Roll call - who's had rotator cuff issues?

[Rick Lee]

I have some pain in my right shoulder that just is not going away. I think it was caused when I did a 10-hour transmission-only removal from my 993, by myself, on jackstands. Bench pressing my tranny was no problem, but removing that upper starter barrel nut is probably what did it. This was early November and I'm now finding it difficult to hold the door open for people. It's not really getting worse, but it's not getting better either. It's certainly tolerable, but I know there's a problem. What are my chances of a non-surgical recovery?

[porsche4life]

Hold your arm straight out to the side. How far can you raise it up? My dad completely tore his... Lost a lot of motion range. His didn't really hurt after the first day though. Hopefully yours can be fixed with a scope.

[Rick Lee]

I have complete movement there. Just a little painful at certain positions.

[porsche4life]

I'm no doctor but I think that may be another issue. Not a rotator cuff tear.....

[vash]

ok. i'm not an expert. put your back up against a wall. now hold up your hands like the cops got you. elbows against the wall, wrist also touching the wall....can you lift your hands up and down? if so, you have what i have...impingement injury. not a full torn rotator.

what works for me. i get a 5lb weight, and bend at the waist. let the arm droop, and dangle freely. let the weight pendulum, in small circles. 30 seconds counter clockwise, 30 seconds clockwise..it lubricates the joint and feels GREAT!

for the record, i hurt myself pruning trees. lifting weight away from my body, in front of me re-hurts myself regularly. like lifting a suitcase over the bed rails on a pickup...dumb move.

[johnnywishbone]

just got back from the doctor. major pain in both shoulders. both have been opened up before. waiting on mri to confirm need for repeat surgery. in each injury, the ripping of the tissue was both felt and heard. 14 december it happened for the fourth time. a good tear will get worse, not self heal. i did not finish medical school. how is your medical insurance?

[DonDavis]

I bet you have a torn labrum (sp?). It can be caused by heavy lifting or throwing. I had mine fixed in Mar 2008. I have 100% use of that arm now. Completely repaired.

[rick-l]

Does it sound like this?

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Frozen+shoulder

I did physical therapy for a while and the doctor said it would run its course in about a year. You have to keep using it and stretching it.


Do a search for "Adhesive Capsulitis"

[JavaBrewer]

8 years ago I broke my shoulder during a trail run in DC while on work travel. Like an idiot I never got it looked at (even though I had insurance) and lived with 50% movement and some pain.

So 2 weeks ago I go to a highly recommended orthopedic doc. After the exam and x-ray they say I have major arthritis in both shoulders..."You have the shoulder of a 70 year old man" says the doc. "Nothing I can do for you dude. At least it isn't cancer." he says. So my treatment is a cortisone shot every 6 months to deal with pain. If that proves insufficient they have other crap to inject (not covered by insurance) or I can go with a metal shoulder implant...

I have now abandoned free weights in the gym and only work with light weights on machine or 10lb dumbbells.

Moral of the story - take care of your **** while you still can.

[aigel]

LOL - I LOVE the PPOT health threads. What better place to go for health questions? I don't even know what that cuff is. So, no, issues with that thing aren't common.

George

[jwhcars]

I could not lift a piece of paper with out pain ... got it scoped and it is good as new. If they can scope it ... man that is the way to go...three little X cuts in the shoulder that healed fast.

[desertt5]

Mine was a bicep tendon that tore away. Doc said it was from years in the Corps doing push ups and pull ups and not taking care of it. The recovery was worse than the pain, 4 months of therapy. Also had minor rotator cuff tears that I think are back again. Just putting off going to the doc.

[stomachmonkey]

Had very limited range in the right shoulder. Left I could reach over m head and touch my right side. Right one I was lucky to get above my head.

Lots of crepidice.

Been drinking Joint Juice daily for a year. Get it by the case at Costco. Crepidice pretty much gone, range of motion greatly increased.

Knees feel better as well.

[Jim Richards]

I had tendonitis and also a calcium build-up, forming a spur that would dig into my rotator cuff. Very painful and my mobility was limited. I had my shoulder scoped a few years ago. They ground down the spur and also the bones in my shoulder joint to give more clearance. I have really enjoyed the return to full mobility without any pain.

[Rick Lee]

I'm thinking my issue may be a mild case of tendonitis, as I have full movement and it hasn't impacted my weightlifting at all. I just have some pain at certain positions. I'll ask the dr. about it next week. I'm sure he'll have some exercises to show me that will make it obvious what I need to do.

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

. . . I'll ask the dr. about it next week. . . .

I look forward to hearing what the Doctor has to say. I have a very similar condition that has been hanging around for over a year without much improvement. Makes me feel like an old man.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Broke my scapula in a mountain bike wreck in 2003. 6 months later I couldn't throw a tennis ball more than 10 feet, woke up at night with pain. Physical therapy was the key for me after consulting with my ortho who insisted surgery was the last resort. I'm pain free today, range of motion isn't 100% but good enough. Yoga, stretching and strength training keep it in check. Good move to get it checked out. Best of luck.

[widebody911]

And 1! I did my left one surfing back in my early 20's, right one from volleyball. Tweaked the right one again a year or so ago trying to catch a server I was putting into a rack.

[Roosterrusek]

Dude, I had a torn rotator cuff and it freakin sucked. It really hurt to lift my hand to wash my hair....anything that raises your arm over your head. So here is my story...

So sometimes they can fix it via orthroscopic....me, I had the ortho AND opened me up across the shoulder front to back to repair it. It was an outpatient procedure so in and out same day.

Got home and forgot that I was supposed to sleep in a barcolounger for a few days....you would find that sleeping sitting up as your arm is sandwiched to your chest is infinitely better than lying down. Anyway wifey had to drag the big comfy chair up some stairs to our living room where I spent basically 3 weeks watching TV and not doing anything stupid that would reinjure it.

Here's the kicker...for an hour at a time 3X times a day I had to sit in this metal chair, take my arm and place it into this holder thingee that actually velcroed my hand/arm into it, turn it on and it would move my arm around so that I didn't develop "shoulder lock" which I never really got an explaination of but sounded for certain that I did not want to develop.

Went back to work 3 weeks after surgery but for sure could have stayed out more for pain / immobility...I just got sick of watching the same crap on TV.

Then add into it about 4 - 6 months of rehab and depending on your phyisiology it sometimes takes up to a year to heal completely.

Now? I can lift all sorts of weight and workout regularly with no pain...all better but yeah it can totally suck donkey phallus.

[rattlsnak]

perfect timing!! I just dislocated my shoulder and fractured my humerous a couple of weeks ago. I am going in for surgery on the 15th to repair a torn labrum. I cannot move my shoulder past 90 degrees without major pain. The rotator cuff is basically the name for the group of muscles and tendons that hold the shoulder in place. The labrum is the cartilidge that forms a ring around your arm bone ball where it fits into the shoulder socket to keep it in place.

one of these shoulders is not like the other one.... hhhhhmmmm, which one??




p.s. this is why you havent seen an update on my C2 build project.. I cant even put on a pair of socks without help.. sux... big time..