Dislocated my shoulder slightly and tore my labrum on an incline press machine somehow.
Doc says I need surgery or I won’t be able to lift properly again.
Pt says I can strengthen the surrounding shoulder muscles and modify my workout a bit and be fine for now.
Has anyone had experience with this tear? How did it go for you
Ty
Going through it now. I’m about three months out from surgery(Dec 8)…It sucks. What kinda info you after?
How’s the recovery going? My doc said at 3 months I should have close to full ROM and can start Strengthening, did they give you a timeline on when you’ll be able to lift again?
Things like how soon could you drive and do daily activities with the arm, whats your mobility like now. I’m also planning to move abroad in the next few months, you think you’d be up for aeroplane travel with a suitcase etc at this point?
Recovery is slow for sure. ROM is still pretty bad, I’m no where close to strengthening. My first follow up I asked “how long till I can’t mess up anything you fixed.” He said min 4-5 months. 6 months to be back at work (manual job) 1 year for full recovery.
I’ve been doing PT 3 days per week starting 4 days after surgery. Sling for 6 weeks post surgery 24/7 (excluding showering) Dropped to PT 2 times per week a few weeks ago. My bicep is really giving me trouble. My doc didn’t do the bicep tenodesis which moves the connection point of the bicep at the shoulder. This helps prevent tendonitis. Which is what I’m getting now. Keep in mind I’m not saying don’t do the surgery. Just be ready for a long recovery, prior to surgery I was doing BJJ 3 days a week and lifting 3 days a week. Now, nada LOL. If you do end up having it, a circulating ice machine was awesome for me! Really cut down on the amount of medication I needed.
My decision to do the surgery was based off of (right or wrong) It was waking me up a night. And, I kinda looked at it as a “joint preservation surgery.” My worry was if I “kicked the can down the road” another year or so what would I be looking at then? Frequent dislocations? Rotator cuff tear? Replacement?
Also, find a PT you really trust. I can’t say enough how important physical therapy has been for me. It’s slow, but it has kept me moving! In the past I’ve had knee surgery, and hip surgery. The shoulder is just a different kinda animal.
I was driving after the first week. However, if I would have asked my doctor would have said no. I was still in a sling at that point, and had I been pulled over or wrecked it prob wouldn’t have gone great. ROM isn’t great now, but for around the house I do ok with just light house work. I had very some pretty good muscle loss from being in a sling for 6 weeks. As far as travel, I would think I would be good to go.
I have a SLAP tear on my right shoulder which is essentially a torn labrum. I could not incline press at all. I saw an ortho and he scheduled surgery.
While waiting for surgery I started working on shoulder strengthening exercises. Mostly resistance bands with external and rotation exercises. I also started shoulder presses with light weights and even incline with very light weights. I also bought a pillow with channels underneath so I wasn’t laying on my arm when sleeping on my side. The pain started to recede after a few weeks. Within 6 weeks the pain was 75% gone and my strength was at least 75% better as well. I cancelled surgery. Within 3 months I was pain free and I’m strong as I’ve ever been.
Torn labrum and SLAP tears are very common and chronic in nature. I’m 51 years old and likely started the tearing doing CrossFit in my 40’s from those ridiculous kipping pull ups.
Everyone is different and surgery may be inevitable. I had lower back surgery last year that changed my life after 25 years of chronic pain. So, I’m not saying don’t get cut on but I would say do as much PT and mild strength training as you can before you jump all the way in.
Either way, good luck to you.
100% agree with this. Try conservative first
Thanks for the reply, it sounds like a long road, I’m not in a great place mentally and the thought of being off for 6+ months with no lifting is driving me nuts.
The doc did say the cartilage has a high chance of wear if I don’t get the surgery so I get where you’re coming from with the joint preservation.
I’ll try some PT and see how it goes.
Thanks, that sounds promising. I will give PT a go first for a few weeks and see how it goes.
Physio here
Do you only have the labral issue? If so, is it a bankart lesion or something different?
Do you have any bony issues such as a hill-sachs lesion or a glenoid rim fracture?
Is your muscular system fully intact?
Are you currently using PEDs?
These questions will all affect the surgical decision
Hi, it’s a reverse Bankart - torn from 9 o clock to 7 o clock. Full length tear.
No bony issues apart from a small odema on the humeral head from the dislocation and everything else is intact.
I am not on PEDS. If they would help with recovery I would hop on growth if it was readily available.
With a reverse bankart lesion you’ll have lost some posterior joint stability. This will primarily limit you on heavy pressing movement
However, this does sound like a joint that can return to full or near-full function without surgery
General treatment stages are:
Try and include closed chain exercises throughout management
I get not being in a great head space for sure. While not being able to be at my normal activity level has been frustrating. I will give it one thing, it has forced me to slow down a bit which has actually been nice. j4gga2 has some awesome advice for ya. Best of luck!
This is the same tear I have and I avoided surgery with strengthening the traps/shoulder blades/upper back. Progressive loading on things like cable rows helped me. I started with resistance bands and worked my way up from there. Granted I’m a random dude on the internet giving advice but I think you have a chance to avoid surgery. There’s good guidance on this site.