Labral tear, and surgery whats your take

[Legacykid]

My doc tells me thats the only option left after the past months of PT is surgery.

I personally hear horror stories from shoulder surgery but never asked what part of the shoulder theirs was. But what is everyones take on going through with it.

And if you had gone through this already please let me know how about the surgery, healing/strengthening process and how long has it been and how do you feel.

Pain:
I used to have a numbness and a sharp pain from center of left shoulder down into arm(half way to elbow). After PT it is centralized but can not work out how i used to.

Thanks in Advance

 

[edvanp]

I'm 10 weeks out from surgery on my left shoulder for a partially torn labrum and a partially torn rotator cuff. I didn't need an open incision, arthoscopic worked from me, but it took 2.5 hours. It's still sore, but it's getting better every day. I've had both shoulders done, both biceps reattached, knees done and had hip resurfacing (similar to a replacement). The shoulders hurt the most, no question, but it's worth it! I went 5 years with shoulder pain before I had it done. Numbness, couldn't sleep on it, etc, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Good luck! Ed

 

[MM11]

Ew I had the same problem but I got luck and pt was enough for me. Couldn't lift heavy for 18+ months though (except squats) good luck man

 

[Legacykid]

Going to talk to the doc tomorrow.

Ed how long were you in a sling for..how often did you go to pt...have you gone back to the gym yet?

 

[edvanp]

I wore the sling on/off for about a month. The Dr. gave me exercises to do when I went home from surgery and I did them daily. The shoulder needs to move or you risk getting a "frozen" shoulder, which you don't want. I started PT at 8 weeks but I only went 3 times. It helped but I was doing a lot on my own at that point. I started going to the gym after a month, but it was mainly to walk the tread mill and ride the stationary bike. I think exercise is important to recovery. This past weekend, I finally did some light lifting to work on ROM. 1 week after surgery, I started taking Cissus and personally, I think it's helped with my recovery. I'm a big fan of cissus. I think I'm ahead of schedule for recovery and the cissus seemed to help me a lot when I had hip surgery. One thing you will battle or struggle with is sleep! I hope you have a good lazy boy. I couldn't sleep in bed for a month. I'd go about 3 hours and I'd be up. I know some people who couldn't sleep in bed for up to 6 months. Hopefully you don't have it that bad.

 

[Legacykid]

Just had my Surgery yesterday, went well from what im told, im out of the sling today starting pt this upcoming week. I was told by the doc that im a "lucky" 10% of the population who has loose tendons....FML

So i hope i can make a full recovery, and it looks like i need some Cissus, might have to make it a permanent staple

Hope they get bulk-cissus back

 

[lepiricus]

I had a labrum tear in 2008 and took had to lay of weights entirely for 4 months and took a good 12 months to get confident enough to go full out. Today though I am feeling great and my repaired shoulder feels better than my 'good' shoulder. I'm glad I got the surgery and came out better in the end. Just take it easy and don't push it as you don't want those pins to move out and labrums take a long time to heal.

 

[Partyball]

Glad to hear your success stories with the labrum surgery. I have been struggling with this injury for a year and a half or so and surgery seems like my only option now too. I went to pt and it helped but as soon as I started light lifting again the same pain was back. It's not so bad that I can't sleep on it anymore but many motions are hard for me to do as well as pain and weekness in the shoulder with the torn labrum. What is a normal recovery time until it is healed and able to be put under the strain of lifting after surgery? 10 weeks? Or more?

 

[lepiricus]

I'm not sure what is 'normal recovery' as I think each case is different and to what degree your tear is. After surgery I went through 6 weeks of rehab and I started lifting again immediately after that so I was out of the gym for about 2 months. When I came back to lifting I was very careful not to go heavy and concentrated on high rep ranges until pain and soreness went away which took about 6 months of post op time.

And it took a good 12 months before I had no hesitation going heavy and I'm stronger than ever now. I could have started going heavy sooner but I didn't want to risk re-injury. Good luck!

 

[edvanp]

Glad to hear your success stories with the labrum surgery. I have been struggling with this injury for a year and a half or so and surgery seems like my only option now too. I went to pt and it helped but as soon as I started light lifting again the same pain was back. It's not so bad that I can't sleep on it anymore but many motions are hard for me to do as well as pain and weekness in the shoulder with the torn labrum. What is a normal recovery time until it is healed and able to be put under the strain of lifting after surgery? 10 weeks? Or more?

If it's an open incision, 6 months. If it's done arthroscopically, 3 months.
Atleast that's what it was with my shoulders. It took about a year for my shoulder to really feel better/healed (open incision) and I'm just going into month 4 on the arthroscopically repaired shoulder and I'd say I'm at 70%.

 

[bezoe]

As Ed mentioned, keep it moving to prevent adhesive capsulitis. Stay on top of your rehab exercises and get plenty of nutrients and water. Cissus may indeed augment the healing process. Cartilaginous tissue takes much longer than bone, muscle, or other connective tissue to heal. 6-12 months i beleive. Rehab it properly and you should be back to 100% in due time.

Good luck