Could someone please offer advice. I have been to see a shoulder specialist and he thinks I have either damaged or torn the Labrum. However, this can’t be confirmed until an MRI (which will be in around 6 weeks), so what I’m wondering is there anything I can do to speed up recovery and/or limit any more damage???
Thanks for your help.
I’ve got the same thing - having surgery in April.
What worked for me - rotator cuff work, strengthening mid trap. Didn’t do any barbell work - specifically no cleans, benches, OHP, deadlifts or front squats.
I managed to do some lighter DB work, but I really have to say that the only thing that is helping me recover was to lay off all weight training using the shoulder apart from band pull aparts. I’m now able to train fine apart from overhead work. Should be 100% after surgery and rehab.
Good luck, it’s a frustrating injury.
The best thing you can do is find a place that will work on you faster.
The next best thing you can do is keep it immobilized for a week or two then work through a minimim range of motion. It’s not a muscle exercising it won’t make it heal. You can hope it hasn’t torn too far away and may create some scaring in the area to stabilize your glenhumerol joint a little. Then follow the prescription above of no barbell work, and none of the exercises he said to do.
I would even limit rotator cuff work for a few weeks. After that turn your arm through very minim ranges. You almost have to train yourself to do the opposite of what you want to do which is use more weight and more reps. If you’re young just get it fixed it’ll save you a lifetime of not being able to do what you want to do
[quote]indyhaan wrote:
I’ve got the same thing - having surgery in April.
What worked for me - rotator cuff work, strengthening mid trap. Didn’t do any barbell work - specifically no cleans, benches, OHP, deadlifts or front squats.
I managed to do some lighter DB work, but I really have to say that the only thing that is helping me recover was to lay off all weight training using the shoulder apart from band pull aparts. I’m now able to train fine apart from overhead work. Should be 100% after surgery and rehab.
Good luck, it’s a frustrating injury.[/quote]
Thanks Indyhaan for your response. I’ve just carried on front squatting and so far had no issues, but I’ll stop right away. If possible mate could you please keep me up dated on how you go??
Good luck with the surgery mate.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
The best thing you can do is find a place that will work on you faster.
The next best thing you can do is keep it immobilized for a week or two then work through a minimim range of motion. It’s not a muscle exercising it won’t make it heal. You can hope it hasn’t torn too far away and may create some scaring in the area to stabilize your glenhumerol joint a little. Then follow the prescription above of no barbell work, and none of the exercises he said to do.
I would even limit rotator cuff work for a few weeks. After that turn your arm through very minim ranges. You almost have to train yourself to do the opposite of what you want to do which is use more weight and more reps. If you’re young just get it fixed it’ll save you a lifetime of not being able to do what you want to do
[/quote]
Airtruth,
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I’m 33 and I have had this problem since August. I’ve been to a few physio’s all of whom told me that i have different problem’s from rotator cuff to C-spine. Hopefully, this guy has got it correct time along with the scan will tell. I rested for several weeks and then gradually increased my training, but I have been front squatting for the last 15 or so days without any increase in pathology - that I know of!! Thanks for your advice and I’ll implement it immediately.
Did you have this injury yourself??
I had a torn labrum a few years ago, and if I could go back in time, I would have done 1 thing differently. I would not have gotten an MRI. To me, the cost outweighs the benefit.
If I could do it over, I would have just gone straight to physical therapy without the MRI, once the doctor told me it was probably a labrum tear. There’s really no downside to this. 4 or 5 weeks of therapy twice a week made a HUGE difference. I actually waited nearly a year after my injury before I saw a doctor, and within about 6 weeks of therapy, I was almost back to normal. Since it’s going to be 6 weeks til you can get the MRI anyway, might as well start the therapy. If it works, you won’t have to get the MRI. If the therapy doesn’t work, you’ll only be out a little cash, and you can go ahead and get the MRI at that point. No downside, since therapy’s not going to worsen the injury. Just a thought.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I had a torn labrum a few years ago, and if I could go back in time, I would have done 1 thing differently. I would not have gotten an MRI. To me, the cost outweighs the benefit.
If I could do it over, I would have just gone straight to physical therapy without the MRI, once the doctor told me it was probably a labrum tear. There’s really no downside to this. 4 or 5 weeks of therapy twice a week made a HUGE difference. I actually waited nearly a year after my injury before I saw a doctor, and within about 6 weeks of therapy, I was almost back to normal. Since it’s going to be 6 weeks til you can get the MRI anyway, might as well start the therapy. If it works, you won’t have to get the MRI. If the therapy doesn’t work, you’ll only be out a little cash, and you can go ahead and get the MRI at that point. No downside, since therapy’s not going to worsen the injury. Just a thought.[/quote]
Flipcollar, what type of stuff did you do in physical therapy??
Thanks for replying.
