Retorn rotator cuff repair?

Anyone have any experience with re-tearing their rotator cuff after having it surgically repaired and needing to have it surgical repaired….again? Starting to think climbing may be over for me…….

Matt

Matt M wrote:

Anyone have any experience with re-tearing their rotator cuff after having it surgically repaired and needing to have it surgical repaired….again? Starting to think climbing may be over for me…….

Matt

Me. Last March or May, after a hiatus of not climbing and gym-going due to Covid I went out to TR some easy routes (5.9ish). The extra 15 lbs I put on during Covid, combined with age (67) and lack of working out (gyms were closed) caused me to rip a couple of tendons. After the usual doctor things, the MRI revealed that one of them ripped clean off the bone. The Dr said they did not want to attempt a repair for 3 reasons. 

1st) I have artritus pretty bad, fingers, knees, shoulders

2nd) I have had those tendons repaired earlier, in fact, I had 5 ripped tendons in the left shoulder and 4 in the right repaired 8 years back. 

3rd) Age, too damned old. 

The ortho said once the pain starts becoming unbearable, they can do a reverse shoulder replacement. I'd never heard of it, evidently they have a 90 percent success rate and there is minimal loss of mobility. I'm doing daily PT to strengthen the other tendons and hitting the gym and bouldering regularly and there is pain, but what are ya gonna do about that? Life is suffering. I climb easy routes:-) Regardless, your thing is not my thing, and only a doctor could really tell you about your instance.  

Good luck!

Hey Matt! Not quite the same, but I got surgery two months ago for a 270 labrum repair... in the same shoulder I had labrum surgery and a capsulorrhaphy on in 2017. Two different traumatic accidents, same injury. Was a huge bummer, but the second surgery recovery has been a lot easier than the first (not sure if this is just because I knew what to expect or not). Still a few months out from being able to climb, but otherwise recovery is going great. My doctor didn't have any concerns with it being the second surgery, other than keeping me immobilized eight weeks instead of six to really tighten the shoulder since I'd already proven I could blow through a surgical repair. He gave me the green light for guiding this summer if PT goes well, so we'll see how it goes. So sorry to hear about your shoulder, such an absolute bummer to have the same injury twice, not to mention same surgery (and shoulder surgeries are the worst in my opinion), but I wouldn't give up on climbing just yet :) 

Go to a better physical therapist. There is something else wrong with you if you keep injuring the same thing over and over again that your prior physical therapist didnt address. I ve spent years in physical therapy due to wrestling injuries from highschool including a partially torn rotator cuff which I reinjured, severely sprained UCL, broken ribs, etc. orthopedists were absolutely useless in my recovery. I researched different physical therapists, found a good practice and i can’t feel any of my injuries anymore. Ive been going to core physical therapy in albany ny for years, they treated my sister’s chronic back pain she had since elementary school a couple years ago (she is 23 and had chronic back pain for over 10 years with doctors saying she just has to live with it, pain was gone in 3 sessions with a competent physical therapist), i started climbing a year or two after my elbow and shoulder injuries and thanks to a good physical therapist I never noticed my injuries while climbing. My first physical therapist had me doing exercises every week for months only for me to injure my shoulder even worse. That means the problem wasnt a weak joint, it was something else that caused instability in the joint. Strengthening your joint will just postpone another injury, go to someone who knows what they are doing and will look into your injury history to find out what might be causing the recurring injuries. Common causes are car crashes, bicycle accidents, head trauma, surgery, impacts to the body, bad shoes, literally any other injury could cause your body to compensate in a way that puts stress on your shoulder which can manifest itself in torn muscles and ligaments. My most recent injury was a sprained LCL. My knees are healthy but from decking from boulders, my ankles were stiff. The fibula should have mobility in the ankle and knee, but because my ankles were stiff, it had too much mobility in the knee, so when I over torqued my leg, the ligament popped. Solution was to massage and stretch my ankle, not immobilize my knee until it healed. Same thing with shoulder injuries, or any other joints with recurring injuries. 

Per my prior comment, I have no doubt that my physical therapist has saved me thousands of dollars in copayments and medical bills, exposure to painkillers and months in surgical recovery. If you are considering another operation, I highly recommend you call core physical therapy in Albany, NY before going under the knife. It might be worth a plane ticket, or they might know of a similar practice near you. Surgery is extremely risky and always has negative consequences and you just have to hope the benefits weigh them out, a good physical therapist might be able to save you an operation and months of rehab and recovery, if not a systemic infection. It is a licensed practice, and extremely effective. 

Hey Buddy,

I'm hoping that its not the end of climbing for you.  Its turning out that you are kind of hard to replace.