Anyone out there recovered from a torn labrum?

Hey all,

I'm 4 months removed from an OTB accident, and 7 weeks removed from surgery to repair the shoulder labrum torn in said accident. So far so good, but I wanted to get some feedback from fellow riders out there that may have experienced the same thing.

My doc says absolutely no riding for at least 4-6 month after the surgery to allow the shoulder to fully heal, and at least 6-8 months after the surgery to protect it from impact. Does this jive with what you were told?

After your sling came off, what kind of PT were you doing? How often?

How long until your arm felt "normal" again?

How is riding now? Do you take any protective measures ie braces, pads, etc...?

I've scoured the internet, but the majority of info out there pertains to pitchers and old folks, not those who suffered a sudden impact.

Thanks in advance,

Willsy

 

Try this thread: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/rider-down/65401-riding-torn-rotator-cuff.html


The bicep tendon is the tricky one. If it is only partially torn, you're looking at 6 weeks recovery, if it is totally detached (as mine was), the recovery is longer. During the surgery, they staple the tendon to the bone then immobilize it to allow it to bond.

I had the surgery while I was in the Army. It took me 6 months to get my range of motion back. That is with two hours/three days a week of physical therapy/torture for six months. It took another six months to get full strength back.

I swore at the time that if it happened again, I would just live with it. Now that the memory has faded, I'm glad I had it fixed. I had lived with constant pain for almost two years prior to the surgery.

Your insurance will probably not cover that kind of physical therapy so you may end up with motion and strength issues as described by PF.

 

Had to look it up to realize that I had a torn labrum (I think).

I'm the OP in the thread Eric referenced above. I am six months from the injury, and eight weeks from surgery. There wasn't anything to repair in my case - there wasn't enough left to re-attach according to the surgeon.

Because of that, I'll probably be back to riding sooner, because I'm not at risk of re-tearing it. But I'm also not in a hurry to put myself in a situation where I'm going to damage that shoulder again. It is generally weaker, and I would like it to be in really good shape before I am likely to land on it. I hope to have the clearance to ride on the road and/or fire road next week. I suspect he (and I) would rather wait until I'm closer to full strength for any serious mountain biking. I did pedal a bike around just a bit on Sunday after doing a bit of maintenance

I've been doing PT twice a week, and some of the exercises and stretches I do there, I do in between as well. It's the passive movement, where the therapist is manipulating my arm, that's the killer, but also probably the most helpful in terms of getting my range of motion back. I can tell that strength is going to take a while. I'm guessing at another 4-6 months before I feel anything close to "normal". My doctor has encouraged me to swim, but that hasn't been a great option in the past week or so. I believe it helps, though.

So I can't say yet how it's going to affect my riding. It may make me more timid, perhaps. Makes me wish I discovered the sport in my 20s, when I could bounce back from this sort of thing a bit quicker. Next time I hit a bike park, id there is a next time, I will probably use some sort of shoulder and core protection (I was wearing a new full face helmet, along with knee, elbow and shin pads when I crashed). But I don't think I'll start riding with pads for my regular rides.

Good luck with your recovery!

 

thanks for the feedback.

met with the Dr and therapist again, they seemed pleased with my progress, which is only focusing on ROM for the next 4 weeks. Both seem to think I will have full ROM in another 6 weeks.

Bigtex, is your therapy mostly you stretching on your own with the pulleys and pucks and the like, or is the therapist doing a lot of manipulation?

 

Here's the way my therapy usually goes. It starts with the therapist doing manipulation, usually about 10-15 minutes of massage and manipulation. That's the part that sucks. But it works. Then five minutes with the pulley, followed by some stretches (wall slides, stretch behind the back, doorway stretch, bar hang), and, in the last couple of weeks, some strength building exercises - some with bands, some with (very light) free weights, some on a machine (rows) and then six minutes on a hand bike.