Doc says I'll be good as new thereafter but the first week after surgery really sucks.

Had my second surgical consult today. Sadly, I learned that had I had surgery in the first 6 weeks the original ligaments likely would have healed (after a suture drew the now-separated bones back together). The first 6 weeks of the injury is called the acute phase.

Now I'm into the chronic phase of the injury where the ligaments will never heal and a different method is used. This latter technique relies on accumulated scar tissue that builds atop a scaffold made from suture tape and a ligament graft (allograft). The results are apparently the same though I think that only the CC ligament is restored with the chronic stage reconstruction (not the AC lig.). I'll likely be having the surgery in the next 3-4 weeks. Recovery is 6 weeks in an arm sling; then 12 weeks of PT. Doc says I'll be good as new thereafter but the first week after surgery really sucks.

Thanks, Gollum. I had no idea that acupuncture was useful for treating scar tissue. I googled and found this: http://www.alfievente.com/acupuncturescartissue My surgeon commented after my surgery that my body had made a lot of scar tissue between the June 6 injury and the August 21 surgery so I'm anticipating some issues with scar tissue. Interestingly, the whole object of this reconstruction is to have the body's scar tissue build on top of the allograft "scaffold", where the sinewy scar tissue then assumes the role of my forever severed CC ligaments. The doc assures me that this pseudo CC ligament will be every bit as strong as the original.

I've read that it's common for patients to have follow-up arthroscopic surgery/ies to remove scar tissue. Should this present as an option I'll first be checking into acupuncture as a possible alternative. Now, on my 18th day post surgery, I can see that swelling is steadily decreasing and the shape of my previously-sagging shoulder has been restored. Much hard work remains, however..