Potential torn rotator cuff

[OnTheLine]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

 

[undecided]

How did it happen? The how is a good indicator for a prognosis.

 

[OnTheLine]

Playing tennis.
Had never had any shoulder issues aside from occasional soreness from over-playing. That has always resolved itself in a few hours.

Was playing well ... no issues, then hit an overhead and heard and felt something (not a pop not a snap but something) followed by pain and weakness. Tried to play through it and could not.

 

[Devil_dog]

Had rotator cuff surgery in 2018. Took me a better part of a year to get back to serving. Everyone is different - could be sooner for you. But now I'm about 98-99% in range of motion but can hit serves as big and as good as ever. In my 50s, too.

Main thing is get on PT for your shoulder as soon as your cleared. And be patient. Your body will let you know when it can perform again. You don't want to go full bore (you won't anyway) the first time back out but once the pain and scar tissue resides, you'll be back it at.

And even after, keep up with shoulder exercises at home.

Good luck.

 

[Firepandas]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

So I had a suspected partially torn labrum with incredibly similar symptoms to you. Threw a ball too hard, felt something give in my arm, followed by numbness and then pain and weakness. Couldn't lift my water bottle to my mouth to drink without my arm collapsing after a few seconds. I didn't get an MRI as a MRI was not recommended as they were pretty confident it was a partial tear and it wouldn't really tell them much. If I didn't make enough progress through PT, they were going to send me for a surgery consult and MRI.

I am 23 and was not recommended surgery, but instead physical therapy. Started physical therapy July 10th and had my last PT appointment October 9th. My shoulder still gets a little weak/sore right now if I use it too much, but I am back serving close to 100%. Big thing is keeping up with strength training and stretches from what my PT told me. I was able to hit during my rehab process without pain, but avoided serving overhead until around the end of August.

If you are going to need surgery, I don't know the outcome. I wasn't super diligent with my PT past the first month and a half, but I have still made a good recovery. You are looking at 3 months of no serving at minimum (don't cheat unless you want to set yourself back). Again, I was told it was fine for me to rally as long as I didn't have pain and stopped when I was feeling sore.

Good luck. It is tough, but you can get through it. Also I recommend that when you start serving again (remember no cheating and serving earlier than they tell you) that you look at your technique to make sure you aren't doing something that is putting extra strain on that shoulder.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it's a partial tear that just needs physio and strengthening. Time to work on that underhand serve. Most people take 6-12 months to get serving overhead again in my experience.

 

[OnTheLine]

Thanks for the responses.
It has only been 2 days but right now couldn't even consider holding a racket.

@Firepandas seems like you had very nice recovery .... wish I could use you as a gauge but the 27 year age difference might skew my results. During rehab were you able to volley or hit overheads well or at all?

Perhaps I should just learn to be left handed?

Seems doc (who was recommended to me as he is known for recommending conservative approaches first) is expecting to book a surgical suite.

I asked about exercises ... response was nothing at all that touches/uses the shoulder.
Said I could walk but not run.
No biking as it puts stress on the shoulder
No lifting, no swimming
Nothing that uses arm above waist

I asked about PT ... says too early to consider as this is in the acute phase.

Note: I see/feel no swelling nor bruising

I did ask my fave coach about if he can teach an underhand serve .... he said most definitely!

 

[undecided]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

MRI usually doesn't show much, I had two on my rotator cuff, results were inconclusive. The MRI + ink works better but I think it's more invasive.

 

[Deleted member 765152]

@OnTheLine I was out of commission for a while as I could not even hold a racket due to arm pain and numbness.
After acupuncture treatment, I went back to playing only 1 - 2x a week, just 2 sets each time.
No more stiff rackets and poly for me. Full bed gut in a flexible racket.
Now I'm back to playing more than ever before. I played 8 sets last Fri under the sun, and then 5 more sets on Sat.
No hand/wrist/elbow/shoulder pain. Just dead legs.

