Rotator cuff recovery?
Discussion
Has anyone here had rotator cuff injuries?
How did you recover, rest/injections/surgery etc?
I'm having problems with both shoulders, but its mainly my left that is the worse. The pain starts as soon i start to warm up and i cant even get near the weights i was at before the injury. Any pressing exercise is very painful even with light weight.
I have been having physio since about September/October but have had no luck at all. i'm the same now as i was last year.
Has anyone had the injections and how did you find it?
If you had the surgery how long was the recovery before you could use your shoulder as normal?
How did you recover, rest/injections/surgery etc?
I'm having problems with both shoulders, but its mainly my left that is the worse. The pain starts as soon i start to warm up and i cant even get near the weights i was at before the injury. Any pressing exercise is very painful even with light weight.
I have been having physio since about September/October but have had no luck at all. i'm the same now as i was last year.
Has anyone had the injections and how did you find it?
If you had the surgery how long was the recovery before you could use your shoulder as normal?
Ah, my thread has arrived...
I've had injuries to both sides in the past 6 years. I'd had very occasional stiffness previously (oo err) but it was impacts that turned things nasty.
Right side - fell on ice with my arm down my side, so shoulder took the impact.
NHS Sussex took what appears to be their standard approach of doing as little as they can get away with for as long as possible :- come back in 6 weeks if it doesn't get better with anti-inflammatories -> let's try a bit of physio (had to pay for that, or wait at least 6 months) -> steroid injection (which completely froze my shoulder) -> more pills -> ultrasound scan -> more physio, etc. - and, finally an X-ray that showed small bone spurs encroaching into the joint. All of which took 18 months!
So they finally accepted that an op was needed and I had a "sub-acromial decompression" and that was it, sorted. Back in the day they would slice the muscle to get at the joint (and I believe some NHS hospitals still do) but this was keyhole surgery to remove the bone spurs, no muscles were harmed, and pretty much back to normality within 10 days - full movement without the pain. RHS has been fine ever since.
Left side - took a fall windsurfing, stretched out trying to hold on as wiped out and slammed shoulder into the board.
NHS Dorset were clearly all set to take the same approach, so I paid for X-ray and scan straight off which showed no suspect bone spurs and no muscle tears so I went the physio route after another futile steroid injection (this one just did nothing, as opposed to freeze the joint solid). After about 6 months of physio, with 2 different NHS physios (both good, but with slightly different approaches), it started to ease up but it's been a long (18 months now) slog and I probably have 95% movement back in the joint.
Two things that have helped recovery / helped cope :-
- Improving posture; if you spend a lot of time at a desk, your shoulders may well "slump" forward more than you realise. Working on back muscles (bent-over flys, rows, etc.) in particular to draw your shoulder back, and shoulders and chest also, made a big difference.
- Using an elliptical x-trainer. I had one of these anyway, and found the way they work your shoulder really helps to loosen it up / warm it up without stressing it.
TL/DR
- You need to know exactly what the problem is; if it's bone spurs (which are not uncommon) then no amount of physio or injections is going to help. So, if you've not already, I'd eliminate/confirm that possibility with an X-ray (and maybe ultrasound to check for torn soft tissue/muscle - also sometimes requiring a small op to fix).
- YMMV, but the injections didn't work for me, and there is a risk (which increases significantly with multiple use) of them causing additional damage to your cuff. I wouldn't bother again TBH.
- Incorporate some time on an elliptical into your routine (daily if you can).
And I found a book on Amazon called "Treat your own rotator cuff"; which helped to understand what was going on. Complicated things shoulders, so they can take a while to sort out. It might just be that you have to keep working at it.
HTH, Dave
I've had injuries to both sides in the past 6 years. I'd had very occasional stiffness previously (oo err) but it was impacts that turned things nasty.
Right side - fell on ice with my arm down my side, so shoulder took the impact.
NHS Sussex took what appears to be their standard approach of doing as little as they can get away with for as long as possible :- come back in 6 weeks if it doesn't get better with anti-inflammatories -> let's try a bit of physio (had to pay for that, or wait at least 6 months) -> steroid injection (which completely froze my shoulder) -> more pills -> ultrasound scan -> more physio, etc. - and, finally an X-ray that showed small bone spurs encroaching into the joint. All of which took 18 months!
So they finally accepted that an op was needed and I had a "sub-acromial decompression" and that was it, sorted. Back in the day they would slice the muscle to get at the joint (and I believe some NHS hospitals still do) but this was keyhole surgery to remove the bone spurs, no muscles were harmed, and pretty much back to normality within 10 days - full movement without the pain. RHS has been fine ever since.
Left side - took a fall windsurfing, stretched out trying to hold on as wiped out and slammed shoulder into the board.
NHS Dorset were clearly all set to take the same approach, so I paid for X-ray and scan straight off which showed no suspect bone spurs and no muscle tears so I went the physio route after another futile steroid injection (this one just did nothing, as opposed to freeze the joint solid). After about 6 months of physio, with 2 different NHS physios (both good, but with slightly different approaches), it started to ease up but it's been a long (18 months now) slog and I probably have 95% movement back in the joint.
Two things that have helped recovery / helped cope :-
- Improving posture; if you spend a lot of time at a desk, your shoulders may well "slump" forward more than you realise. Working on back muscles (bent-over flys, rows, etc.) in particular to draw your shoulder back, and shoulders and chest also, made a big difference.
- Using an elliptical x-trainer. I had one of these anyway, and found the way they work your shoulder really helps to loosen it up / warm it up without stressing it.
TL/DR
- You need to know exactly what the problem is; if it's bone spurs (which are not uncommon) then no amount of physio or injections is going to help. So, if you've not already, I'd eliminate/confirm that possibility with an X-ray (and maybe ultrasound to check for torn soft tissue/muscle - also sometimes requiring a small op to fix).
- YMMV, but the injections didn't work for me, and there is a risk (which increases significantly with multiple use) of them causing additional damage to your cuff. I wouldn't bother again TBH.
- Incorporate some time on an elliptical into your routine (daily if you can).
And I found a book on Amazon called "Treat your own rotator cuff"; which helped to understand what was going on. Complicated things shoulders, so they can take a while to sort out. It might just be that you have to keep working at it.
HTH, Dave
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff