OT: Rotator Cuff Tear (me not a player)

[Greathusky]

I had a MRI done back in February for right shoulder pain. The exact diagnosis is "There is a full-thickness 10mm tear anteriorly in the supraspinatus tendon. " I was going to get to surgery on April 1st at Bristol Hospital by Dr. Betz but canceled two days before due to concerns about being at a hospital with the virus happening. Surprisingly, I have been golfing two days a weeks with minimal pain. It hurts worse when I reach back or sleep on it.

I have seen other posts in the pasts about this issue from knowledgeable Boneyarders. I have read that a full thickness tear should be dealt with promptly but on the other hand, I do not want to give up my summer of golfing although I wonder if I making matters worse for my shoulder by playing. I was planning to have the operation in October. Dr. Betz said that my shoulder is in otherwise good shape and would require just one staple. I would have my right arm in a sling for a month and then a few months of PT.

A small voice in my head keeps asking the question whether surgery is necessary. Another voice is wondering why I would ask for shoulder advice on a UCONN basketball forum.

Anyone else go through this that can offer advice?

 

[lange10]

I don't have advice to offer but I'm dealing with somewhat similar issues. I separated the same right shoulder in May that I've subluxed 3x previously. With that said...I wish I could take back all the horrible things I've said about Alterique. Don't know how a man can shoot a basketball successfully with two labrum surgeries and a brick for a brace on his shoulder.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Suck it up! Play thru the pain!

 

[SamIamCassell]

I had a MRI done back in February for right shoulder pain. The exact diagnosis is "There is a full-thickness 10mm tear anteriorly in the supraspinatus tendon. " I was going to get to surgery on April 1st at Bristol Hospital by Dr. Betz but canceled two days before due to concerns about being at a hospital with the virus happening. Surprisingly, I have been golfing two days a weeks with minimal pain. It hurts worse when I reach back or sleep on it.

I have seen other posts in the pasts about this issue from knowledgeable Boneyarders. I have read that a full thickness tear should be dealt with promptly but on the other hand, I do not want to give up my summer of golfing although I wonder if I making matters worse for my shoulder by playing. I was planning to have the operation in October. Dr. Betz said that my shoulder is in otherwise good shape and would require just one staple. I would have my right arm in a sling for a month and then a few months of PT.

A small voice in my head keeps asking the question whether surgery is necessary. Another voice is wondering why I would ask for shoulder advice on a UCONN basketball forum.

Anyone else go through this that can offer advice?

I am a medical device rep and work with surgeons who fix Rotator cuff tears. Although golfing is fun, I would highly recommend getting this fix sooner rather than later. Your full thickness tear is only going to get worse it’s never going to get better without surgery. Surgeons are miracle workers but give them some viable tendon to work with. A tear could progress so large that they need to perform an SCR (superior capsule reconstruction) which is not optimal. Best of luck to you !

 

[ChocRaisins]

I had a MRI done back in February for right shoulder pain. The exact diagnosis is "There is a full-thickness 10mm tear anteriorly in the supraspinatus tendon. " I was going to get to surgery on April 1st at Bristol Hospital by Dr. Betz but canceled two days before due to concerns about being at a hospital with the virus happening. Surprisingly, I have been golfing two days a weeks with minimal pain. It hurts worse when I reach back or sleep on it.

I have seen other posts in the pasts about this issue from knowledgeable Boneyarders. I have read that a full thickness tear should be dealt with promptly but on the other hand, I do not want to give up my summer of golfing although I wonder if I making matters worse for my shoulder by playing. I was planning to have the operation in October. Dr. Betz said that my shoulder is in otherwise good shape and would require just one staple. I would have my right arm in a sling for a month and then a few months of PT.

A small voice in my head keeps asking the question whether surgery is necessary. Another voice is wondering why I would ask for shoulder advice on a UCONN basketball forum.

Anyone else go through this that can offer advice?

I went through the exact same thinking process a couple years ago. Rotator cuff and labrum. The Bottom line is it is never going to heal without surgery. I was told there is minimal additional damage to be done if I continued to golf, play softball, etc but it just wouldn't heal. I also didn't want to lose an entire summer to post-op surgery so I pushed it off until November. Looking back, I wouldn't have done the surgery any sooner then I did, but am happy I did the surgery in the end instead of just letting it go. My shoulder has never felt stronger.

TLDR: Surgery is absolutely worth it, even if you push it a couple months to not lose your summer.

