Shoulder Tears

[ponty 0]

Just got an MRI back that indicated that I have 5 or so small shoulder tears on my left side. I believe it was several injuries/incidents until my shoulder finally gave out. The good news is that I am two months into this and it only hurts when I do certain movements. From a hockey perspective lifting shots and passes that require me to go outside of my body hurt.

Am I a dumb ass for playing hockey with this injury? Yes, I will shut myself down for about a month since I got the MRI results.

The point of this thread is I am about to see a physical therapist but want to get expectations on how long this injury will take to heal and what exercises might work to strengthen the area?

[hink9 0]

Is it a SLAP tear? I just had surgery to repair that, my surgeon told me that prolonged use of my shoulder if left untreated would lead to a permanent pain/injury. Do you require surgery? Unfortunately, I will be off the ice for a min 4months said the physical therapist. My pt makes me do rubber band training and light dumbell work emphasizing rotator cuff strengthening. Hope you get better soon

[ponty 0]

Is it a SLAP tear? I just had surgery to repair that, my surgeon told me that prolonged use of my shoulder if left untreated would lead to a permanent pain/injury. Do you require surgery? Unfortunately, I will be off the ice for a min 4months said the physical therapist. My pt makes me do rubber band training and light dumbell work emphasizing rotator cuff strengthening. Hope you get better soon

I don't believe he referred to it as a SLAP tear but he found it odd that there were so many tears in the shoulder. None of them are completely through but his worry was it may be fairly easy to rip though with so many smaller tears. In short no surgery required I am just waiting to see a specialist so he can give me a more solid prognosis and road to recovery.

Thanks for the input.

[rookie magic 0]

I had a torn shoulder labrum from multiple dislocations and had surgery two months ago to repair it. Its a fairly long recovery process as you cant do any high intensity sport for at least 3 month and take about 6 months to regain full strength. The shoulder doesnt return to 100% until about a year. It gets pretty frustrating not being able to do anything for a while especially since I was excited to start playing ice.

For me, I decided to get the surgery done because my shoulder was so weak it would dislocated from such simple things. I knew it would only get worse so I sacrificed a year for my long term health.

[AlphaSierra 1]

I went under the knife for multiple tears of the labrum as well. And yes, it was about a year to the day until I was 100%. I would not/did not play for the first 6 months. The shoulder is a tricky joint, if they said you don't need surgery then I would seek out the top sports focused PT in town and follow his plan to a T. I had a few setbacks along the way, mainly slacking in the PT plan, but my PT always got me back on track. I have now made the shoulder rehab part of my basic workout plan for life to keep the area strong.

I waited 2 years of building pain/dislocations until I finally realized I needed the surgery. It now feels better than my "good" shoulder. Wish I would have done it sooner.

[Haggerty 144]

If its a labrum the rehab isn't fun, rehabbed for 8months on mine just to get 80% of motion back, but i also tore my rotator cuff at the same time so that could be why i never got full motion back.

[Vet88 674]

Your a dumb ass for playing. A hit whilst your arm is extended could just pop your whole shoulder apart and then you are out for ages or even considering surgery. Many words of good advice prior to my 2 cents, find a top PT, follow their plan and strengthen the joint. You can continue to train but don't play until they give you the all clear, in your situation I'd say you are a few months of intensive rehab before this might happen with an all clear.

[Apes44 7]

I had my shoulder sliced and diced twice by the orthopedic surgeonmake sure you get someone who knows hockey as my first one was done by a doctors who was more baseball and although surgery was a sucess the way it was done the second time was better for the abuse that it takes in hockey...which is why i havnt needed a 3rd. Recovery time from the first was about 2 months w good PT second was about 4 months and still have limited range of motion over 10 years out.

I would go on IR if you dont need the surgery yet and let it heal with PT if that will fix it if not abd probably most important thing is ask your doctor and listen to him!

[ponty 0]

Thanks for the info guys and the confirmation that I am a dumb ass :)

Its feeling better but I am seeing a specialist next week and now I have put hockey on the shelf until I talk to the Dr. Its weird as it aches at night but feels fine during the day though it still hurts with various range of motion. It sounds like it is not nearly as bad as some cases described above as I dont have full tears.

They will be going over my MRI with me next week and giving me more specifics around the tears I have in my shoulder.

[penguinpelts 7]

On 10/23/2011 at 4:52 PM, Vet88 said:

Your a dumb ass for playing. A hit whilst your arm is extended could just pop your whole shoulder apart and then you are out for ages or even considering surgery. Many words of good advice prior to my 2 cents, find a top PT, follow their plan and strengthen the joint. You can continue to train but don't play until they give you the all clear, in your situation I'd say you are a few months of intensive rehab before this might happen with an all clear.

 

Was checking out some threads on here about shoulders because I had my third shoulder surgery two weeks ago, third total. The example above is exactly what happened to me. Probably loosened my non-dominant arm quite a few times in the last 10 years since my first SLAP repair, but one playoff game, reached out for a poke check, someone barely brushed past me and voila, my entire arm fell right out.

I know this is old, and maybe these guys are around anymore, but how is everyone from above fairing since having their surgeries/rehab?

[Fletch 219]

I have had SLAP repair twice on my left shoulder.  The first time I blew it out, dealt with it for a few years and then had the surgery.  About 6 months later I was playing again and blew it out again.  The same doctor did the surgery again but said he did things differently the second time.  It seemed to hold up for a few years but is now hurting pretty much every day.  Fun fact: last year I had an MRI on my right shoulder and they saw a small tear in my labrum but I refuse to have that surgery again as long as I am playing hockey.  Been through the recovery twice, I am not doing it again.

 

[penguinpelts 7]

I hear ya Fletch. This recovery is a huge pain in the ass and mental strain.

I just had my post-op appointment and was told from all of the dislocations I'm already forming some serious arthritis. Now everyone in my family is telling me maybe I shouldn't go back to playing hockey again. I don't care how it makes me look, but hearing that made me tear up a bit.

Gonna have to rehab like a MFer.