Anyone here have shoulder surgery (torn labrum)

[EricP]

Seems like a good place to ask...

It appears I have a torn labrum (doc and PT both say very very likely but MRI tomorrow to confirm). It case that IS what it is, I'm informing myself for if I get asked about surgery.

Anyone have it done? Worth it? Recovery?

I noticeably hurt doing normal things (opening car door for example) so SOMETHING needs to be done. I've done some PT but it seems to make things worse...

[t walgamuth]

I had a torn rotator cuff. I had a bone spur that sawed it in half. No pain until it snapped while loading my 85 Reynard onto my traielr.

REcovery was pretty long but it is all good now.....just like about 30 years ago.

[HazelNut]

i had my shoulder scoped middle of 18 race season. Not full reconstruction just cleaning up stuff a bit. Not perfect but way better than what it was before. Arm was still in a sling but was back at the track running the team on a test day and assisting with changing an engine 10 days after surgery.

[RussMcB]

I'll bet you get plenty of responses.

I've had three surgeries over the decades, all arthroscopic, all successful ("then why did you get three?" :-)

Recovery can be long, so be prepared for that. Depending on how bad it currently affects your daily life, maybe schedule it for the Monday after your last race.

I had my last surgery end of 2018 because I struggled to get out of my formula car, couldn't put up my EZ-Up canopy.

I feel like I have almost 100% use of my arms. I don't have as much Range Of Motion in one arm and I think it is because I did not do all the stretching I should have after my first surgery.

After you have the surgery, don't rush recovery and do a good job of stretching and rebuilding strength to get back to where you were. The last two times I rented a Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) chair. I think it helps a lot. Otherwise the joint stiffens up from non-use.

Last comment - More than likely your surgeon will fix several things while they are in there. The MRI helps them decide if it's worth going in, but it probably doesn't show all the problems. Or maybe my surgeons were trying to impress me, listing everything they did. :-)

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Seems like a good place to ask...

It appears I have a torn labrum (doc and PT both say very very likely but MRI tomorrow to confirm). It case that IS what it is, I'm informing myself for if I get asked about surgery.

Anyone have it done? Worth it? Recovery?

I noticeably hurt doing normal things (opening car door for example) so SOMETHING needs to be done. I've done some PT but it seems to make things worse...

My son is just recovering from his second torn labrum repair. His first was just after high school. His second was 12/31. (He's 29 now and paying for it himself )

Baseball (more recently softball). No, not pitching. Batting. The forward shoulder pulls the bat through and is a big strain on the labrum.

The "okay do it" on the first one was when he held a door open for someone and the shoulder dislocated. He ended up passed out on the floor. The second was a hit playing basketball that also put him down.

Worth it? Eliminated the pain. Normal function did return.

Recovery? 6 weeks in a brace with a formed pillow that holds your hand straight out (can't put your arm across yourself).
Because it's critical not to move wrong, needed help dressing. Just started driving again 2 weeks ago.

Yes, long recovery. I think broken bones heal faster.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Last comment - More than likely your surgeon will fix several things while they are in there. The MRI helps them decide if it's worth going in, but it probably doesn't show all the problems. Or maybe my surgeons were trying to impress me, listing everything they did. :-)

Also, get a second opinion. There first surgeon my son went to was focused on a single problem and told him 2 week recovery.
The second surgeon said yes, that needs repair, but so does this and that.

Look for someone that is serious about sports and limits their area of practice.
The surgeon he's used both times treats professional and college athletes.

[EricP]

Thanks guys! Some take-always:

Sounds like recovery will be longer than I thought.
I don’t hear anyone saying “no, don’t, surgery made things worse” like I hear with back surgery.

I’m not sure about when. I’d like to wait until fall but it is pretty painful with normal use right now...

[TimH]

I don’t hear anyone saying “no, don’t, surgery made things worse” like I hear with back surgery.

Back surgery can sometimes make things worse. Barring a complication like infection or failing to be religious about you rehab, the worst case for a shoulder is generally that it didn't help as much as you wanted.

Never any harm in a second opinion, though.

[EricP]

Back surgery can sometimes make things worse. Barring a complication like infection or failing to be religious about you rehab, the worst case for a shoulder is generally that it didn't help as much as you wanted.

Never any harm in a second opinion, though.

10-4. And I’ll get a 2nd...

[reidhazelton]

Here is my experience.

Mine was about as bad a tear as my ortho had seen that wasn't a complete tear. The last line of the three page MRI report was "the remainder is adequate." Three of the four tendons in the rotator cuff were at least 80% done, with a quick dislocation where it went out, and smoothly back in. Funny thing, It didn't hurt a bit when I did it. I felt it, like my shoulder got a little longer for a second, but no pain at the time. When I woke up the next morning it was like someone stabbed me in the shoulder. Anyway, I'm 36, in good shape with no prior history of damage to that area. It was a good two months before I could put a shirt on by myself. There was a good six months where it would be real good for a week, then hurt and be limiting. Healing is not a linear process. A year and a half or so later, after significant physical therapy for six months, it's about 95%. I only have a few days here and there where I notice I over did it at the gym or playing basketball. It's a very, very slow recovery. My ortho told me over 40 and blood flow starts decreasing so it's even longer. Also said that 20 years ago it was the most abused surgery in orthopedics. I'm pretty active, and the risks of loss of motion with the surgery turned me off and my ortho agreed.

