Shoulder - partial tear

[VR99]

Hi All,

I will be getting proper medical advice soon from a specialist but wanted to get some 'realworld' input and experience from anyone who ever.had a partial tear in their rotator cuff/shoulder. I was recently diagnosed, wasn't really surprising as felt it go earlier this year, agony for a day or two then pain went away.
Day to day fine but bench or seated chest press tend to trigger some pain. I stopped using weighted dips or any dips years back as I have history of shoulder/elbow impingement and lower back issues...I blame a combo of lack of consistent exercise, too much focus on 'bro' and mirror muscle exercises in my late teens and 20's + crap form and not enough focus on training all the muscle groups...oh and desk-based job's for the last 15 years.

That's the backstory done...questions:
- For a anyone who had a partial tear were you able to avoid surgery and just use exercises+rest/recovery?
- I will probably avoid any heavy press movements or above head and might need to stop pull ups which is depressing as love those. Any other tips on how to manage the recovery phase?

Just to add, if surgery is needed then so be it but I'd rather avoid to be honest.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I've had a rotator and I've also had a slap tear.

If you cycle off road or gym work etc. Seriously lay off until its seen to. These can take a long time to heal if you think ooo think it's OK....oops.

[VR99]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I've had a rotator and I've also had a slap tear.

If you cycle off road or gym work etc. Seriously lay off until its seen to. These can take a long time to heal if you think ooo think it's OK....oops.

Yep il take it easy..turned 40 this yr and generally find my recovery is slow when I pick up injuries and seem to pick them up more easily. I've tended to do more resistance training than cardio as prefer weights/resistance training but might need to flip that around and just do more regular steady state cardio as WFH has not been kind to what was an already questionable state of health...I say not kind = stuffing my gob with crap and lower physical activity in general.

[SlimJim16v]

Operation, probably keyhole, about 3 months recovery. No operation, about 2 years, longer with what you're doing, if it even heals.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I had a MRI. I was told I'd need sawing at 3 points in my shoulder due to crush, arthritis etc.

I was on a NHS Gold fast track.

My words were will it be better?

No it'll be worse than before. So I said no.

It healed itself.

I then started judo. No problems with the shoulder.

[anonymous-user]

I used this, and still do during workouts. It’s specifically aimed at strengthening and regaining and then maintaining full movement.

https://www.nrs.com/shop/assets/global/safety_tips...

[popeyewhite]

VR99 said:

:
- For a anyone who had a partial tear were you able to avoid surgery and just use exercises+rest/recovery?

"Anyone" isn't you. It totally depends how bad your tear is. Can you recover from a partial tear without surgery? Yes.

VR99 said:

:- I will probably avoid any heavy press movements or above head and might need to stop pull ups which is depressing as love those. Any other tips on how to manage the recovery phase?

You will need to find out which rc muscle is torn. After rest for a few weeks start to perform high rep (30 x 4) sets of very light weight exercises designed to force blood into the injured muscle. After a while begin carefully stretching the muscle, combining this with increasingly heavy weights. Imagine you are a newbie again - that it where you will start for rehab. To return to the strength and rate of progress you were at pre-injury will take about a year, maybe a bit less if you're cautious.

[VR99]

Thanks all, the actual tear occured around 6 months back but was only recently diagnosed. Since then was still doing my usual weights routines but fortunately had backed off the heavier weight!

Awaiting appt to see consultant and will see what they say however medics in my family are suggesting to try exercises first before going surgery route.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I must admit I was sceptical when the Consultant told me he had to operate yet it healed itself.

[popeyewhite]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I must admit I was sceptical when the Consultant told me he had to operate yet it healed itself.

Yep they do heal after surgery, there's no problem with blood supply to aid the healing process. The only thing about surgery is you possibly condemn yourself to a longer rehab time than a partial tear - if you are diagnosed correctly and follow the correct rehab procedure for both. I'm no shoulder surgeon (clearly), but have helped rehab shoulder injuries for 30 years as a boxing instructor. Bit of a gamble... .

[VR99]

fesuvious said:

'consultant'

Or

'person who earns more, the more they operate'

Expect to be told 'keyhole surgery'. Possibly, as was the case for me even being told 'it cannot heal without this intervention'.

Your body will heal itself if you work with it.

TBH I will do what I can to avoid any surgery. I will go to the specialist/consultant whoever they plan to send me to see but certainly not in a rush for any form of surgery.

The pain typically occurs during bench press or chest press...I may avoid those completely for now to be safe and stick to the exercises to help recovery etc

[Tommie38]

fesuvious said:

Go see a consultant who gets paid to operate, and guess what - they'll say you need an operation.

This.

OP you looked good when you were younger but did yourself some damage in the process. As you get older I do think the trades just aren’t worth it and exercise should move towards cardio fitness. The more damage you do to your joints now the more trouble it will cause in 30-40 years time and you will probably live longer.

Surgery doesn’t always work and can make things worse. I say this as somebody who had a bicep tenodesis that went wrong and I subsequently partially tore my pec.

[wibble cb]

Are they even sure it’s a tear? I had shoulder issues a couple of years ago, variously diagnosed as torn rotator cuff, arthritis and then finally after an mri, frozen shoulder, some exercises to regain the flexibility and no surgery, I have maybe 99% of the mobility I had back.

Misdiagnoses seems quite common with shoulders!

[VR99]

Tommie38 said:

fesuvious said:

Go see a consultant who gets paid to operate, and guess what - they'll say you need an operation.

This.

OP you looked good when you were younger but did yourself some damage in the process. As you get older I do think the trades just aren’t worth it and exercise should move towards cardio fitness. The more damage you do to your joints now the more trouble it will cause in 30-40 years time and you will probably live longer.

Surgery doesn’t always work and can make things worse. I say this as somebody who had a bicep tenodesis that went wrong and I subsequently partially tore my pec.

At the age of 40 now, I have no interest in the look/mirror muscles and am more concerned with reducing bodyfat and 'maintaining' the muscles that are more useful in the real/ day to day world.
I do enjoy running outside occasionally but wonder if the knees will be forgiving after years of pounding the pavement and roads....

[VR99]

wibble cb said:

Are they even sure it’s a tear? I had shoulder issues a couple of years ago, variously diagnosed as torn rotator cuff, arthritis and then finally after an mri, frozen shoulder, some exercises to regain the flexibility and no surgery, I have maybe 99% of the mobility I had back.

Misdiagnoses seems quite common with shoulders!

This is what the GP has said based on a scan I had done recently. I don't know where exactly the tear is but assuming I will be given more info soon.