Torn rotator cuff or shoulder injury

Does anybody have any experience with having torn a rotator cuff or had a painful shoulder injury and how long before you can ice climb or rehab expectations?

I Injured my left shoulder about two months ago lifting a heavy back pack of climbing gear. We were removing graffiti from a cliff face of a water fall and winter ice climbing area. I have had pain in my shoulder since for the last two months. I am concerned about the upcoming ice climbing season. I am afraid I will miss out this season due to the injury. I was hoping maybe getting out and stretching my arms and shoulder would be a good thing but I don't want to make things worse and cause more injury or longer healing time.

Denny, have you seen a doctor yet? If so, what was the recommendation?

I had rotator cuff surgery. I was only not climbing for 3 months but I did all the rehab. I was religious about the rehab. My tear was found by an MRI.

I have not seen a doctor yet, I consulted my doctor and he told me to take anti inflammatory drugs and ice pack it. After a month of the pain not going away I have a feeling its going to need some attention by a surgeon.

Took me about 3 months. I did a lot of finger rolls with a weight bar to keep the fingers strong. It helped. I got back into climbing after 3 months at the same grade I stopped. (I also would put my injured arm in a sling, and climb slab routes with only one hand. Great technique practice.

I chose to not have surgery on mine when I tore my labrum, all 4 rotator cuff muscles and all 3 deltoid muscles. Ended up taking about 9 months off from climbing, doing physical therapy and going to a chiropractor twice a week the whole time. I chose PT over surgery because the doctor I saw said that I had a better chance of regaining full range of motion and that 85-90% was the best I could hope for with surgery(I couldn't raise my hand over my head three months after I injured it, when I finally got it checked out). After 9 months of PT I did get my full range of motion back (without pain) but I never regained full strength (it has been 6 years).

That said your situation may be different from mine, but my best advise to you is take care of it. "Stretching it out" by climbing is not a good idea it will probably make it worse. Get an MRI so you can know what you are dealing with. See a shoulder specialist. And I do recommend seeing a chiropractor who works on soft tissue(after the MRI).

Denny, I torn my shoulder years ago lifting weights. This injury reoccurs from time to time. I find lifting weights to strengthen the muscles around whatever's torn in my shoulder fixes the problem. Now the only time I have pain in the shoulder is after months of not climbing and or lifting weights. I could get a list of excerises if you want them.

I find that as along as I don't hang off your tools my shoulder never gets injured. Maybe stick to lower angle ice and work your way up?

Good luck with rehab!

I popped my shoulder out of joint while climbing about a year ago, it went right back in immediately, but there was alot of pain for at least 2 weeks. It finally began to get better, but I couldn't climb for probably 2 months. A year later, it still has limited range of motion and some slight pain at certain angles.

Morning Denny - I have lived with injuries since my mid-40's, shoulder, ankle, back and hip. There is new research out there saying anti-inflammatory drugs and ice are not the best solution and actually impedes the healing process. The book "Ready to Run" by Dr. Kelly Starrett goes into it. This guy is big into mobility. I am trying it now and with sadness leaving all my ice packs and ibuprofren untouched for 6 months. Also, might look at the "Frozen Shoulder Workbook" by Clair Davies.

Terry Parker wrote:Morning Denny - I have lived with injuries since my mid-40's, shoulder, ankle, back and hip. There is new research out there saying anti-inflammatory drugs and ice are not the best solution and actually impedes the healing process. The book "Ready to Run" by Dr. Kelly Starrett goes into it. This guy is big into mobility. I am trying it now and with sadness leaving all my ice packs and ibuprofren untouched for 6 months. Also, might look at the "Frozen Shoulder Workbook" by Clair Davies.

I skimmed over your post and misunderstood "leaving all my ice packs untouched for six months" My intial thought was that there's no way anyone's leaving their ice pack anywhere. Take that "pack", throw on your back and go climb some ice! I took me a couple more times to figure out you talking about a plastic bag with ice cubes not a backpack with tools strapped to the outside and stuff like a belay jacket outside. Haha..

Think I'll pass on that second cup of coffee this morning!

Wow! lots of reply's and experience from you all. I would love a list of exercises that would help and give me stregnth in my shoulder.

There is now way I am hanging up my ice tools for 6 months either. At the same time I know I am not going to be able to climb some of my favorite climbs. I had goals of leading a WI4-5 in Santiquin Canyon called Back-Off. 200 feet of WI4. It aint going to happen this year. I have a feeling that I can rehab my shoulder without surgery but I don't want to do something that tears it up more and then I would have to have surgery.

Interesting theory on not using anti inflammatory drugs and ice packs. Everything I have read says when you alternate from cold ice pack immediately fallowing therapy/injury and then putting a heat pack on to warm it back up, you will increase your recovery time. I will for sure look up that information and see what the logic is behind it.