 

[socallefty]

@OnTheLine
Good luck with your rehab. Weren’t you doing extra serve practice a lot recently as per your post in another thread? I wonder if that had anything to do with the injury happening right now. I tend to get niggling injuries with muscles on my side, back etc. when I do serve practice with multiple buckets of balls and also, get a sore shoulder especially if I use balls that are too old. Being over 50 myself, I decided a few years ago that the dangers of getting injured outweigh the benefits of practicing serves too much and set an upper limit of 25-30 serves when I hit serves as part of a drill session.

 

[travlerajm]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

Sorry to hear about that. I don't know the answer to your question. But the silver lining is that in the short-term you can still be very effective as an 8.0 mixed specialist with a sneaky-good low-bouncing underhand serve and no overhead.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

Sorry to hear. Let's hope the MRI is negative or that if there is a tear, it's very small.

I have a torn supraspinatus and labrum but was able to rehab to full strength and RoM without surgery. I think it took a solid 4 months of aggressive PT. But this was back in my 30s when the body was more pliable.

 

[OnTheLine]

@OnTheLine I was out of commission for a while as I could not even hold a racket due to arm pain and numbness.
After acupuncture treatment, I went back to playing only 1 - 2x a week, just 2 sets each time.
No more stiff rackets and poly for me. Full bed gut in a flexible racket.
Now I'm back to playing more than ever before. I played 8 sets last Fri under the sun, and then 5 more sets on Sat.
No hand/wrist/elbow/shoulder pain. Just dead legs.

Was this with PT and acupuncture only? I did acupuncture for TE a few years ago and it was magic
Define "a while"

@OnTheLine
Good luck with your rehab. Weren’t you doing extra serve practice a lot recently as per your post in another thread? I wonder if that had anything to do with the injury happening right now. I tend to get niggling injuries with muscles on my side, back etc. when I do serve practice with multiple buckets of balls and also, get a sore shoulder especially if I use balls that are too old. Being over 50 myself, I decided a few years ago that the dangers of getting injured outweigh the benefits of practicing serves too much and set an upper limit of 25-30 serves when I hit serves as part of a drill session.

Yes, but no more than I usually do. I usually practice serves 2-3 times a week for max 30 minutes each. This was about usual. BUT I did play more singles in the week prior to the injury. But had not been sore at all before.

Sorry to hear about that. I don't know the answer to your question. But the silver lining is that in the short-term you can still be very effective as an 8.0 mixed specialist with a sneaky-good low-bouncing underhand serve and no overhead.

I can't volley right now. If I can play an entire mixed match with only my backhand then perhaps.

Sorry to hear. Let's hope the MRI is negative or that if there is a tear, it's very small.

I have a torn supraspinatus and labrum but was able to rehab to full strength and RoM without surgery. I think it took a solid 4 months of aggressive PT. But this was back in my 30s when the body was more pliable.

Now that is a time table I might be able to work with ... 40+ starts in January so I would have to be better than you and do it in half the time!

 

[Firepandas]

Thanks for the responses.
It has only been 2 days but right now couldn't even consider holding a racket.

@Firepandas seems like you had very nice recovery .... wish I could use you as a gauge but the 27 year age difference might skew my results. During rehab were you able to volley or hit overheads well or at all?

Perhaps I should just learn to be left handed?

Seems doc (who was recommended to me as he is known for recommending conservative approaches first) is expecting to book a surgical suite.

I asked about exercises ... response was nothing at all that touches/uses the shoulder.
Said I could walk but not run.
No biking as it puts stress on the shoulder
No lifting, no swimming
Nothing that uses arm above waist

I asked about PT ... says too early to consider as this is in the acute phase.

Note: I see/feel no swelling nor bruising

I did ask my fave coach about if he can teach an underhand serve .... he said most definitely!

