Shoulder/ rotator cuff injury

**altered genetics** · 03-21-2015, 12:09 AM

Wondering what your guys experience is with this what I can do to have it heal faster, I went to the chiropractor a few times but I find its just a money grab and not assisting much. Was iceing it for awhile and should probably start doing it more again. Valteren cream helps a bit too. Pressing maneuvers seem to be what really effects it. I can get through my other workouts minus chest / shoulders obviously. Took about a week and a half off from the gym now on holiday but it doesn't seem to be healing as fast as Id like it to worried about losing gains.. Wondering if maybe tb500 or something would be worth a try

**DB1982** · 03-21-2015, 05:02 AM

TB500 definitely eased the inflammation and discomfort.
Time off helped alot. Then I adjusted my routine to stay away from movements that trigger pain.
I drop all my shoulder weights to a poundage that was comfortable. Higher reps lower weight.
After every work out. I now ice my shoulder and take ibprophen.

I'll never be back to where I was before the injury. But at least I'm back in the gym.

Good luck buddy.

**600@50** · 03-21-2015, 01:12 PM

I've had 5 torn rotator cuffs. None torn completely. Never had surgery. It took at least a year to be relatively pain free. More like a year and a half for full recovery. I went to a chiropractor numerous times to reset the shoulder in the socket and to reposition the bicep tendon into the groove. It didn't help the pain initially but I believe helped recovery long term. It takes a while to recover from a serious shoulder injury with or without surgery. Take your time and don't push too hard. You'll know when you have so back off some. MSM 5 grams daily has done wonders for my joints. And stop ALL overhead shoulder work for a few weeks. Best of luck.

**NACH3** · 03-21-2015, 03:13 PM

^^^ I couldn't agree more w/both statements!

I wasn't able to do overhead anything as my ROM is horrible(but have found ways to do so)... But it's taken quite a long time to heal... Like above rest is key, you may lose some gains in those areas but remember to further increase your gains you'll need to recover the best you can! If you can try PT and don't do surgery if you don't have to! Just my experience that it's weakened my joint very much but mine is a lil different... Below is what I've done too it... And this happened over 15 yrs ago(hlf my life) and I've just been able to start heavy-ish lol Military Press(not straight up but a touch declined from upright)... Don't do anything that produces pain...

I've torn my labrum in hlf/& 3 other tears(labrum), as well as tearing that RC! I've had 3 surgeries lost 85% of all connective tissue(& they took my R, Biceps tendon to restructure labrum) now needing a total reverse joint replacement...

So just take er easy and listen to your body!

Best of luck!!!

**Chauffeur** · 03-21-2015, 11:40 PM

A week and a half isn't even close to enough time for most shoulder injuries to resolve. The shitty reality is that this could very well be something that takes several months to fix (assuming that there isn't something more serious going on in there).

Anyone who has dealt with a shoulder injury will tell you the same thing...listen to your body! Pushing through a shoulder injury is a recipe for disaster. Many of us who have had serious shoulder injuries made things much worse by trying to power through.

My advice would be to seek out a really good physical therapist to help you with this before it becomes a chronic injury. Find a guy who works with athletes, not just some budget clinic who specializes in treating old folks. He should be able to get you moving in the right direction.

If it doesn't improve after PT it would make sense to have an MRA to see if there is a more serious injury that needs special attention.

**altered genetics** · 03-21-2015, 11:48 PM

Thanks for the responses guys! I'll try going light when I start again I'll take a couple weeks off from it though. And I'll just keep iceing it I guess, wouldn't want to cause any further damage. I'll hold off for abit on the tb500 always have wanted to try it though, since I read a few of the treads about it on this forum

**GirlyGymRat** · 03-22-2015, 07:43 AM

i think you have to stop and rest that shoulder for more than a couple of weeks. i had rc surgery. recovery sux! lots of rehab.

**600@50** · 03-22-2015, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by altered genetics

Thanks for the responses guys! I'll try going light when I start again I'll take a couple weeks off from it though. And I'll just keep iceing it I guess, wouldn't want to cause any further damage. I'll hold off for abit on the tb500 always have wanted to try it though, since I read a few of the treads about it on this forum

You can go to the gym just NO overhead or direct shoulder work. If it hurts STOP. And ice it after every workout. After back. After legs. After anything. Ice it several times a day. Occasionally apply heat and see how it responds. If positively to the heat then apply both ice and heat. If it doesn't respond well to the heat then give it a couple of weeks and try again. You may need an MRI just to find out the damage. Give it some time and you'll know if you need one or not. Best of luck man. This could literally take a year or more to fully recover. Hopefully it's just strained and not an actual tear.

**altered genetics** · 03-24-2015, 11:03 PM

Yeah I've been icing it, seems to be helping ! Maybe I'll try applying heat to it, gotta get one of those microwave heat packs I guess been just using frozen water bottles! Was going to get an MRI or x-ray to check it out with a doc but I got impatient waiting in the waiting room for five hours and left.. Canadian health care is free but low budget and not enough doctors shit service unless your issue is urgent or you book an appointment. Worked back today, it went pretty good! Debating on trying a light weight chest workout tomorrow, won't go any heavier then 200 for high reps might start at 100 see how that feels and slowly ramp my way up and warm up with the bar. But I'm still undecided see how I feel when I'm done work tomorrow

**lovbyts** · 03-25-2015, 02:29 AM

Personally, I would not use heat for at least a couple of weeks after injurty to help heal but if there is any pain from inflammation or just after working out or stretching stick to ice. Heat feels good briefly but worse after.

You can use a sports cream or rub that produces heat but that's all I would do for a while.

**altered genetics** · 03-25-2015, 11:08 PM

I also have been using valteren regularly seems to help a bit! Tried bench press today, happy I decided to start with the bar .. Even that hurt a bit. Decided to try deadlifts and they actually went quite well didn't hurt at all and I got a shoulder pump, hadn't seen shoulder veins in awhile

not very big on deadlifting! I was just doing stiff leg deads for the longest time but I think I'm gonna start doing them regularly to try and make up for the lack of chest and shoulder workouts ! Managed to do 400 for 4 reps, thought that was pretty good considering I haven't done them in over a year lol

**tarmyg** · 04-08-2015, 04:14 AM

Just started having this problem and will need to take a few weeks off Shoulder and Traps exercises.

**GirlyGymRat** · 04-13-2015, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by tarmyg

Just started having this problem and will need to take a few weeks off Shoulder and Traps exercises.

May require more then a few weeks. :/

**lovbyts** · 04-14-2015, 12:14 AM

Guys, when it comes to shoulders, YES it takes more than a couple of weeks, more like a couple of months minimum.

I did the same thing and kept pushing it until I could not lift my arm above my head anymore without weight. STOP all over head lifting. Give it a few months to heal. Dont be afraid to jump on TB500, it's one of the few things that will really help.

Dont do any cycle or jump on aas thinking it will heal you faster. Most likely it will give you a false feeling of strength and you will do more damage.

Ice is very good to help keep down inflammation especially right after lifting. Try not to do anything heavy that involves shoulders, which is most everything. Yeah it sucks but it's better than the alternatives. I'm post 2 years from surgery and my shoulder is still not anywhere near what it use to be.