The beginning of December, I managed to take a hard fall while moving something I should not have been trying to move alone.
Landed on my left forearm/elbow and bruised the hell out of the forearm and ribs. Thought I was just bruised and kept working. After a month of not getting better, went to the Doc. He gets an x-ray - nothing is broken. He doesn't think there is any soft-tissue damage, since i had decent range of motion.
Called the Doc back and had an MRI last week and was told the tendon on the top of the shoulder (the on that that lets you raise your arm to the side) has a 75% tear and 2cm retraction of the torn area.
Haven't been able to see the orthopedic doc yet, but am trying to get ready for what options he will present. Is this a laparoscopic repair or...? How much healing time and how much PT am I in for?
My experience has been more from the osteoarthritis side, rather than soft tissue, but the likely answer is a lot.
I've been through two 'scope surgeries on my right shoulder, followed by total joint replacement on both left and right shoulders.
The primary driver of how much recovery time and PT you will need seems to be how much time you spend in a sling post-op. Seven weeks in a sling leaves you with about as much to recover from as the originating injury.
I had a partially torn rotator cuff fixed and bone spur removed from my left shoulder 12 years ago. They did it through three 1/4inch holes, one on each side of the shoulder. After, it was one day full day in a sling with ice, then ice and sling for a few hours each day after that. PT after about two weeks, but the goal was to keep it moving and do the PT. After 10 years it's still hanging in there. It's never been perfect but it wasn't constant pain with reduced range of motion.
Good luck!
A hard fall likely means a slap tear in the front of the labrum, especially if the hand of arm was extended upon landing in an effort to break the far. You'll likely need an MRA (authogram with contrast dye, while having the MRI) to get decent imaging. With regards to recovery, shoulder labrum surgery is up there with the roughest post surgery recoveries that I've endured, I'd rather have my sternum cracked again or go through a whipple again than have to go through a labrum with rotator cuff and bicep tendon rupture repair again.
Thanks, guys. That at least gives me a range of possibilities. Strange thing is, I had mild aching during the day with more pain at night before the MRI. Now I have more pain any time there isn't an ice pack on it.
I had a similar issue in my right shoulder in 2007 ish. Fell building a deck and caught myself with my armpit on a joist. Sliced the tendon but not all the way through. After spending too long with a doc who thought physical therapy would fix it good enough for an office dweller, I went to a surgeon who works with college athletes. MRI (with the dye) showed the slice.
They went in and cut free the flap of tendon that was getting caught up, smoothed the rest over and got me into pt. Took about 6 or 8 months to really feel good but I don't even notice it now.
left shoulder was 2 years ago and way worse as I had cut the tendon all the way through, but this time they had me moving the joint almost immediately. They gave me a mechanical chair that moved my arm for me. I bet if I had that for my right shoulder I would have been healed before 6 months.
in both cases I would do the surgery again. It is worth it.
My torn labrum surgery was last year in late August and I didn't return to work until December. PT three times a week.
I had surgery in the middle of November. I had a SLAP tear, a torn bicep and a minor rotator cuff tear. They let the rotator cuff heal on its own, but they cleaned up the SLAP tear, removed half an inch of my collar bone and moved the attachment point of my bicep. It has Kevlar anchors now.
The pain was manageable, but recovery is S.L.O.W. I couldn't start PT until January for fear of detaching the bicep. This week, I tripled my workout weight, going from one pound to three. For a long time, my workout consisted of lifting the weight of my arm. I still have a long way to go.
The one pound weight is too small for me to wrap my hand around.
And it's pink.
It kicked my ass for a few weeks.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
That one pound weight whooped up on me for about six weeks.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I had no clue that you were going through that. You have my email, reach out if you need anything.
For reference. I can honestly say that the recovery from that surgery is as isolating as chemo. It's different because you know you're going to get through it and you're not in fear for your health and safety, but the inability to do anything with your arm and to have it in a bumper sling to to have to sleep upright and being unable to drive our travel, having to attempt to type one handed, not being able to shave (well). It's a major downer.
In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
Thank you.
It's no fun, but it can't possibly as bad as chemo.
In reply to CJ :
I added a Zamboni knob to my steering wheel, and it was super helpful.
A bunch of years ago, I bought a steering wheel spinner ("Necker Knob" as my father called them) from a hot rod shop, but it was junk, and I never used it for anything. I did a little research and then went to a place that converts vans for drivers with disabilities.
I ended up with a SureGrip A600 Spinner Knob. It wasn't cheap, at a little over a hundred bucks, but it turned out to be worth every penny. I eventually bought a second one for my truck as well.
Installation was simple, but it took a little adjustment to get it aligned in the proper plane. I also added and removed a few pieces of rubberized foam to get it to clamp down securely, without risking any kind of permanent marking on the leather steering wheel cover.
This thing worked great and was exactly what I needed. It rotates smoothly and silently on its own bearings. You can remove the knob itself instantly with the push of a button (the clamp stays in place), but it also locks in place simply and securely.
In reply to Nick Comstock :
A can of soup kicked my but for 2 weeks!
Had surgery this morning and all seems to have gone well. Wasn't 75% torn - doc said torn 100%. Fixed that and also found scar tissue on the bicep tendon that was restricting movement. Released it and am sure also released my super powers 
Not much pain now since they gave me a nerve block, which also blocked feeling in most of my arm. Got some opioid pain killers. Unfortunately, the prescription for Scotch didn't come through. Six weeks in the sling ahead, but I can lift a cup of coffee I'm told. Thank goodness it's not my dominant arm...
Off to bed now to see if I can get a few more hours sleep.
I'm 5 weeks out of 75% torm labrum today. While they may be telling you you can lift a cup of coffee, trust me you won't want to or be able to when the nerve block wears off. At this point I can do that with my forearm and bicep, but only with my upper arm straight down.
I've been sleeping on the couch for the past 5 weeks as I am a front sleeper and it's the only way I can stay propped on my side; hopefully you're a back sleeper and it'll be easier on you.
And yes, you are lucky it's your non dominant. Re-learning to wipe isn't fun. Still get used to not being able to open bottles and jars, or pull on the fridge handle, or 100 other little things you haven't thought of. And the stink from not being able to wash under either arm very well for the first few weeks...
In reply to CJ :
Rehab on non-dominant arm will make PT all that much more important.
Someone direct messaged me about my total shoulder replacements-- Tucker, you watching?
Return address on the DM email is robot@mg.grassrootsmotorsports.com, so I've no way to reply on that, so send me your email address in another DM.
And if there's a way to see the messaging from the forum console, I haven't figured it out.
In reply to Karacticus :
Actually, if you reply to the "robot" email, it should go to the sender as the emails have a reply-to header set. At least it did the last time I responded to one.
So an update on this. Ended up having surgery May 3rd. The radiologist who read the MRI said I had a 75% tear of the supraspinatus tendon. Surgeon said it was torn 100%.
I was about 6 weeks out from surgery before I started physical therapy, but wasn't able to get an appointment with a therapist until then. I have had much less pain since surgery and therapy has not been too bad. Have about 75% range of motion back at this point. Started strengthening exercises today.
We will see how it feels tomorrow.