Thanks for all your input. Be safe out there and happy ice climbing to you all.

This may be of some help Denny!
Good luck with your injury and recovery brother

AC Joint Reconstruction (Rotator Cuff and Labrum)

Self diagnosis is a poor approach to shoulder injury and Internet diagnosis is worse. Shoulders are complex; different issues can lead to pain. You really need to go see a sports med doctor or a physical therapist to find out what's going on. Ibu and cold/heat treatments can alleviate the discomfort, but they don't resolve the fundamental problem.

You don't have to assume you're going to miss out on the climbing season. A nonsurgical approach may be all you need. Work with a PT, learn exactly which exercises are best for you, and then be consistent with doing them (i.e., follow your schedule religiously and don't quit just because your pain recedes.)

I had surgery for a torn rotator cuff and bone chips in my right shoulder almost three years ago. My surgeon and I were pretty conservative; I began PT (passive at first) soon after the surgery, but I didn't begin climbing again for six months. I have full range of motion in that shoulder, though I don't think I have 100% of my strength back. (Could be just old age.)

Anyway, three weeks ago I had the same surgery on the left shoulder. (Left arm pinned to my side for another three weeks.) I expect to go through the same routine with my left shoulder.

If the tear is bad enough, I don't think it will mend without surgery. An MRI is probably the best way to tell.

I didn't tear mine, but it sure felt like it. Same thing, the doctor told me to stretch and all of the normal stuff. But what helped most was acupuncture. It took a few sessions but it ultimately got me back to pain free. Of course you should couple that with the recommended stretching and such.

Frank F wrote:Self diagnosis is a poor approach to shoulder injury and Internet diagnosis is worse. Shoulders are complex; different issues can lead to pain. You really need to go see a sports med doctor or a physical therapist to find out what's going on. Ibu and cold/heat treatments can alleviate the discomfort, but they don't resolve the fundamental problem. You don't have to assume you're going to miss out on the climbing season. A nonsurgical approach may be all you need. Work with a PT, learn exactly which exercises are best for you, and then be consistent with doing them (i.e., follow your schedule religiously and don't quit just because your pain recedes.)

I am not trying to just self diagnosis or self treat without seeing a Doctor. I probably should just by pass my general Doctor and go right to the specialist. I am trying to pull from all of your experiences and get an idea what I am up against. I am hoping surgery isn't required and with proper training and exercise I will be climbing Ice in no time, but Life doesn't always go along with my plans so I have to keep it real.

Google dumbell shoulder presses, cable internal rotations, front deltoid raises, side deltoid raises and upright barbell or bar rows. Do 3 sets of 10 the first week if and when you feel comfortable performing the above exercises. Work up to 4 sets of 15 reps. Use light weight so you stick to good form. Good form is much more important than weight used.

I'm no expert on shoulder rehab but this worked for me. Try it out and let me know what happens. Good luck!

Denny,

Going to a specialist is the right move. I've had surgery on both shoulders (separate injuries) and came away able to continue climbing. But I wasted time and many a good night's sleep before dealing with my problems effectively. So my advice was mainly an attempt to get you to streamline your recovery process.

Best wishes and good sends this winter.

There is just not enough context here to say anything meaningful. Asking for advice about a torn rotator cuff (and you actually don't have a clue whether or not that is your problem) without more detail is useless. Likewise all who say they have had a torn rotator cuff and this that and the other thing happened - without more detail = useless.

The rotator cuff has 4 major tendon/muscle pairs. Any of them can be torn. The tear can be full or partial - if partial how much? If full is there seperation - how much? How old is the injury? Quality of the tissue? Eithout this level of detail there is no way you can get an apples to apples comparison when asking for advice. To get that level of detail - well you've been told what to do.

There are so many variables….. it is of course impossible to say for sure what you will experience from your injury.

I had a complete rotator cuff tear and bicep tendon tear and torn labrum five years ago….. Surgery included reattaching said with four screws….. Very successful surgery and my doc told me I would be stronger than ever after rehab was over, and he was correct. I feel super, but the process was long….
I did about 10 months of rehab…… after about six months I could do easy rock climbing. Ice climbing took 12 months….. Another year was required to truly get all the muscles back.

Hopefully your injury is very minor, and perhaps rest and some PT would do, but like most say…… See a doc and have an MRI. If you need surgery you should do it while you can……

Cheers, and the best too you

The first time I dislocated my shoulder was snowboarding at age 26. After that, it popped out maybe 20 times before surgery. I had surgey the next year after a MRI showed how bad it had gotten. It took me 3 months before I was able to tie back in. I'm very happy I went through with having it repaired. The younger you are when you have the surgery done, the faster and better the process will be.