Yes, and flipcollars torn labrum must’ve been very slight or miraculous. Mine came from a dislocation. I never got it fixed. I don’t feel pain but my shoulder can pop out from a real bad fall or a week or so of sleeping with my arm above my head. When this happens I have to lower the weights, and feels like I’m starting over again in exercises I’ve done for years. I usually try to stop for 2 weeks then strengthen it. There are a million rotator cuff exercises on youtube focus on technique.
Yep, will keep you updated.
I’ve had an injection guided MRI to diagnose the problem, and have got the surgery date through now.
In the mean time, I’m just lifting as much as it will allow and trying not to worry about it too much.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Yes, and flipcollars torn labrum must’ve been very slight or miraculous. Mine came from a dislocation. [/quote]
Really depends on the degree of the injury. My brother (DPT) had me doing PT for a month, hoping it was just a partial tear. Of course once I returned from my honeymoon (horrible time for such an injury), it was feeling worse, so the MRI confirmed our worst suspicions.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Yes, and flipcollars torn labrum must’ve been very slight or miraculous. Mine came from a dislocation. [/quote]
Really depends on the degree of the injury. My brother (DPT) had me doing PT for a month, hoping it was just a partial tear. Of course once I returned from my honeymoon (horrible time for such an injury), it was feeling worse, so the MRI confirmed our worst suspicions.
S[/quote]
Mighty,
How did you find surgery, rehab etc???
Surgery? Not fun at all! -lol. Lost a ton of muscle since, and am slowly dealing with PT 3x a week, and a very different leg training regimen on my non-PT days. It’s definitely not something you want to rush, especially if you have plans of getting back to your old training style, but there will be good days and bad days.
Worst part of it all, at least for me, has been the mental blow of watching my physique wither away more each day. You have moments of ‘Hell yeah I can get back’, and days of ‘what if its finally all over?’
I’m sure given a few more months I’ll be able to assess just how everything went off, but for now, still in mid rehab, it’s definitely not something I would ever want to experience again.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Surgery? Not fun at all! -lol. Lost a ton of muscle since, and am slowly dealing with PT 3x a week, and a very different leg training regimen on my non-PT days. It’s definitely not something you want to rush, especially if you have plans of getting back to your old training style, but there will be good days and bad days.
Worst part of it all, at least for me, has been the mental blow of watching my physique wither away more each day. You have moments of ‘Hell yeah I can get back’, and days of ‘what if its finally all over?’
I’m sure given a few more months I’ll be able to assess just how everything went off, but for now, still in mid rehab, it’s definitely not something I would ever want to experience again.
S[/quote]
Thanks for your reply Stu.
Since I done mine I have lost 6kg’s which has been mostly muscle back down now to about 70(ish)kg. I’m heart broken over it, just can’t seem to keep the mass on!!! I have an Arthogram MRI on 6th Feb, so I’ll know the full extent then.
Please up date me and let me know how your getting with rehab etc.
I wish you all the very best with your recovery.
I’m about nine years post-op from labrum surgery. Following recovery and PT I would suggest making a new religion out of pulling exercises. Particularly band pull-aparts.
Good luck.
Mine has been partially torn for a year in a half now. Surgery was suggested but I never went through with it because I’ve been able to keep under control with extra prehab. This is what I do - Mobility work every day, even on days off, before EVERY training sessions - I do 2 sets of 12-15 reps of Ys, Ts, and prone cobra lifts. Heavy shrugs, kelso shrugs, rows and external and internal rotator work is done at least once a week for each exercise. When I do all of that my shoulder is 99 percent. As soon as I start slacking, first the aching comes back then re-injury.
It depends on the individual if physical therapy helps enough to make surgery unnecessary, but studies show that young, athletic males tend to have better outcomes if they have surgery for a torn labrum, while the older, unathletic population tends to do better with PT.
Smallmike/Typhoon,
Thanks for you replies.
I have tried to do push up’s today and I can feel some discomfort around the AC joint area. I mentioned this to my shoulder Doc when he examined (X-Ray etc) me a few weeks ago (I though I had impingement there, hence why I went for an X-Ray), the Doc didn’t agree and said its a suspected labrum damage/tear. Would a damaged labrum produce these symptoms??
It’s the first time I have tried to do any pushing exercise.
Thanks you in advance.
Runner - I definitely had instability there after the initial injury. Wouldn’s surprise me. Having surgery on 2/4/13 so will let you know how it goes.
[quote]indyhaan wrote:
Runner - I definitely had instability there after the initial injury. Wouldn’s surprise me. Having surgery on 2/4/13 so will let you know how it goes.[/quote]
Indyhaan,
Cheers mate! What exercises are you doing pushing wise at the moment then?
I wish you the very best of luck with the surgery.
RunnerUk
I completely forgot about this thread until today.
I am now 12 weeks post surgery and back to full exercise and training. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about the process, recovery and anything else relating to the surgery and rehab.