I couldn't hit overheads without pain immediately after completing the motion. Volleys I was fine with for the most part. You may not feel swelling, but I was very tender at certain spots. My PT recommended to roll a tennis ball against my back/shoulder until I found a tender spot and just hold it there for a little bit. For me the spot that was super sore/tender was right above and behind my armpit. Definitely had to roll that out a bunch.

 

[travlerajm]

Hope you heal up fast and get back on the court soon!

 

[Turbo-87]

Seems like anything shoulder-related takes about a year. I dislocated my left shoulder and it was close to a year before I regained full motion and strength. I didn't have surgery and rehabbed it on my own. It was probably 6 months before I could comfortably toss a ball for a serve but it felt loose on groundstrokes (I'm a righty with a ohbh) and was uncomfortable for weeks as I slowly recovered.

I wish you the best of luck. It can be frustrating knowing what you used to be able to do, but if you listen to the doctor and do everything right, you'll be back. Patience is key and that was admittedly hard for me, especially since I am an avid bodybuilder. You want to do too much to prove to yourself that you are getting better and that isn't good for the healing process.

 

[undecided]

I couldn't hit overheads without pain immediately after completing the motion. Volleys I was fine with for the most part. You may not feel swelling, but I was very tender at certain spots. My PT recommended to roll a tennis ball against my back/shoulder until I found a tender spot and just hold it there for a little bit. For me the spot that was super sore/tender was right above and behind my armpit. Definitely had to roll that out a bunch.

That's exactly where mine was tender. Extreme pain when I put a lot of pressure on that spot. My MRIs showed partial teat on infraspinatus and a posterior labral tear. Surgery was suggested. I spent 8 months rehabbing. On the 8th month I was able to hit groundstrokes again. I am still not serving though and I am on the 10th month. I had a PRP injection on the 6th month and the doc said that takes 6 months to fully heal so I won't start serving until then. The one time I tested the serve I had discomfort. Without hitting the ball I can perform the whole serve motion but when I make contact my shoulder complains still.

 

[OnTheLine]

This 8 months before hitting a groundstroke thing .... I don't like it.

 

[Firepandas]

This 8 months before hitting a groundstroke thing .... I don't like it.

The reality is that it depends on each person. I could hit ground strokes no problem 2 weeks after the injury. Someone else might need a lot longer. Listen to your body and take it easy.

 

[undecided]

This 8 months before hitting a groundstroke thing .... I don't like it.

If you check my threads you will see my saga. My shoulder went into 'frozen' mode. Extreme pain thus very limited range of motion.

 

[Devil_dog]

If you check my threads you will see my saga. My shoulder went into 'frozen' mode. Extreme pain thus very limited range of motion.

Same. Frozen shoulder syndrome. Mostly why it took longer for me to recover.

 

[travlerajm]

I am presently dealing with a frozen calf. Hopefully I can be back to full mobility within another month - I’m 2 weeks in after the acute upper calf tear and still hobbled.

 

[ollinger]

I don't think this will go well for the OP. Most of his posts here indicate a drive to speed up the process. 50 year old shoulders don't respond well to attempts at hasty healing.

 

[OnTheLine]

I don't think this will go well for the OP. Most of his posts here indicate a drive to speed up the process. 50 year old shoulders don't respond well to attempts at hasty healing.

First of all ... it is Her posts, not his.

Naturally, I do not want to have a long recovery, who would?

Perhaps my attempts at humor don't come across well.

My history indicates that I do know how to pace recovery of any major injury. Have done so with 2 ACL repairs (spaced over 10+ years).

If you rush it instead of a 6 month recovery it becomes a 12 month recovery. I am not a fool.

If I find out that this is more minor, I will be thrilled and attack any PT schedule presented to me.

 

[Stratotanker]

OnTheLine,

I wish you a quick recovery! I recovered from a rotator-cuff strain last year - no tear, but took me about 3 months to rehab. Good luck, be patient.

