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gogo
Dec 12, 2008, 11:30 PM
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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So I had surgery yesterday to find out what was wrong with my shoulder - had a decent anterior labral tear causing a "tremendous" amount of swelling in my bursa that was removed, and potentially a bone spur that was shaved off.
The labral tear was repaired with three biodegradable suture anchors, no bicep tendon involvement. I was told I am in decent shape, repair went well and should expect to be climbing again in May. Yay!
He tested both shoulders while I was under and I might have a smaller labbral tear on the other side. Damn instability. But I have a better chance of rehabbing around that side, since there aren't many acutely painful movements like my left, and they are both getting a lot of rest.
Thus far, not as painful as I expected. The sling is a bitch, though.
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clowe6
Dec 16, 2008, 7:46 PM
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Registered: Apr 28, 2008
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I had a left labrum tear (SLAP lesion w/ no biceps tendon involvement) repaired on September 25th. I never have had much pain. I only took the heavy dope the first and second day...know from the get go that for the first 3 (maybe 4) weeks you will feel like an absolute cripple. It gets much much much better very fast after that, but for a month or so I really felt like I made the wrong decision in having it repaired (it wasn't THAT jacked up before) and was feeling depressed from not being able to workout much at all, much less climb. Stick to your PT and you will notice a huge improvement by week 6. I'm getting a lot stronger and finally got to do full pull ups at PT yesterday. I could probably do some light climbing right now (I'm not going to...don't want to risk it) but my doc expects me to be at 100% by March....everything has gone very well for me, but for a month or so it was pretty bad. I think if you know that going in it will help (I knew that too, but for some reason I still had trouble). I will also add to my crippled feeling that I'm left handed...and I never realized how much I do left handed, or how many things in life take both hands.
oh yeah and that sling is a BIATCH!!!! I absolutely hated it. I had to sleep in it for 6 weeks. Worst 6 weeks of sleep in my life.
good luck and heal quick....be religious about your PT.
(This post was edited by clowe6 on Dec 16, 2008, 7:49 PM)
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gogo
Apr 5, 2009, 3:27 PM
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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Hi -
So it's been a really long time since I've posted on here, and figured I'd put an update up for anyone with shoulder problems who is thinking about surgery.
Right now I'm almost four months out, doing PT very regularly and keeping up with aerobic conditioning.
The shoulder has gotten way stronger, to where the PT sessions have ended up feeling like having a personal trainer - its a lot of guided weightlifting, theraband exercises, a bodyblade (which has helped a ton) - so I've been getting back in shape pretty well for summer climbing. They had me test out a hangboard workout last week, and the "easy" 10-minute workout actually felt easy.
And got my first climbing session in 15 months in a couple days ago - easy 5.6-5.7 slabs in the climbing gym, but done without pain. The flexibility still isn't quite full, and the shoulder can get tired more easily, but the pain that was there before surgery is almost entirely gone, which is such a nice feeling - not stressing about whether every movement is going to aggravate it.
The issues with the right shoulder are actually resolving pretty well too (I might have a smaller, superior labral tear in my other shoulder) - while the sensation that the shoulder isn't quite right is still there, its been able to get much stronger without an increase in discomfort, which is promising for being able to get it the shoulder to perform with stability.
paz.
mike
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gogo
Apr 25, 2009, 2:44 PM
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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So its been several more weeks, and the shoulder has gotten significantly stronger.
I've been able to start doing longer sessions in the climbing gym; traversing on vertical walls for about 30 - 45 min. Not much, but it's let me start working on finding novel no-hands rests. The shoulder feels pretty trustworthy on moves where it is not pulling down from high overhead, so I avoid those moves.
Physical therapy has gotten really intense - a lot of heavier weights and a faster pace. Actually somewhat fun. The right should is also responding really well to the PT at this point - neither shoulder giving me stress on a daily basis is an amazing thing.
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