of everything at once - and at least check out the study first.

As for oxycodone on its own, I think it was...different. It was great for some of my pains, but not so great by itself for the things I’ve been using MMJ to deal with over the past few years, and it didn’t seem to have the anti-inflammatory or muscle-relaxant effects that made cannabis so helpful in my recovery.

I should mention I used edibles, vaporized flower, and topicals both on the incision and on the rest of my hand. Two or all three at once was most effective for PT.

 

[OyVape]

Thank you @VaporWare . Can you provide a link to the oxycodone/MJ study?

 

[Vaporware]

Thank you @VaporWare . Can you provide a link to the oxycodone/MJ study?

Here’s a thread about it on FC that has links.

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/study-on-cannabis-oxycodone-use.26410/

It’s also discussed in some other threads here if you want to do a search.

 

[sanfranciscosadhu]

I found that I could really cut down on pain meds using cannabis. Probably half or even less. That is a real plus in my opinion!
On a different and perhaps even more important note, get yourself set up with a good physical therapist that you trust well before the surgery. PT is almost as important as the surgery itself. I was doing simple PT stuff already two days post surgery. If you take weeks to find someone after surgery you start to have many adhesions and will not get full and proper range of motion back.

 

[OyVape]

Absolutely! In fact, it has been my top notch PT of 7 years who encouraged me to see the orthopedist! Doing his regimen of exercises for the past few months and leading up to surgery will, hopefully, be good for my recovery. I know it will most likely be difficult and painful, but I really trust him because his "tough love" approach has really helped me overcome other physical issues over the years.

And then, of course, there is vaping!

 

[Jimmyweaese]

I f upped both shoulders trying to move something months ago. Big mistake. Dont need surgery but had cortisone 3 times both sides.Hope you get better. I dont know how muc h pain you have. But for me its nothing short of hell.

 

[OyVape]

yes, It’s amazing how much our shoulders are involved in doing. Everything from moving your fingers on up. I do hope you can find a good physical therapist. It can make all the difference in the world.