For anyone reading this thread over 30, if you're playing tennis regularly and not doing the Thrower's 10 and/or other shoulder pre-hab on a regular basis, you should ABSOLUTELY start that today. So little time invested, so much potential payoff.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Make sure you are 100% without any pain before doing physical stuff! Otherwise, you maybe back to square one....again in pain and visiting doctors, etc... You do not want that because you will be back to the same situation as before and no progress and hurt you mentally more the physically the second time around!

 

[OnTheLine]

Make sure you are 100% without any pain before doing physical stuff! Otherwise, you maybe back to square one....again in pain and visiting doctors, etc... You do not want that because you will be back to the same situation as before and no progress and hurt you mentally more the physically the second time around!

Although I totally understand and agree with your sentiment .... at over 50 it has been many years since I did physical stuff without ANY pain. There is always something.
But there is "wrong" pain and "expected" pain ...this is wrong pain. Never play through wrong pain.

 

[r2473]

OnTheLine,

I wish you a quick recovery! I recovered from a rotator-cuff strain last year - no tear, but took me about 3 months to rehab. Good luck, be patient.

For anyone reading this thread over 30, if you're playing tennis regularly and not doing the Thrower's 10 and/or other shoulder pre-hab on a regular basis, you should ABSOLUTELY start that today. So little time invested, so much potential payoff.

Prehab (otherwise known as an exercise routine) certainly should be part of your daily / weekly / monthly routine if you want to stay healthy, especially as you age.

And don't get carried away. Remember, 30 - 60 minutes of walking a day shows great health benefits. So do something similar with your resistance training. You're not trying to bench press 400 lbs.

 

[Harry_Wild]

You're not trying to bench press 400 lbs.

There still a lot of 60+ old that do 400+ lbs. I saw a video a couple of years ago, Hulk Hogan did 425 in a bench press. Sylvester Stallone rumor to do 280 lbs. bench press. But he looks it too! Shaq O’Neil can do what the Hulk can do too!

 

[ollinger]

Now that is a time table I might be able to work with

This 8 months before hitting a groundstroke thing .... I don't like it.

this is wrong pain. Never play through wrong pain

Tried to play through it

I am not a fool.

No, wouldn't want to do anything foolish

 

[OnTheLine]

No, wouldn't want to do anything foolish

Aren't you pleasant .... yes, when it happened I tried for 2 strokes to play through and then realized, no, this won't work. Stopped before point concluded.

I posted here to get an idea of what other's recovery time looked like as I know no one who has had something similar.

Naturally would like a shorter time period than a longer one. Does that somehow seem strange to you?

Thank you for your helpful comments. Oh ... since you can't understand humor... that comment is sarcasm.

 

[Shroud]

not a doctor but have played one on the USTA tour. Never had any shoulder issues related to tennis. Grabbing luggage one handed off the carousel? YUP.

Anyhow when you get better I highly recommend crossover symmetry for fixing the shoulder and making it injury proof.

Shoulder Package

Improve shoulder performance while reducing pain with the Crossover Symmetry Shoulder Package. Includes full access to Training Zone and other materials. Improve strength and mobility Prehab and rehab Use anywhere, any time Exclusive access to entire Shoulder Video Course Library 2...

crossoversymmetry.com

 

[OnTheLine]

not a doctor but have played one on the USTA tour. Never had any shoulder issues related to tennis. Grabbing luggage one handed off the carousel? YUP.

Anyhow when you get better I highly recommend crossover symmetry for fixing the shoulder and making it injury proof.

Shoulder Package

Improve shoulder performance while reducing pain with the Crossover Symmetry Shoulder Package. Includes full access to Training Zone and other materials. Improve strength and mobility Prehab and rehab Use anywhere, any time Exclusive access to entire Shoulder Video Course Library 2...

crossoversymmetry.com

Yes ... feeling ashamed that I did not comprehend that I was putting that much stress on the shoulder. Between your post and @Stratotanker on the Thrower's 10 ....
Realizing that I should have been doing that kind of strengthening all along.

