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Would you have surgery for this shoulder tear?

dgelz

New member
Tried uploading pics of my MRI, but I guess I need 100 posts. Wow

I posted a few days ago about taking gh for help with healing post surgery, but I'm really wanting to know if I cancel the surgery...will the tear possibly heal itself with more time? The tear occurred in dec or Jan last year. Pain every single day and night. Woke up three to four times every night in pain. I lost a lot of strength, went to physical therapy (total bull****) and the pain was still there. It's been almost 11 months now, and though the pain is still there, is not nearly as severe as it was a few months ago. I can bust out 20 butterfly pull-ups, hit my 1rm strict press from last year, do rope climbs, etc...but it hurts, where it never hurt last year doing these same movements. The pain now lasts for a day or so instead of a week of pain a few months ago.
Is this a sign my shoulder is healing and the pain will ultimately go away?
 
What was the tear in? I had a severe tear in my labrum (over half the clock) and they said I would never be the same without surgery. I could do some normal stuff but I always felt like it was going to dislocate again, and did on a few occasions before repairing.
 
If you're symptomatic and have failed conservative treatment, surgery is really your only option. The labrum has pretty poor blood supply and therefore there isnt a very good chance of it healing on it's own (not saying it CANT). Although, if you're questioning whether or not you should get the surgery, you should bring that concern up to the ortho that you are seeing.
 
I wish I could post the pic of the MRI. That would give people a better idea of the severity. It's a small tear.
 
If it's causing constant pain, and PT isn't helping, then surgery is the only option. It will only set you back a few months.
 
I had surgery last year on a spur growing from my acromium joint into a tendon and severing it. They also did a massive shoulder scrape to get rid of my arthritis. Previous to this I couldn't lift properly for years. Even benching the bar was out the question. Anyway, the surgery was one of the best decisions I ever made. Completely back to full strength and feel as mobile as a teenager again. Don't be afraid of surgery bro
 
Surgery all the way, I never regret my surgery for impingement, it is my strongest shoulder now
 
What is your exact diagnosis--a rotator cuff tear; full or partial thickness, etc. I couldnt find the info in this post. I just had surgery for full thickness tear in my supraspinatus. I tore it completely in March of last year, but the initial small tear was from about 6 years ago. Basically, a bone spur developed and constantly rubbed against it and eventually tore all the way through it. I worked out up until the day of surgery and could do everything but bench; I did pullups 2x,/week with no problems; had little pain, but did have noticeable weakness moving weight from my hip to shoulder height and at the bottom of shoulder presses. Needless to say, I contemplated not having the surgery but knew that a rc tear never gets smaller, only bigger. With that being said, I expected the ortho to tell me that my shoulder wasn't really that bad after surgery based on how I felt, but he actually said the tear was bigger than he expected. So, in my opinion, if you have a rotator cuff tear and it is painful and the doc recommends surgery, pull the trigger before it gets worse. If it completely tears and retracts, then it is sometime too difficult to pull back in position.
 
Vikingbro said:
I had surgery last year on a spur growing from my acromium joint into a tendon and severing it. They also did a massive shoulder scrape to get rid of my arthritis. Previous to this I couldn't lift properly for years. Even benching the bar was out the question. Anyway, the surgery was one of the best decisions I ever made. Completely back to full strength and feel as mobile as a teenager again. Don't be afraid of surgery bro
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What did the spur feel like? I had labral repair surgery 5 months ago and my other shoulder is giving me problems again. I need to get it checked out as it has always felt like this and I thought a few months off for my other surgery would fix it but a couple weeks back in the gym and it hurts again.. It's very different than the labral tear feeling though.

It feels like a jabbing pain in the front of my shoulder a little off centered towards the side of the delt. I never thought of a spur until reading you say this.
 
I'll try my best to describe it; the spur rubs on the rc and causes inflammation. Eventually, that led to stiffness which was made worse when I moved my arm in certain directions. I did have pain in the front and side of shoulder, but can't say for certain if it is similar to what you are experiencing. The big thing I remember both times before I tore my rc was the stiffness. I thought I could stretch it out but instead I just squeezed the cuff into the spur and caused it to tear. Shoulders are complex and the pain can come from a variety of reasons, but since yours still hurts after taking time off means you have some sort of impingement that won't go away; however, it could be from a variety of things. Spurs are very common and easy to fix if that is what it is. I had one shaved down when I was younger, it was basically a sling for the weekend, then maybe a week or two off and then back to the gym. I would get it checked out and see what the ortho thinks. Good luck
 
Bnbabt611 said:
I'll try my best to describe it; the spur rubs on the rc and causes inflammation. Eventually, that led to stiffness which was made worse when I moved my arm in certain directions. I did have pain in the front and side of shoulder, but can't say for certain if it is similar to what you are experiencing. The big thing I remember both times before I tore my rc was the stiffness. I thought I could stretch it out but instead I just squeezed the cuff into the spur and caused it to tear. Shoulders are complex and the pain can come from a variety of reasons, but since yours still hurts after taking time off means you have some sort of impingement that won't go away; however, it could be from a variety of things. Spurs are very common and easy to fix if that is what it is. I had one shaved down when I was younger, it was basically a sling for the weekend, then maybe a week or two off and then back to the gym. I would get it checked out and see what the ortho thinks. Good luck
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If it's as simple as that then I will go ahead and get it done! I don't think I could handle two full on surgeries in under a year on different shoulders. Lol

I'll definitely get it checked out though, thank you!
 
I have been a member on the forum for a little while but haven't posted, although this thread is interesting given my own history of shoulder impingement.

Firstly not all tears necessarily require the same treatment and will depend on severity, but as already mentioned in the thread and based upon my own experience and discussion with consultants, tears generally do not really heal or least heal very easily.

The fact that the OP has been suffering for the best part of a year and that it affects not only training but daily activity such as sleeping isn't good news, but the improvement demonstrates that the OP has been able to adapt at least to some degree and help recovery.

The question in my mind is whether the current position is one that the OP is willing to accept or is it still bad enough that he is not willing to accept living with whatever pain and discomfort remains. It is possible that it might improve further, but if there is a tear and this remains then at some point the tear might end up getting worse when pushing too hard.

If undecided i'd personally avoid surgery. Whilst about 80% of such cases are quoted as being 100% successful according to my specialist, that still leaves some risk of the surgery not going well and one cannot ignore 3-6 months of rehab to get the shoulder healthy again, which could be longer depending upon the extent of surgical work required.

The other issue is that MRI, as good as it is, still doesn't show everything and therefore seeking a variety of expert opinion coupled with your own personal experience should guide you and not to be overly swayed by a specialist who just wants to operate as it is money in their pocket.
 
It's a viscious circle, especially with bone spurs. Only one outcome and one resolution... same with Amy tear in my opinion
 
I had arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder about 10 years ago. The diagnosis originally was Impingement Syndrome and my old school orthopedic sent me to his young sports medicine guy. I'm glad he did because I also had to have my AC joint repaired and bone spurs removed from my rotator cuff. The original Dr would not have found it since he doesn't do arthroscopic surgery. In 6 months I was back to lifting as heavy as I was before my pain started. I couldn't sleep at night from the pain before surgery and a lot of everyday activities hurt as well. I adapted as far as lifting by staying away from heavy overhead presses and doing only dumbbell bench presses. If I had to go back and do it all again I would have the surgery. Just my .02
 
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