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  1. #1
    SidVicious77 is offline Associate Member
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    May 2013
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    157

    SLAP tear surgery absolutely required?

    Hi guys. I had a motorcycle accident about eight months ago when a moron took a sudden right turn from the left lane and crashed into me when I was going straight ahead at 60kmph.
    Incredibly stupid I know, but I kept working out even though my shoulder would hurt like a b####, in fact made some good progress on my incline and shoulder pressing. When the pain didnt reduce after ignoring it I finally went to an ortho and had an mri done (on my suggestion, he was inclined to just go based on my symptoms and prescribe a couple weeks of ultrasound therapy). Findings... fracture of the glenoid rim, impingement and tendonitis of the supraspinatus, SLAP tear with bankart lesion. The ortho's suggestion was to avoid exercise for a while, which again stupidly I did for all of two weeks before jumping back in. One change I did make is shorten the ROM on presses to the relatively pain free top 2 thirds.
    All this dumbness because I was on cycle and didnt want to waste that, hate losing muscle because I was always picked on for being skinny and this idiotic mindset that pain is something to be pushed through.
    Finally hit me I was being reckless, so Ive been out of the gym the last month, feeling like crap because Im down 15 pounds of muscle already.
    I also got my ortho to refer me to a shoulder specialist, who thinks I should get it operated on ASAP if I want to keep lifting. He also says I wont be able to get back to a 100% even with the surgery.
    In the past month, the pain has come down 90% and the tendonitis from the impingement has also seemed to ease off.
    So do I really need the surgery? I instinctively want to avoid it but maybe thats yet more stupidity. Caught in two minds here... the job im in right now has a pretty good medical insurance so I can get the surgery mostly covered, which I might not get if I put it off till later.. but then Im not sure I trust the docs here in India to do a proper job of it and the pain is almost gone... etc etc
    Sorry for the long read. Would much appreciate any inputs, especially anyone whos gone through the surgery as to what I can ecpect, etc.

  2. #2
    SidVicious77 is offline Associate Member
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    May 2013
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    Bump for anyone who's gone through something similar...

  3. #3
    SLOOPY is offline New Member
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    Jun 2013
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    its not a necessity to get surgery and it might not help that much. the labrum serves to help with rotation in the shoulder and helps stabilize movements of the shoulder joint. I would recommend strengthening all muscles around the shoulder joint with lighter weights and see how it feels.

  4. #4
    SidVicious77 is offline Associate Member
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    May 2013
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    157
    Thanks for the response, mate. I'm starting to lean towards getting the surgery because both biceps and triceps tendons originate from the labrum and I have a blankart lesion as well... cant even do bodyweight dips without feeling like its going to rip right out. Plus Ive had multiple shoulder dislocations in the past.
    You're right, strengthening up my external rotators reduced the pain a lot, but just not enough, and I don't want to be stuck doing light weights the rest of my life. I like going heavy (at least heavy for me). Besides the procedure is totally covered by insurance, so won't be out of pocket.
    I'll probably start a recovery log after I'm back in the gym in case anyone's going through something similar.
    Any other knowledgeable members want to chime in? I'm all ears.

  5. #5
    SidVicious77 is offline Associate Member
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    May 2013
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    157
    So I had surgery done on my shoulder Tuesday. 5 anchors put into anterior and posterior labrum, and an AC joint resection where they burred away the bones a couple of mm to increase space in the joint. The doc also said there was significant arthritic damage to the humeral head, so they performed radio frequency ablation on it to smooth it down. Plus they also had to perform a tenotomy on the long head of the bicep. Basically snipping it off.
    For all that, they sent me home the same day.
    Pain is bearable, though the last two nights I've had to sleep sitting up on the sofa. :-(
    Doc says the surgery went well and I should be able to eventually get back to a 100% in the gym, though for now I'm not even supposed to drive for the next couple of months.
    All in all, glad I had it done, but would have been happier to have an intact biceps tendon.

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