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I just found out I have a SLAP tear in my left shoulder and am curious to know if anyone here has had experience with this particular injury. I knew some folks years ago that had it and they all ended up in surgery to have it repaired. I've been in PT for 3 sessions under the assumption from the doctor that it was a torn rotator cuff but other than the SLAP tear and minor edema near the humerus head everything else looks normal.

 

 

Thanks for anyone who has any info.

I have one in my right shoulder. Since it doesn't bother me in my day to day business the doctor said it wasn't worth fixing since they'd do more damage going into the joint than is currently there now and it would require an extensive rehabilitation program. Aside from the occasional sharp stab of pain and my arm turning into a wet noodle (even more than it already is) I am doing fine. I even still play football with it. 

Wow. Must be nice. I have almost no range of motion other than moving my arm forward. Anything up and back, lateral and back or down and back has me in serious pain. Washing my hair is agony. I told my husband I was going to do a GI Jane on my hair and he rejected that idea. Most of the time I feel like my arm is trying to come out of the socket and pain radiates and goes down my arm. I wear a sling when it gets too bad. It's beginning to affect fine motor functions in my left hand. I have a feeling I'm going to be screwed and need surgery.

 

My primary doctor is going to want them to do another MRI with contrast dye to see exactly how bad it is and refer me to an ortho doc. Even with insurance that stuff is expensive. 

I'm not sure of severity of my tear but for the first few days I had practically no use of my right arm either and for another week after that I couldn't raise it above the horizontal. Since then I've had relapses when I got hit in the shoulder or I moved it the wrong way. Keep in mind though that I wasn't diagnosed until 5 years (!) after the injury. 

You could probably talk to Brandon Linder about it :/

Quote:I have one in my right shoulder. Since it doesn't bother me in my day to day business the doctor said it wasn't worth fixing since they'd do more damage going into the joint than is currently there now and it would require an extensive rehabilitation program. Aside from the occasional sharp stab of pain and my arm turning into a wet noodle (even more than it already is) I am doing fine. I even still play football with it.

 

Playing Madden doesn't require a whole lot of shoulder movement.

If you two would stay out of slap fights you wouldn't have this problem.

Quote:I'm not sure of severity of my tear but for the first few days I had practically no use of my right arm either and for another week after that I couldn't raise it above the horizontal. Since then I've had relapses when I got hit in the shoulder or I moved it the wrong way. Keep in mind though that I wasn't diagnosed until 5 years (!) after the injury. 

Mine has been an issue since about March and has gotten progressively worse. I got a cortisone shot in June when they initially thought it was just bursitis which helped for about 24 hours. 

 

And getting hit on it hurts like the dickens! I'm glad yours in not too much of an issue. 

Quote:I just found out I have a SLAP tear in my left shoulder and am curious to know if anyone here has had experience with this particular injury. I knew some folks years ago that had it and they all ended up in surgery to have it repaired. I've been in PT for 3 sessions under the assumption from the doctor that it was a torn rotator cuff but other than the SLAP tear and minor edema near the humerus head everything else looks normal.

 

 

Thanks for anyone who has any info.

 

How did you get it?

I didn’t realize that you were talking about a tear in your labrum until I looked up ‘SLAP tear’ on WebMD. 

 

I actually tore mine when I was throwing a bag of wet leaves into a lawn cart, I guess 6 or 7 years ago.  It hurt like hell and took me to my knees.  I ignored it for quite a while after it was diagnosed as a 25% tear of the labrum.  Of all things, what ‘reminded’ me of it the most, was when I was driving and turned my head to look backwards when I was backing up.  It felt like somebody was stabbing me in the shoulder.

 

I guess I went 6 months before I finally had the surgery on it.  By then it was about a 45% tear and just getting too painful to bear any longer.  Recuperation time was damn close to 9 months before I was back to normal.  I was glad I got it done though.  My left shoulder feels better than my ‘good shoulder’ now.  I was very good about doing all of my rehab, which I’m sure helped a lot.

Have had mine torn for about 20 years...I do rotator cuff exercises for strength and stability.

 

I've had a handful of people that have said the surgery and after was worse...

 

I'm sure, like Rico said if you are diligent with the PT after it'll be better than new. Most people I know complain for range of motion 

 

I'm just a big sissy and don't want to go under the knife. It doesn't affect me day to day. I'm just mindful of it. 

