Shoulder pain

I twisted my shoulder a little excessively when dismounting a route and this immediately created a sharp pain and weakness in my right shoulder. I’ve given it plenty of rest and stretching over the last 4 weeks and I haven’t seen much improvement. Does anyone have experience with shoulder injuries and can recommend recovery methods to treat this?

Go see your doctor. . .

Steve Williams wrote:

Go see your doctor. . .

Thank you for your advice Steve. I do have an appointment setup with my doctor in the future. However I don’t like to run to the doctor for every situation unless it’s a clear problem that I can’t resolve myself. I’m posting here to see what others with similar experiences have done to resolve their shoulder issues and see if those work for me before heading to the doctor. 

There is a good chance you tore your rotator cuff Joe. Common in climbers, particularly when climbing hard OW for example.  I have had one tore that I have lived with for 30 years. I tore the good shoulder this year in Vedauwoo and it will need to be operated on if I want to climb hard again.  Many different variations of tears from ones you can live with to where you can't even move your arm.  Many times it is difficult to pin point when one even happened. These are tough surgeries with long recovery and not near as successful as knees and hips.  An orthopedic or radiologist can look at an image and quickly determine how far one is tore.  Hopefully it is something else and will heal on its own.

Get an MRI then see PT. 

Tran Tran wrote:

Get an MRI then see PT. 

And to add, push the doctor hard for an expensive MRI, it's the very best way for the doctor to know whats up and the PT to know what to treat. They are sometimes hesitant to order an MRI.

Joe Otto wrote:

Thank you for your advice Steve. I do have an appointment setup with my doctor in the future. However I don’t like to run to the doctor for every situation unless it’s a clear problem that I can’t resolve myself. I’m posting here to see what others with similar experiences have done to resolve their shoulder issues and see if those work for me before heading to the doctor. 

I have plenty of experience with shoulder issues. What I did to resolve them was to start by seeing an orthopedic surgeon for an informed diagnosis via MRI, by seeing a good PT for months to see if the injury would respond to therapy, which for a lot of shoulder injuries can take 6 months, and by eventually having surgery on both shoulders. Nothing I would have ever learned on the internet would have given me the tools to fully diagnose or fix my shoulders on my own. But plenty of what I learned from medical professionals has kept my shoulders strong and functional for 10 and 25 years, respectively, after surgery. 

Joe Otto wrote:

. However I don’t like to run to the doctor for every situation unless it’s a clear problem that I can’t resolve myself. 

You know what's worse than running to the doctor? Running to Mountain Project for diagnosis or medical advice.

If you have concerns, see an orthopedist.

Had something similar, subluxed the right shoulder doing a dynamic move off a gaston back in 2020. Sharp pain, weakness, a few weeks of rest didn't improve it.

I did PT for six months before getting an MRI and it turned out the PT was a total waste of time, no way would it have fixed my shoulder. MRI showed torn labrum, biceps tendon, and rotator cuff. Started ramping up climbing 4 months post op, climbing harder than ever now, right shoulder still gets sore faster than the left one but is overall stronger and more stable, but obviously needs more maintenance, strengthening and warming up for the rest of my life. 

Go to an ortho, pony up for an MRI, and if you do have a SLAP tear be sure to ask your ortho about biceps tenodesis as a repair option. 

George M wrote:

Had something similar, subluxed the right shoulder doing a dynamic move off a gaston back in 2020. Sharp pain, weakness, a few weeks of rest didn't improve it.

I did PT for six months before getting an MRI and it turned out the PT was a total waste of time, no way would it have fixed my shoulder. MRI showed torn labrum, biceps tendon, and rotator cuff. Started ramping up climbing 4 months post op, climbing harder than ever now, right shoulder still gets sore faster than the left one but is overall stronger and more stable, but obviously needs more maintenance, strengthening and warming up for the rest of my life. 

Go to an ortho, pony up for an MRI, and if you do have a SLAP tear be sure to ask your ortho about biceps tenodesis as a repair option. 

Thank you for sharing your experience! That’s good to know. I have my initial appointment in a couple weeks. 

I had a very similar story and repairs as George M . Tear in Rotator Cuff and biceps tendonesis. At 3.5 month recovery point at this time. Everything went well and feeling stronger. Putting in a lot to time into rehab. Thinking end of 4 months sounds about right to start adding easy gym work. Hope that helps. Good luck with whatever you choose. 

In my experience, family docs are worthless for climbing injures.  They'll tell you to rest it, ice it, ibuprofen, etc.  But a lot of ins plans require you to go through this step to get to a doc who might help you like an ortho.  Also around here (Boulder CO) there are a number of PTs who are climbers and they're much better at helping you get back on your feet than a family doc.  See if you have one nearby

Also, I find sports massage to be incredibly painful but incredibly helpful recovering from certain kinds of tendon/muscle problems.  It won't fix a SLAP tear though... important to know what you're dealing with.

Also, recommend Dave MacLeod's videos and his books since he's been through it all ,including a ripped rotator cuff.