For my scenario, the surgery might have sped up the time frame to get where I am now, but the risks didn't feel worth it to me. And, after the surgery you're going to have a lot of PT anyway. Also, I think there are a few options - just doing a scope or if they actually have to screw in anchors and reattach the tendons. A scope is no biggie usually, but the anchors look like a big deal. There are some gnarly youtube videos you can watch of them doing one.

That's all just from my experience and what I remember of what I was told from the ortho doc and pt doc.

[Purple Frog]

Do the surgery.
I say that after a really long painful recovery. OBTW, they don't tell you how bad the pain will be afterwards.
They don't schedule follow-up appointments for a week or so, that way you won't assault the doctor. LOL
Get ahead of the pain meds before the block wears off.
Being a fair skinned redhead... of course I ended up with "frozen shoulder" a few weeks later. Took a while to recover.
Would i do it all again. Yes
I've been pulling a trigger on a big nail gun daily (many times overhead) ever since.
Best to find surgeons that love athletes. I used the guy that works on Florida State athletes.

[RussMcB]

Here is my experience.

Reid, to confirm, you chose not to have surgery and instead just did PT?

If so, I'm impressed.

[ric baribeault]

Ask your doc about PRP first, as an option. it doesn't replace surgery. your MRI and doctor will determine it's feasibility. it certainly has the potential to reduce pain, improve healing, and delay surgery.

[ric baribeault]

Do the surgery.
I say that after a really long painful recovery. OBTW, they don't tell you how bad the pain will be afterwards.
They don't schedule follow-up appointments for a week or so, that way you won't assault the doctor. LOL
Get ahead of the pain meds before the block wears off.
Being a fair skinned redhead... of course I ended up with "frozen shoulder" a few weeks later. Took a while to recover.
Would i do it all again. Yes
I've been pulling a trigger on a big nail gun daily (many times overhead) ever since.
Best to find surgeons that love athletes. I used the guy that works on Florida State athletes.

And being a redhead, you probably bled like stink. If I transfuse somone unexpectedly, half the time they're a redhead. the other half of the time it was preceded by an "oops" from the other side of the drape.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Ask your doc about PRP first, as an option. it doesn't replace surgery. your MRI and doctor will determine it's feasibility. it certainly has the potential to reduce pain, improve healing, and delay surgery.

There are a lot of quacks doing this. Be careful.

That said we did this for our dog and it helped markedly,

Could help you delay surgery until the fall.

[TimH]

And being a redhead, you probably bled like stink. If I transfuse somone unexpectedly, half the time they're a redhead. the other half of the time it was preceded by an "oops" from the other side of the drape.

The "Blood - Brain Barrier."

[EricP]

There are a lot of quacks doing this. Be careful.

That said we did this for our dog and it helped markedly,

Could help you delay surgery until the fall.

As Eddie buckwheat Murphy would say, “What do PRP mean?”

[whadeduck]

Does this count?

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Does this count?

Geez. You got screwed !

[BeerBudgetRacing]

As Eddie buckwheat Murphy would say, “What do PRP mean?”

Explain it better than me...

https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_prp-injections.asp

[whadeduck]

Geez. You got screwed !

Eight of them actually. lol

[TimH]

Does this count?

Ouch.

[EricP]

not sure if that makes me feel better or worse! Yikes.

Does this count?

[Charles Warner]

“What do PRP mean?”

Commonly called Stem Cell Injections. I've had it done on knees (somewhat successful) and wrists (no real help). They take stem cells from your bone marrow, usually rear hip joint, (hurts like hell), spin them up in a centrifuge to extract stem cells, and inject them into the suspect joint. They wait about 9 months then get more stem cells, this time from your blood, and inject into the joint as "food" for the regrowth of tissue. Then they wait another 4 months and get more cells from the marrow and inject. I'm waiting for the third injection. Usually fairly expensive ($3,000+) and probably not covered by insurance because there is no FDA approval. Certainly better than two knee replacements, but will not fix a ruined joint.

As with everything, do your research.

[reidhazelton]

Reid, to confirm, you chose not to have surgery and instead just did PT?

If so, I'm impressed.

Correct. I think my age and overall fitness had a lot to do with why my doc said to try other options before surgery.

[E1pix]

Deleted by user.

[whadeduck]

not sure if that makes me feel better or worse! Yikes.

I wouldn't really compare your situation to mine. your's sounds much different than mine. I broke the head off my humerus and then broke that into three more pieces. The bone is healed now and the scar looks much better, but I still don't have full range of motion. If you have surgery, the biggest thing I could recommend is to keep things moving. I ended up with, and still might have, frozen shoulder. They did a manipulation back in late December and I still can't move things like I should. It may be uncomfortable, but follow the doctor's orders and have ice packs at the ready.

[EricP]

Here is what MRI/Doc said:

I have a labrum tear as well as a 3cm benign cyst pushing on a nerve (from the tear). He didn't like the idea of waiting too long (for a better time or to do more PT) because the cyst can do nerve damage.

He explained PRP but said for a true tear like I have, he hasn't seen PRP be effective. For a partial tear of a tendon it apparently works better. And no, not covered by insurance.

I'm getting another opinion but I'm thinking it'll have to be done.

[whadeduck]

Good luck to you.

[chrisw52]

I noticeably hurt doing normal things (opening car door for example) so SOMETHING needs to be done. I've done some PT but it seems to make things worse...

I stuck with the PT. It got worse for a while but as I stuck with it (and a good personal trainer) I have come out with no surgery required, more mobility and overall a better posture since most of the issues were back related and not shoulder.

[E1pix]

Good Luck from us as well.