Injured rotator cuff.

[Canes325]

I injured my rotator by over train on BB bench press. This was about 3 weeks ago. I spent the 1st week training as usual as I thought it was just tendon/ligament soreness not an injury. After it didn't go away and for the last two weeks I've refrained from training ANY upper body and moved towards mainly cardio/plyometrics. What do you guys recommend? Continue with cardio/plyo work or start training upper body again and just train around the injury (no chest and limited tri)?

ETA my objective is to get this to heal ASAP.

 

[napalm]

Go see a surgeon...

 

[Sean1332]

Go see a surgeon...

The bionic man speaks

 

[NattyForLife]

I injured my rotator by over train on BB bench press. This was about 3 weeks ago. I spent the 1st week training as usual as I thought it was just tendon/ligament soreness not an injury. After it didn't go away and for the last two weeks I've refrained from training ANY upper body and moved towards mainly cardio/plyometrics. What do you guys recommend? Continue with cardio/plyo work or start training upper body again and just train around the injury (no chest and limited tri)?

ETA my objective is to get this to heal ASAP.

Same with napalm, go see a doctor!

 

[napalm]

The bionic man speaks

We can rebuild him...

 

[Gutterpump]

Like everyone said, need to see a surgeon because these injuries tend to not heal themselves. You can do physical therapy and try to work around them in the longterm.... but still need to see a surgeon to see what's up. This type of damage + healing ASAP do not belong in the same sentence unfortunately.

 

[Canes325]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Will make an appt asap. What am I looking for an orthopedic surgeon?

 

[YouBet33]

Coming from a guy with terrible shoulders...go see a doctor, I ignored advice and ended up out of working out for a couple months....are you 100% sure it's a rotator problem?

 

[Gutterpump]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Will make an appt asap. What am I looking for an orthopedic surgeon?

Yup, look specifically for a shoulder specialist. Best of luck!

 

[napalm]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Will make an appt asap. What am I looking for an orthopedic surgeon?

One that is University affiliated and has done a fellowship in sports med and a residency at a major teaching hospital.

these guys tend to be the surgeons for college teams and professional athletes.

Oh, and one that does a lot of shoulders...

 

[YouBet33]

My shoulder doctor in the Midwest specializes in shoulder injuries, former shoulder doctor/team doctors for the New York Mets, no team doctor for all semi pro teams in our area.

 

[Jebrook]

I saw an ortho that specialized in knees and athletes for my ACL rupture. He did a phenomenal job. That knee is solid. He knew exactly what I wanted and how hard I would work to recover.

 

[Canes325]

Coming from a guy with terrible shoulders...go see a doctor, I ignored advice and ended up out of working out for a couple months....are you 100% sure it's a rotator problem?

That's what Google led me to believe lmao! Based on the recommeneed stretches to strengthing the muscles some have zero pain some really hurt

 

[YouBet33]

Just wondering, they thought It was a rotator cuff with me one time til I had MRI down showing a labrum tear, Terrible surgery, 70-75% of cartilage taken out of my right shoulder

 

[Gutterpump]

Definitely shop around and don't settle on your first Dr. if it turns out you need surgery. I saw 2 Dr's, and both wanted to do different procedures for the same thing. Ended up going with the 2nd Dr who is also the official doctor of the NYC triathlon. You'll want to find Dr's who are involved with sports/teams/etc. Turned out my 1st dr wanted to do a procedure that would have me heal faster, have easier/shorter time in PT, but was not going to leave me with a stronger shoulder compared to the 2nd procedure. Logevity is key, not speed of recovery. Definitely something to keep in mind.

 

[Canes325]

Definitely shop around and don't settle on your first Dr. if it turns out you need surgery. I saw 2 Dr's, and both wanted to do different procedures for the same thing. Ended up going with the 2nd Dr who is also the official doctor of the NYC triathlon. You'll want to find Dr's who are involved with sports/teams/etc. Turned out my 1st dr wanted to do a procedure that would have me heal faster, have easier/shorter time in PT, but was not going to leave me with a stronger shoulder compared to the 2nd procedure. Logevity is key, not speed of recovery. Definitely something to keep in mind.

Thank you. I'm about two weeks without any upper body training and its feeling better. Gonna going to give it another two weeks and do some of those light movements I mentioned earlier which normally cause slight pain. If I feel ANYTHING at all it will be time to doctor shop. What's leaving hope for me that it isn't serious was there was no acute pain/felt injury during the workout I mentiod. Just very sore/painful the days afterward. We shall see, fingers crossed. Again thank you all for your responses and recommendations!

 

[NattyForLife]

Dude, im telling you go to the doctor now...dont try again with the training aspect before the doctor. Just a few questions though...1. Did you actually hurt your shoulder while lifting, and did it start hurting all of a sudden or did it hurt the morning after? 2. Can you even lift your arm up all the way without weights?

And its gonna feel a little better anyway, but if you actually injured yourself, 2 weeks is NOT enough time for any kind of real healing to take place.

 

[Canes325]

Dude, im telling you go to the doctor now...dont try again with the training aspect before the doctor. Just a few questions though...1. Did you actually hurt your shoulder while lifting, and did it start hurting all of a sudden or did it hurt the morning after? 2. Can you even lift your arm up all the way without weights?

And its gonna feel a little better anyway, but if you actually injured yourself, 2 weeks is NOT enough time for any kind of real healing to take place.

1. Not while lifting I intially thought it was DOMS. Or over working the tendons ligaments as it was my first high volume session in quite a while. No pain during or after exercise. It's was the day/days after.
2. I have full ROM, I have discomfort (approx 2 weeks since that workout) If I were to put my left arm behind my back as if I was getting hand cuffed and trying to push the back of my hand into the small of my back.
The initial plan was to go 4 weeks with zero upper body then if Im still have ANY issues go to the doc.

