# Anyone with a torn labrum continue lifting?



## shenky (Dec 20, 2013)

Hello comrades,

I just got back from an orthopedic doctor, who specializes in sports medicine. According to him, I probably have a torn labrum.

Here's my issue. He advised an MRI that I can't afford to take, so I have to take his word for it. It's a small tear (no pain), and a 2k dollar MRI only has a 50-70% diagnosis accuracy.'

 I do, however, plan on seeing a PT.

I'm really starting to lose my grip; I need to start lifting again, or I am surely to go insane. Have any of you had a torn labrum? How was the recovery? Did you continue lifting? How did you modify your work out routine?

I am so upset! I was really starting to see progress. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

I'm also curious if deca (my next cycle) would accelerate the healing process...


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## DF (Dec 20, 2013)

I have had both a rotator cuff tear & a labrum tear.  Both of those injuries were very painful for me.  I had constant pain for the better part of a year which kept me out of the gym.  I did manage to rehab both injuries without surgery.... rotator cuff band exercises & stretching & ice.


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## shenky (Dec 20, 2013)

DF said:


> I have had both a rotator cuff tear & a labrum tear.  Both of those injuries were very painful for me.  I had constant pain for the better part of a year which kept me out of the gym.  I did manage to rehab both injuries without surgery.... rotator cuff band exercises & stretching & ice.



Thanks, DF. Yeah, so mine must be very minor, as I have no pain - only weakness and poor stability.


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## DF (Dec 20, 2013)

shenky said:


> Thanks, DF. Yeah, so mine must be very minor, as I have no pain - only weakness and poor stability.



My rotator cuff is recovered 100%.  The labrum shoulder I can still feel a sloppiness/slight weakness to it doing front DB raises.


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## Joliver (Dec 21, 2013)

I have pretty shitty shoulders.  I usually do band work and weight adders/releasers to ensure that my joints are under the least amount of weight at their most disadvantaged position.  It helps.


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## djt248 (Dec 22, 2013)

I had labrum surgery in 2005 and it's never been the same. I can tell u this... If u put it off it will more than likely get worse. Mine did. The surgery sucked and my recovery was very slow. Give or take 8 months but everyone is different. Range of motion is still bad and I still can't lift heavy the way I used to. I put my surgery off for a year and one day while driving it locked up and I almost struck a telephone pole. I did rehab prior but it didn't help so I opted for the surgery. The only thing good about the surgery was the drugs. The most painful surgery I've had by far. But I've had friends that have had the same and had no issues. Again everyone is different. Good luck whatever you choose to do.


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## shenky (Dec 22, 2013)

djt248 said:


> I had labrum surgery in 2005 and it's never been the same. I can tell u this... If u put it off it will more than likely get worse. Mine did. The surgery sucked and my recovery was very slow. Give or take 8 months but everyone is different. Range of motion is still bad and I still can't lift heavy the way I used to. I put my surgery off for a year and one day while driving it locked up and I almost struck a telephone pole. I did rehab prior but it didn't help so I opted for the surgery. The only thing good about the surgery was the drugs. The most painful surgery I've had by far. But I've had friends that have had the same and had no issues. Again everyone is different. Good luck whatever you choose to do.




I talked to a phys therapist, and he said that, as I'm in no pain and I have full ROM, the tear must be very minor, and that if I do what he tells me to consistently (and for the remainder of my lifting career), I should be able to lift normally, with slight variations, in 6 weeks. However, he said if I **** up in jiu jitsu or in the gym, I risk tearing it completely and dislocating my shoulder, and probably going in your situation. I'm in sort of a pickle. I love jiu jitsu. I love BB'ing. Both are like, my life, and among the few things I am passionate about. If the tear gets worse, I may have to choose between the two.


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## Bullseye Forever (Dec 22, 2013)

Well I've had Labrum surgery a couple years ago,due to heavy lifting,he went In and took care of 4 bone spurs then tightened and sewed up my Labrum,it's been 2 years and I'm just now getting back to barbell benching,I was out of the gym for 3 months due to PT and it worked out fine,but the nerves in my arm and shoulder hadn't healed yet and it shakes when I work out,but eventually it will be normal again


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## djt248 (Dec 22, 2013)

Same here bro. Been wrestling since I was 10 years old now 42 but I still coach high school. It's been tough to get onto the mat with these guys and coach and not be able to go 100%. Kind of feels like I'm cheating them somehow so I believe this will be my last year. Best advise is take it slow, do your pt, and if you can avoid the surgery I would but with your bjj I see it in your future. For me, I drop my the weights to continue wrestling but I think its a little too late.