 

[Shroud]

Yes ... feeling ashamed that I did not comprehend that I was putting that much stress on the shoulder. Between your post and @Stratotanker on the Thrower's 10 ....
Realizing that I should have been doing that kind of strengthening all along.

Yes. Imho shoulders are one of the worst injuries for a tennis player.

Throwers 10 is great. I got the crossover symmetry because its easier. All the gear and workouts are provided. There is even a video that shows common mistakes in form and how to correctly do things. Its more expensive but it was worth it for me.

Dont beat yourself up. Most rec players dont do any kind of prevention either. Sorry this happened and I am putting my money on you getting through this and being better. You can shoulder this injury no problem.

 

[haqq777]

Just left ortho office. Getting MRI scheduled.

Suspected acute tear.

Currently have pain even at rest. Cannot lift arm above head without pain and loss of strength. (like it collapses)

I know there is not much to go on here ... but what am I probably looking at in terms of time off court, length of rehab, ability for full recovery?
50 years old and highly determined.

Very sorry to hear. Hope you have a quick and smooth recovery. I had a partial tear in my supraspinatus tendon back in college in my early twenties. Was recommended PT and not surgery after doc looked at my MRI. I was back on court playing in 6/7 months serving back to usual but still a bit ginger in the area. I remember having the worse pain in some movements in the beginning. Also remember waking up in excruciating pain at times in the middle of the night because slept at wrong angle. It got better slowly but not something I fondly remember.

It has been 10+ years now though and somedays I can still feel a weird soreness. But nothing too crazy. Hoping you have it properly looked into and get advice from multiple doctors. Best of luck with your recovery!

 

[Chas Tennis]

You should be certain to get the written report from the MRI radiologist Dr. MRI's are hard to interpret but you might get the imaging also, the MRI imaging will make a MRI disc for you.

Read written report carefully and look up every term. Google: supraspinatus tendon pictures and all other terms that you do not understand.

I had a 10 mm full thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon. This is different than a complete rupture so that there is no connection. 10 mm divides small from large in may case. Less than 10 mm was small, greater than 10 mm was large.

For my full thickness tear the Dr said that surgery was best and told me why. I have read that partial tears may indicate physical therapy. There are many different shoulder injuries.

I would forget about what you want and hope that your diagnosis is one of the better injuries to have. My recovery after surgery was 9 months and then slowly back to tennis. At about 6 months I got a kidney stone that took 2-3 months to recover from so I can't tell you how it would have gone to the end. Mine was 6 months of maintaining recovering & maintaining range of motion mostly with stretching, and then I got the kidney stone when I was about to start gradual strength training.

I had night pains with an earlier shoulder rotator cuff injury. I could not find a position without pain. Two Dr's had no comments on my night pain. A physical therapist suggested that I look into ischemia (pain from lack of blood flow). The next time I had night pains I got up and moved around to get my blood circulating in a new shoulder position. It stopped the pain in about two minutes.

Your shoulder joint has has very high tendon forces because of the poor leverage. You don't want those large forces applied to a tendon that has been sutured back onto the bone. These surgeries can fail. The literature from my Dr office indicated that they did not recommend redoing 'unsuccessful' outcomes. Whether outcomes were likely to be successful or unsuccessful for my injury depended on its size, a 10 mm small full thickness tear was estimated at 95% and getting lower as the size went up.

Don't take any of my experience as applying to your unknown injury.

You should study the posts on the Ellenbecker recommendation for how to hold the upper arm to the shoulder joint. Too high and and for the high level serve it increases the chance of impingement. Overhead are normally simialr to the serve for the high level technique. I have posted on this many times,

 

[OnTheLine]

You should be certain to get the written report from the MRI radiologist Dr. MRI's are hard to interpret but you might get the imaging also, the MRI imaging will make a MRI disc for you.

Read written report carefully and look up every term. Google: supraspinatus tendon pictures and all other terms that you do not understand.