Quote:How did you get it?

I have no idea. I didn't have any issues or pain until after my surgery in February. I've thought on more than one occasion that something happened while I was under the anesthetic. I made a joke several times to my husband that I thought maybe they dropped me or something. The gal at the MRI place said I should look into it as there are cameras everywhere now. I told her that's easier said than done. To get that access we need a lawyer and those don't come free or cheap. 

Quote:I didn’t realize that you were talking about a tear in your labrum until I looked up ‘SLAP tear’ on WebMD. 

 

I actually tore mine when I was throwing a bag of wet leaves into a lawn cart, I guess 6 or 7 years ago.  It hurt like hell and took me to my knees.  I ignored it for quite a while after it was diagnosed as a 25% tear of the labrum.  Of all things, what ‘reminded’ me of it the most, was when I was driving and turned my head to look backwards when I was backing up.  It felt like somebody was stabbing me in the shoulder.

 

I guess I went 6 months before I finally had the surgery on it.  By then it was about a 45% tear and just getting too painful to bear any longer.  Recuperation time was damn close to 9 months before I was back to normal.  I was glad I got it done though.  My left shoulder feels better than my ‘good shoulder’ now.  I was very good about doing all of my rehab, which I’m sure helped a lot.

Mine is almost unbearable when doing specific things that are pretty necessary so I imagine it's already bad. I'm doing PT and have an appointment with ortho Tuesday so we'll see what happens from there. I've read the rehab from surgery is pretty long. I had surgery on my right shoulder 5 years ago to attach my biceps tendon to another location after an accident. That rehab was no fun either. I'm glad yours went so well. 

Quote:Have had mine torn for about 20 years...I do rotator cuff exercises for strength and stability.

 

I've had a handful of people that have said the surgery and after was worse...

 

I'm sure, like Rico said if you are diligent with the PT after it'll be better than new. Most people I know complain for range of motion 

 

I'm just a big sissy and don't want to go under the knife. It doesn't affect me day to day. I'm just mindful of it. 

If I wasn't in sheer agony I wouldn't do it either. I had surgery on my right shoulder 5 years ago and the rehab was no fun. Plus I just had surgery in February (hysterectomy) and am still recovering from that in small ways. So I am not keen on going under the knife again. But if I have to I will. 

Quote:Mine is almost unbearable when doing specific things that are pretty necessary so I imagine it's already bad. I'm doing PT and have an appointment with ortho Tuesday so we'll see what happens from there. I've read the rehab from surgery is pretty long. I had surgery on my right shoulder 5 years ago to attach my biceps tendon to another location after an accident. That rehab was no fun either. I'm glad yours went so well. 

 

The PT isn't easy, that's for sure.  I really stuck with it religiously.  I had surgeries before (when I was much younger) where I just assumed it would get better, because I was younger and dumber.  I really wish I had done the PT on my knee the way they told me to.  I don't think I'd have as many problems as I do now.  My shoulder is 'as good as new'.  And the surgery they did on my shoulder was arthroscopic, so no real cutting.  I really think the key was doing the PT at home, like they told me to, rather than only at the therapist.

Quote:The PT isn't easy, that's for sure.  I really stuck with it religiously.  I had surgeries before (when I was much younger) where I just assumed it would get better, because I was younger and dumber.  I really wish I had done the PT on my knee the way they told me to.  I don't think I'd have as many problems as I do now.  My shoulder is 'as good as new'.  And the surgery they did on my shoulder was arthroscopic, so no real cutting.  I really think the key was doing the PT at home, like they told me to, rather than only at the therapist.

Yep. I absolutely do it at home as well as at the PT joint. He has me doing the exercises every other day and a 'tennis ball massage' daily that hurts like nobody's business. I'm 43 so I know I won't recover as quickly as I did 5 years ago so I'm putting in the work now to make everything else easier. Hopefully.

 

Before I had my surgery in February I focused on working out specific muscle groups because I knew I was going to have to use my legs and arms to get me up and down from chairs and the bed as opposed to core strength (we use our core a lot more than we think we do). I also worked my core so it would be strong and able to hold me together. Having your gut cut into is no joke. I'm glad I put in the effort to do all of that because it helped a great deal with mobility afterwards.