 

[Canes325]

Just to clarify I'm not looking for someone to diagnose me either way. Just curious what those much more educated than I have to say. Obviously only a doctor can tell me what's going on. I'm just looking to rule out anything minor/that will heal on its own before going. It doesn't get in the way on my day to day other than not working out to allow it to heal itself. Thanks again everyone,much appreciated.

 

[Gutterpump]

Thank you. I'm about two weeks without any upper body training and its feeling better. Gonna going to give it another two weeks and do some of those light movements I mentioned earlier which normally cause slight pain. If I feel ANYTHING at all it will be time to doctor shop. What's leaving hope for me that it isn't serious was there was no acute pain/felt injury during the workout I mentiod. Just very sore/painful the days afterward. We shall see, fingers crossed. Again thank you all for your responses and recommendations!

I just wanted to mention that I didn't feel much pain during my initial injury... it wasn't till after that the muscles started locking up a bit / spasming / adhesions were forming. I never would've thought that I had a tear in the beginning. I actually made it worse by waiting and then training again. If you have decent insurance, I'd get an MRI done or at least see the shoulder specialist and have him/her appraise the situation in their office.

 

[Canes325]

I just wanted to mention that I didn't feel much pain during my initial injury... it wasn't till after that the muscles started locking up a bit / spasming / adhesions were forming. I never would've thought that I had a tear in the beginning. I actually made it worse by waiting and then training again. If you have decent insurance, I'd get an MRI done or at least see the shoulder specialist and have him/her appraise the situation in their office.

Well it's settled. Just gonna go in and have them take a look at it. Now would I jump right into scheduling an appt with a ortho surgeon? Who should I see first?

 

[NattyForLife]

You probably will have to go to your regular physician and he will look at it then he will send you to an ortho specialist. Depends on what state your in and if the state has direct access to ortho surgeons!

 

[Jebrook]

I went to a general doc first. All he did was manipulation tests which were all positive and an XRay which won't really tell anything for internal ligament damage. He wanted me to see a therapist for another month to strengthen the shoulder joints. Really the only way to conclusively diagnose shoulder damage is an MRI. I scheduled an appt w/ my ortho for the 18th. IMO I would go straight to an ortho if your insurance allows for it.

 

[YouBet33]

I went to a general doc first. All he did was manipulation tests which were all positive and an XRay which won't really tell anything for internal ligament damage. He wanted me to see a therapist for another month to strengthen the shoulder joints. Really the only way to conclusively diagnose shoulder damage is an MRI. I scheduled an appt w/ my ortho for the 18th. IMO I would go straight to an ortho if your insurance allows for it.

Agreed! I had the same situation with my first surgery, went to a general doc and was told that I simply had a pinched nerve in my right shoulder. I went to play my high school football game that week and the first big hit I absolutely destroyed my shoulder. If I rotated my arm backwards at all it would dislocated haha, skip straight to an ortho! Or see someone in sports medicine not just a regular MD

 

[Canes325]

I went to a general doc first. All he did was manipulation tests which were all positive and an XRay which won't really tell anything for internal ligament damage. He wanted me to see a therapist for another month to strengthen the shoulder joints. Really the only way to conclusively diagnose shoulder damage is an MRI. I scheduled an appt w/ my ortho for the 18th. IMO I would go straight to an ortho if your insurance allows for it.

Ortho as in orthopedic surgeon correct?
Thanks again everyone!

 

[Jebrook]

Yep^^^. Good luck! I'm in the same boat right now.

 

[YouBet33]

Ortho as in orthopedic surgeon correct?
Thanks again everyone!

Yes and I always like someone who specializes in sport specific doctors, mine has a orthopedic sports medicine certificate

 

[Canes325]

Yep^^^. Good luck! I'm in the same boat right now.

Yea I just saw your post in your log. Good luck my man!

 

[Jebrook]

Yep^^^. Find out who takes care of the sports teams or college athletes in your general area and try to see them.

 

[Gutterpump]

Well it's settled. Just gonna go in and have them take a look at it. Now would I jump right into scheduling an appt with a ortho surgeon? Who should I see first?

Depends if you're able to make appointments with specialists yourself or need a referral. My insurance allows me to make my own appointments without my GP having to write referrals. It's one less copay to worry about.

 

[Canes325]

Depends if you're able to make appointments with specialists yourself or need a referral. My insurance allows me to make my own appointments without my GP having to write referrals. It's one less copay to worry about.

I'll call and find out thanks. This far I've narrowed down to a few orthos in my area who specialize in sports med. One of whom was the ortho for Boston college hockey team. The other for the US tennis something or other. Both specializing in the shoulder.

 

[YouBet33]

I'll call and find out thanks. This far I've narrowed down to a few orthos in my area who specialize in sports med. One of whom was the ortho for Boston college hockey team. The other for the US tennis something or other. Both specializing in the shoulder.

I'm sure you can go wrong with either of those! Always helps when you have friends or family members who have had surgery before! My brothers going on his 4th knee surgery, needless to say my family's a mess when it comes to injuries haha

 

[Canes325]

I'm sure you can go wrong with either of those! Always helps when you have friends or family members who have had surgery before! My brothers going on his 4th knee surgery, needless to say my family's a mess when it comes to injuries haha

Yea my mom gave me the number to her ortho surgeon but he doesn't specialize in anything sports related. Her advice was to just go to the ER bitch and moan till they gave me an MRI and to see what it said lol.