Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Rotator cuff tear. Anyone had this?

Anyone gone through a rotator cuff injury and rehab before? Looks like the program is rest, NSAIDs, ice, then heat after a few days, then physical therapy. The pain is something else. Popped the damn shoulder lifting a small Kubota diesel engine off the floor. Heard and felt it "pop" and pull. Any idea how long the acute pain lasts? TIA

yepper.you need an mri to see how torn it is. if its not torn all the way off, pt and rest will work but it could be months if not years. if its ripped in half like mine, surgery time. my experience sucked and for a year or so afterwards i wondered if i did the right thing. it took 2-3 years before mine felt right. still hurts if i do certain things but i have 100% motion and probably 75% strength.

It lasts for several days , depending on how much you use your arm. Take a day off the arm and then start your rehab. Swing your arm up , and pull it up. Use your fingers to help it crawl up a wall. Use your other arm to help raise it. The pain will soften a little every day but you will notice it for months, but not all the time, just when you use it wrong.

Oh Lordy, yes. I ripped mine (too tedious to describe) and could hardly raise my left arm above chest high. Had to undergo the torture of physical therapy from a sadist. The only relief I got was from electrical muscle stimulation. After the torture ended, I bought a Prospera electronic pulse massager, which I highly recommend. (If you get one, search for replacement pads)

Golf also helped a lot, happily. As long as I don't try to kill the ball, a smooth swing is much better than PT ever was.

Only a small tear discovered when I had bursitis treated. I was told it's fairly common for guy's my vintage to have these small tears without causing issues (yet?)

I tore two of the four rotator muscles completely off the bone 13 months ago when I fell 15' off a roof. After the surgery I experienced little pain and rehab went fine. There is no need for tortuous rehab - find someone you click with and rock on. I've got about 75% of my strength back with little aches and pains.

An orthopedic surgeon will tell you that it can only be fixed with surgery. Don't believe it. Nine times out of ten, physical therapy alone is as effective as surgery combined with physical therapy, and often more so. That tissue can actually heal with time and therapy.

Rotator cuff tears don't heal.

That's what they tell you. Believe what you like, but it actually can. It's just very slow to heal.

Thanks guys. 'Preciate it.

Surgery is usually the answer depending on severity. Celebrex helps alot as well

Have had the surgery for one about 13 years ago, and have another one torn now. Surgery will be my last option, as I suffered the first time from not being able to sleep with my arm in the sling, and from having to wipe my azz with my left hand. Going to the doctor in a few weeks to see what we're going to do this time.

I injured mine in a bad mountain bike crash. The blood from the tear eventually drained all the way down to my foot (underneath the skin) on the injured side. I was unable to raise my left arm up and put it on the armrest in my pickup (had to use my other arm to do it). Washing my hair, brushing my teeth, and anything else I’d previously used both arms to do...I was only able to use my injured arm to do. It took tincture of time more than anything else to heal. I’d use ibuprofen, Voltaren topically, and stay active...I’d use that injured shoulder/arm for any type of activities of daily living or exercise that I could. I didn’t think it’d ever heal. It did. Eventually. I wanted ‘nothing’ to do with shoulder surgery. I made the right decision for myself. It took a good 6 to 8 months to completely heal from that injury. It was 8 years ago when the injury occurred.

Yep.

My old man tore both of his lifting and moving stuff a near 60 year old man shouldn’t be moving and lifting. He had the left one done first as it was worse and he figured he could cope with his only good arm being his dominant one. It was miserable for him, PT was torturous but he stuck with it to keep from losing range of motion permanently. 2 years later and he still hurts but not as bad, right side is not even on the table. He claims he’ll go to the grave with the right one still torn as he isn’t doing the surgery/PT drill again.

Good luck

Yup, it isn’t fun. Messed up my golf swing and forced me to switch to a crossbow almost 7 years ago.

I did physical therapy for about 2 months - that little sweety pressing her boobs against my shoulder blade made it feel much better!

Time is not your friend on this. I'd get the MRI done PDQ and then get in front of the doc about your surgery options. Then REALLY execute against the physical therapy post surgery.

I have had surgery on my right rotator cuff following an obvious slip and fall on an ice-overed driveway. Aside from the incredible jarring pain, it took months to recover after surgery. But I did. I'll guess 85% -ish of a recovery vs previously...at best.

My other shoulder was a different situation: A couple years later after my right rotator cuff surgery l fell down a set off stairs and rolled to a stop. Instant raw pain on my left rotator cuff...aww F**k. But when I did the MRI the doc told me that two of my four rotator cuffs (the tendon part) on the left hand side had already shrivelled up and died from some prevoius injury I was not aware of and hence were not repairable. I had waited too long to address them previously. So I still suffer through that: I have perhaps 30% utilization of that shoulder.

Bottom line: pursue this before you are SOL. Good luck with it!!!!!

Read that stem cell treatment can be of
great benefit for RCT.

Looking at the symptoms of RCT,
it's likely I had some level of such
some yrs ago - but didn't realize it
at the time.

Interesting comment. Elaboration? ...with thanks

Medical degree?