I had a 10 mm full thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon. This is different than a complete rupture so that there is no connection. 10 mm divides small from large in may case. Less than 10 mm was small, greater than 10 mm was large.

For my full thickness tear the Dr said that surgery was best and told me why. I have read that partial tears may indicate physical therapy. There are many different shoulder injuries.

I would forget about what you want and hope that your diagnosis is one of the better injuries to have. My recovery after surgery was 9 months and then slowly back to tennis. At about 6 months I got a kidney stone that took 2-3 months to recover from so I can't tell you how it would have gone to the end. Mine was 6 months of maintaining recovering & maintaining range of motion mostly with stretching, and then I got the kidney stone when I was about to start gradual strength training.

I had night pains with an earlier shoulder rotator cuff injury. I could not find a position without pain. Two Dr's had no comments on my night pain. A physical therapist suggested that I look into ischemia (pain from lack of blood flow). The next time I had night pains I got up and moved around to get my blood circulating in a new shoulder position. It stopped the pain in about two minutes.

Your shoulder joint has has very high tendon forces because of the poor leverage. You don't want those large forces applied to a tendon that has been sutured back onto the bone. These surgeries can fail. The literature from my Dr office indicated that they did not recommend redoing 'unsuccessful' outcomes. Whether outcomes were likely to be successful or unsuccessful for my injury depended on its size, a 10 mm small full thickness tear was estimated at 95% and getting lower as the size went up.

Don't take any of my experience as applying to your unknown injury.

You should study the posts on the Ellenbecker recommendation for how to hold the upper arm to the shoulder joint. Too high and and for the high level serve it increases the chance of impingement. Overhead are normally simialr to the serve for the high level technique. I have posted on this many times,

Thanks for the detailed response.

About 2 years ago I had the night pains saga ... not really pain, but numbness and tingling in the same shoulder/arm. Corrected with chiropractic on my neck.

Sorry for the kidney stone ... had that while pregnant and it was a most miserable experience.

I am a week post injury and most of my pain is currently in my bicep and less so in the shoulder itself. But the whole joint just feels odd.

Looking forward to getting some clues/answers this week.

 

[AlexSV]

I would be concerned about going from a lot of exercise through tennis to no exercise. If you let your entire body sit waiting for your shoulder, you will have a tough time coming back.

I would get on the bike, and start bodyweight exercises (should be able to squat, lunge, calf raises). Keep moving and try to keep some basic flexibility and strength.

 

[OnTheLine]

I would be concerned about going from a lot of exercise through tennis to no exercise. If you let your entire body sit waiting for your shoulder, you will have a tough time coming back.

I would get on the bike, and start bodyweight exercises (should be able to squat, lunge, calf raises). Keep moving and try to keep some basic flexibility and strength.

I would be concerned about going from a lot of exercise through tennis to no exercise. If you let your entire body sit waiting for your shoulder, you will have a tough time coming back.

I would get on the bike, and start bodyweight exercises (should be able to squat, lunge, calf raises). Keep moving and try to keep some basic flexibility and strength.

AMEN! After my 1st 2 days of just feeling sorry for myself, now walking 3 miles each day, plus isometric strength work (wall sits, lunges, squats, ab work) ... added "fast feet" ladder work yesterday ... didn't seem to bug the shoulder and was actually fun.
And with the drop in more intense on-court time, dropped my caloric intake as well. Will figure this out!

 

[Chas Tennis]

Thanks for the detailed response.

About 2 years ago I had the night pains saga ... not really pain, but numbness and tingling in the same shoulder/arm. Corrected with chiropractic on my neck.

Sorry for the kidney stone ... had that while pregnant and it was a most miserable experience.

I am a week post injury and most of my pain is currently in my bicep and less so in the shoulder itself. But the whole joint just feels odd.

Looking forward to getting some clues/answers this week.

