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gogo
May 26, 2009, 6:49 PM
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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Heya -
So its been almost six months since an anterior repair on my left shoulder, and a possible minor superior tear on the right shoulder that I've avoided surgery on. (Both caused by excessive rock climbing and training for rock climbing)
Finished up my last formal PT session last friday, which had gotten to relatively powerful circuit training and weightlifting, and my shoulder felt relatively normal pushing through the stuff they had for me. Definitely cool to feel getting stronger again.
On the climbing front, have eased into lightly overhanging routes and slightly higher difficulty, but still in absolute static movement and no bouldering. Can tag 5.11+ in the gym pretty well without any pain, and spent a day outside last week, with about 3 hours on vertical walls and felt good.
The PT I had, which I really liked, set me up with some sample work-out schedules to balance out climbing and shoulder health exercises. Actually started keeping a training journal this week to stay on track with it, and have a two-day climbing trip planned in a week and a half - figure I can climb moderate sport one day, easy trad the other.
Anyways, just wanted to say for climbers thinking they need surgery, it definitely paid off. I dealt with a lot of loss of function and pain for 11 months before I decided to get the repair and wish I had done it sooner. On the flip side, my right shoulder had a slight subluxation exactly a year ago, and feels damn near 100% now from doing just physical therapy.
Also - check slaptear.com for information about shoulder surgery and injuries, there's a lot of good resources there.
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ubu
May 26, 2009, 9:11 PM
Post #2 of 6
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Registered: Dec 17, 2008
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Thanks for the update. I've been pushing off surgery since re-injuring an existing labral tear in my R shoulder in January. I've been making decent progress with just PT (it took 2 months just to be able to sleep through the night again) but recently hit a wall and am starting to doubt I'll be able to get back on the rocks without surgery. I'm glad to hear your experience has been a good one, it makes me a bit more optimistic hearing success stories like this.
For my part, I plan to push on PT for another month, then give in to the inevitable if I don't see major changes. My cuff muscles are stronger than ever, but there are certain motions that I just can't do yet.
As for slaptear.com, that site scares me. Some good info, but way too many horror stories of surgery gone bad...
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gogo
May 27, 2009, 6:43 PM
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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True, but what you have to remember is most people only post when things are going wrong, not well.
I think getting a surgeon that really knows what they are doing and has a strong track record is clutch.
Your plan is basically what they had me do - I tried PT for 9 months, then had a cortisone injection that caused very little difference, and then surgery after that.
The stretch that helped more than anything else is reducing symptoms was the sleeper stretch - did they have you try that ever?
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ubu
May 28, 2009, 2:42 AM
Post #4 of 6
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Registered: Dec 17, 2008
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Nope, I haven't been doing the sleeper stretch. My understanding is that this is most helpful for internal rotation issues (?), and that doesn't seem to be my problem. My biggest issue is impingement when doing abduction with my arm bent at 90 deg. 3/4 of the time I can't rotate my arm past shoulder level, but only with my arm bent (the other 1/4 of the time it is not a problem...haven't yet been able to pinpoint when/why).
9 months, eh? At the end were you making zero progress, or was progress just not fast enough? I feel like I'm still getting better bit by bit, but it's soooo slow and I worry I'm asymptotically approaching a level of function I just won't be happy with.
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gogo
May 29, 2009, 3:09 PM
Post #5 of 6
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Registered: Apr 6, 2004
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Yeah, the sleeper stretch is aimed at increasing internal rotation, and how the surgeon explained it would help is by generally creating more space in the joint capsule so the humeral head sits in the socket better.
At nine months I wasn't really making any more progress - the same motions caused pain, and it would get flared up really easily - like running more than 10 yards easily.
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ubu
May 29, 2009, 3:25 PM
Post #6 of 6
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Registered: Dec 17, 2008
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gogo wrote: Yeah, the sleeper stretch is aimed at increasing internal rotation, and how the surgeon explained it would help is by generally creating more space in the joint capsule so the humeral head sits in the socket better. At nine months I wasn't really making any more progress - the same motions caused pain, and it would get flared up really easily - like running more than 10 yards easily.
I'm going to give the sleeper stretch a shot for a few weeks, it certainly can't hurt.
It is interesting that running gave you trouble. This was a problem for me at first, but for the past couple months running actually makes my shoulder feel better.
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