 

[FatElvis]

I too suffered from the dreaded rotator cuff/labrum tear. I had a partial tear that I rehabbed and dealt with for a few years, only to cause more damage. Looking back, I wish I had gotten the surgery earlier. When I woke up in the recovery room the first thing my surgeon told me was I had essentially torn everything and it was about as bad as it gets. Which explains why my arm would "pop" out and feel like it was just hanging off my shoulder before the surgery.

I won't lie, the physical therapy and recovery were absolutely brutal. But a lot of that is because I pushed it off and made things worse. These things don't heal on their own. If it were me, I'd get it done now. Good luck!

 

[borninansonia]

Thanks for the advice. I'm waiting for the results of an MRI on my left shoulder. I highly dislocated it at the end of March, and it's not healing well, at least I think it's not healing well. Physical therapy is helping, but I still can't reach the handlebars of my bicycle with my left hand. I need to ride my bike in order to enjoy life.

 

[Petero]

I had a rotator cuff problem discovered last May which limited mobility and often caused pain and loss of strength. But like you I could still play golf. I decided to play once to no more than twice a week, typically 9 holes. I did OK but by the end of the season I felt I was playing with one arm. Had surgery Sept 19th followed by an intensive rehab program which started at a very gentle level and by December I was done with no limitations. By February I realized I didn't even notice the shoulder and the golf this year is better, though still not good. Everyone is different but this worked for me. The key for me was the rehab with a group that specialized in shoulder rehab. Good luck.

 

[huskeynut]

Had a rotator cuff tear about 15 years ago in my right shoulder. The cause was conducting bands for 25+ years. I still had a few years to go before retirement so I got it fixed. I had the arthroscopic proceedure done. Recovery time with pt was not bad.

I mention the arthroscopic surgery because my wife had rotator cuff surgery a couple of years before me and did not have it done athroscopically. She was miserable from the time the anesthesia wore off until about 6 months later.

 

[Stinger92860]

I had mine repaired about 5 years ago. I’m back to playing tennis, which I have given up many years ago due to wear and tear, and pain. I may be lucky, but my surgeries were a success on both shoulders. My surgeries were all arthroscopic.

 

[dennismenace]

I had a partial labrum tear but was able to rehab it. Years later went to a chiro for some back stuff and he asked me if I was using fly machine. Said yes, for years. He suggested doing other machines or exercises. He said the fly machine tends to really wear down the tendons which could eventually require surgery. Wondering if anyone else has insights on this. Here is an illustration of the machine:

 

[sledog]

I had a partial labrum tear but was able to rehab it. Years later went to a chiro for some back stuff and he asked me if I was using fly machine. Said yes, for years. He suggested doing other machines or exercises. He said the fly machine tends to really wear down the tendons which could eventually require surgery. Wondering if anyone else has insights on this. Here is an illustration of the machine:

****
Try less weight and go for the reps.

 

[Greathusky]

Thanks everyone for your input. Ok I will get the surgery but I will wait till August or September.
If I did not have golf now, I would go stir crazy.

 

[Citrusdog]

I had a MRI done back in February for right shoulder pain. The exact diagnosis is "There is a full-thickness 10mm tear anteriorly in the supraspinatus tendon. " I was going to get to surgery on April 1st at Bristol Hospital by Dr. Betz but canceled two days before due to concerns about being at a hospital with the virus happening. Surprisingly, I have been golfing two days a weeks with minimal pain. It hurts worse when I reach back or sleep on it.

I have seen other posts in the pasts about this issue from knowledgeable Boneyarders. I have read that a full thickness tear should be dealt with promptly but on the other hand, I do not want to give up my summer of golfing although I wonder if I making matters worse for my shoulder by playing. I was planning to have the operation in October. Dr. Betz said that my shoulder is in otherwise good shape and would require just one staple. I would have my right arm in a sling for a month and then a few months of PT.

A small voice in my head keeps asking the question whether surgery is necessary. Another voice is wondering why I would ask for shoulder advice on a UCONN basketball forum.

Anyone else go through this that can offer advice?

FYI... there is more difficult to work on than the shoulder - short of the brain. Being reasonably connected to the medical community and having many acquaintances in the medical field - they all say how difficult the shoulder is to work on. Including - surgeons will spend their entire careers doing shoulders. This is no run of the mill 'surgery'. If you choose to have it repaired - extensive background research must be done on the person doing it. Extensive. Good luck. If you can avoid it - try to...

 

[UCLJ0211]

Not exactly the same thing but I was diagnosed with a torn labrum in my left shoulder. Did a couple months of PT and now I have about 95% of the motion. I just can’t bring the arm all the way up over my head, but it hasn’t bothered me enough to do surgery so I’ve lived with it for about 7 years now.