If you had numbness and tingling it sounds like a nerve issue is one possibility. Look up nerve maps and they can often associate numbness and tingling with locations that might pinch nerves. I have never had a nerve pinch. My son would get one when he worked out for a time. Two fingers on his hand would get numb. The nerve map identified the nerve causing the issue. Note- there may be other causes of numbness or tingling including blood circulation, so see a Dr.

The biceps has one tendon that goes above the shoulder joint to connect on the labrum of the shoulder joint. That biceps tendon can tear near the labrum. The biceps tendon can be completely detached. The labrum may be damaged. You need to see a well qualified specialist and find out what is wrong.

You should get your injury diagnosed now. Maybe treatment has to be done soon after a biceps injury. ?? - I talked to an injured player that waited too long. ??????

I have no medical training. I've never had a torn biceps tendon.

Search a SLAP tear. Google: SLAP tear pictures

My Shoulder Superior Labrum is Torn: Do I Need Surgery? - Shoulder & Elbow

Labrum: A Latin word you will hear, here and there, around the hip, and around the shoulder. Did you know that the word “Labrum” means “lip (or lip-like)”? Many individuals with shoulder pain are told that they have a torn labrum, usually based on an imaging study called magnetic resonance...

shoulderelbow.org

Johns Hopkins has some good references on shoulder injuries.

There are many shoulder injuries and all need a Dr to diagnose. Don't diagnose or treat yourself from the internet.

Biceps Tendon Tear at the Shoulder - OrthoInfo - AAOS

Your biceps tendons attach the biceps muscle to bones in your shoulder and in your elbow. If you tear your biceps tendon at the shoulder, you may lose some strength in your arm and have pain when you forcefully turn your arm from palm down to palm up.

orthoinfo.aaos.org

 

[OnTheLine]

If you had numbness and tingling it sounds like a nerve issue is one possibility. Look up nerve maps and they can often associate numbness and tingling with locations that might pinch nerves. I have never had a nerve pinch. My son would get one when he worked out for a time. Two fingers on his hand would get numb. The nerve map identified the nerve causing the issue. Note- there may be other causes of numbness or tingling including blood circulation, so see a Dr.

The biceps has one tendon that goes above the shoulder joint to connect on the labrum of the shoulder joint. That biceps tendon can tear near the labrum. The biceps tendon can be completely detached. The labrum may be damaged. You need to see a well qualified specialist and find out what is wrong.

You should get your injury diagnosed now. Maybe treatment has to be done soon after a biceps injury. ?? - I talked to an injured player that waited too long. ??????

I have no medical training. I've never had a torn biceps tendon.

Search a SLAP tear. Google: SLAP tear pictures

My Shoulder Superior Labrum is Torn: Do I Need Surgery? - Shoulder & Elbow

Labrum: A Latin word you will hear, here and there, around the hip, and around the shoulder. Did you know that the word “Labrum” means “lip (or lip-like)”? Many individuals with shoulder pain are told that they have a torn labrum, usually based on an imaging study called magnetic resonance...

shoulderelbow.org

Johns Hopkins has some good references on shoulder injuries.

There are many shoulder injuries and all need a Dr to diagnose. Don't diagnose or treat yourself from the internet.

Biceps Tendon Tear at the Shoulder - OrthoInfo - AAOS

Your biceps tendons attach the biceps muscle to bones in your shoulder and in your elbow. If you tear your biceps tendon at the shoulder, you may lose some strength in your arm and have pain when you forcefully turn your arm from palm down to palm up.

orthoinfo.aaos.org

MRI is tomorrow ... follow up appointment with shoulder ortho is Friday ....

 

[undecided]

MRI is tomorrow ... follow up appointment with shoulder ortho is Friday ....

I don't want to scare you but the MRI will be very painful. You may want to pop a couple of advils before you go in. It was the 1st MRI I've ever had that brought me very close to pushing the 'let me out of here' button. For some reason injured shoulders do not like to be in the immobilized position for too long.

 

[Turbo-87]

AMEN! After my 1st 2 days of just feeling sorry for myself, now walking 3 miles each day, plus isometric strength work (wall sits, lunges, squats, ab work) ... added "fast feet" ladder work yesterday ... didn't seem to bug the shoulder and was actually fun.
And with the drop in more intense on-court time, dropped my caloric intake as well. Will figure this out!

That's great. Work everything else you can because it will be good for the mind and body. The end result will be so much better.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I don't want to scare you but the MRI will be very painful. You may want to pop a couple of advils before you go in. It was the 1st MRI I've ever had that brought me very close to pushing the 'let me out of here' button. For some reason injured shoulders do not like to be in the immobilized position for too long.

No problem with mine. I actually fell asleep because it was so boring [and loud: it's like sitting next to a drummer practicing].

 

[socallefty]

Once you are over 50, every MRI you take on any part of your body will show some structural damage either degenerative from arthritis or some acute injury from the past that you have been living with. Surgeons always will use it as a reason to recommend surgery as that‘s how they can buy boats, take tropical vacations and pay for their holiday home. I would suggest that you always exhaust all avenues for conservative recovery using rest and physical therapy before you agree to do surgery.

I have had surgeons want to do surgeries on both my knees, my back, my neck and my shoulder over the last twenty years after doing MRIs. I agreed only to do one knee surgery and I don’t think it helped much. I’m still able to play every day in spite of the arthritic damage to all my joints because I have done a lot of physical therapy over the years.

 

[Chas Tennis]

MRI is tomorrow ... follow up appointment with shoulder ortho is Friday ....

I hope that you can study the MRI radiologist's written report. You can do some homework and it should help you when you visit your Dr.

I just got an MRI and the imaging lab did not want me to see my written report until my Dr had seen it. That was the first time that happened in my many imaging experiences.

 

[undecided]

I hope that you can study the MRI radiologist's written report. You can do some homework and it should help you when you visit your Dr.

I just got an MRI and the imaging lab did not want me to see my written report until my Dr had seen it. That was the first time that happened in my many imaging experiences.

Same with mine, no idea why....

 

[OnTheLine]

Once you are over 50, every MRI you take on any part of your body will show some structural damage either degenerative from arthritis or some acute injury from the past that you have been living with. Surgeons always will use it as a reason to recommend surgery as that‘s how they can buy boats, take tropical vacations and pay for their holiday home. I would suggest that you always exhaust all avenues for conservative recovery using rest and physical therapy before you agree to do surgery.

I have had surgeons want to do surgeries on both my knees, my back, my neck and my shoulder over the last twenty years after doing MRIs. I agreed only to do one knee surgery and I don’t think it helped much. I’m still able to play every day in spite of the arthritic damage to all my joints because I have done a lot of physical therapy over the years.

Totally agree. My favorite from a few years ago (10?) was waiting for the knee ortho to come in with MRI results ... he did not look up from the chart and said, "let's schedule a double knee replacement asap". I was pissed. Asked him to look at me (in front of 2 interns) and tell me why I would do that, when he hadn't even spoken with me, only looked at a chart and not the person in his office.

 

[OnTheLine]

I hope that you can study the MRI radiologist's written report. You can do some homework and it should help you when you visit your Dr.

I just got an MRI and the imaging lab did not want me to see my written report until my Dr had seen it. That was the first time that happened in my many imaging experiences.

I hope so too ... but timing may be a problem. My MRI is late tonight and my follow up appointment is tomorrow morning (I thought Friday but just got reminder text and had date wrong).

I can be the right combination of sweet and pushy to usually get the medical records that I want. Most radiologist and labs will fight to withhold them from you. But given that it is the last MRI of the day at 7pm the report may not be done right then.

 

[Shroud]

Am I the only one with sympathy pains? Shoulder hurt 2 nights ago from sleeping and the left one got weak for a second. Right one is sore today too. From sleeping. Sad

I had an MRI once and it just came back saying "Old"...