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## shenky (Dec 22, 2013)

djt248 said:


> Same here bro. Been wrestling since I was 10 years old now 42 but I still coach high school. It's been tough to get onto the mat with these guys and coach and not be able to go 100%. Kind of feels like I'm cheating them somehow so I believe this will be my last year. Best advise is take it slow, do your pt, and if you can avoid the surgery I would but with your bjj I see it in your future. For me, I drop my the weights to continue wrestling but I think its a little too late.



I was actually considering quitting BJJ, as much as I don't want to. If I continue rolling, and worsen the tear, I will not only need surgery, but be incapable of bodybuilding for 9 months. I'm a recovering drug addict - I don't think I can mentally handle that.  But this is all speculative. My decision will depend on my physical therapist's opinion.


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## djt248 (Dec 23, 2013)

Good luck to you in whatever u choose to do. Congrats on your sobriety though. That's the most important issue here. Remember others can use your knowledge of not only bjj but your recovery from drugs. Teaching others can also help you mentally. A lot of people, myself included seem to have an identity crisis when we are forced to stop a certain part of our lives. I'll consider myself "Joe Citizen" here in about a year or so but I'm doing my best to prepare myself for that day. Who knows, average may not be that bad. Good luck again bro.


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## shenky (Dec 24, 2013)

Whelp, I give up. I am done fighting a war I won't win. I'm dropping the weights completely, with the exception of lega, core and cardio and whatever my PT prescribes

The exercises prescribed by my doc I am unable to do. I feel that by stubbornly throwing in variations of exercises I can't do, I am prolonging my recovery

I'm upset, but I think it's the smart thing to do. Atrophy will come, but so will recovery

Hopefully in a months time ill come back even stronger


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## djt248 (Dec 25, 2013)

You'll be fine bro and I think u made a wise choice. Let me know how the pt goes.


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## SAD (Dec 31, 2013)

I'm fairly confused by your doctors and PTs.  If you have no pain, only weakness and instability, then the BEST POSSIBLE course of action would be resistance training to strengthen and stabilize the joint.  Why is anybody telling you not to lift when there is no pain? One of the rules we follow in physical therapy is, "if it doesn't hurt then you can do it".  Obviously that doesn't apply to poor form or crazy-ass exercises, but for what you're describing, you should be doing a host of shoulder strengthening exercises.

I've worked in the physical therapy field and I'm currently a patient for torn labrum, subscapularis, and pectoral tendon.  Mine are all grade 2 (borderline needing surgery but trying PT first) and I'm doing weight-training to strengthen and stabilize my shoulder again. You may be making a terrible decision by opting out of an MRI and trusting some doctor's opinion.  Making a long term decision based on having very little of the information is just not worth it.

My recommendation to you is to save up your money and get a 3T MRI.  A good ortho will have a 99% correct diagnosis rate if he's looking at a 3T image.


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## JOMO (Dec 31, 2013)

SAD hit it perfect. I have had shoulder surgery for a torn labrum and almost every doc was wrong with the diagnosis until I had an MRI done showing that the labrum was torn and I also had a Bankart Lesion. I couldn't even turn my steering wheel with my left arm. I hurt my other shoulder over a year ago and was told it was just an AC joint sprain and was referred to PT. It didn't help but the docs stuck with their diagnosis. I had to wait a year to finally get an MRI and wala!..tear in my shoulder again.

Save up for the MRI as SAD suggested.


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## shenky (Jan 4, 2014)

another update:

I started physical therapy today. Therapist thinks it's worse than what my orthopedic led me to believe; I have instability both inferior and posterior, implicating two tears, as opposed to a single SLAP tear. He said surgery may be inevitable, but we'll see after 6 weeks of the PT. 

In either case, Jiu Jitsu is history, and bodybuilding has become complicated. For now, non existent. We shall see..


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## SAD (Jan 4, 2014)

So, no pain, no MRI, but you're getting physical therapy and they're scaring you into thinking you're all broken down.  But no pain and not even an x-ray.  Seems awfully silly when you say it aloud.


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## shenky (Jan 4, 2014)

SAD said:


> So, no pain, no MRI, but you're getting physical therapy and they're scaring you into thinking you're all broken down.  But no pain and not even an x-ray.  Seems awfully silly when you say it aloud.



Not really. It only sounds silly when you embellish the scenario.

The x-ray I have, the MRI I do not. Also, I know the physical therapist somewhat personally - he goes to my gym. He insisted on only a single visit, and said he'd teach me other things when he saw me at the gym (for free). He also said the surgeon he'd send me to would only jump in if he was sure it was necessary according to my lifestyle. I don't feel pressured into anything. He didn't mention surgery until I asked what his honest opinion on the future of bodybuilding for me was. His almost exact words were, "if I was in that seat and I asked that question, I'd want an honest answer. I think you'll need surgery, but let's try this first. give yourself 6 weeks of PT, and we'll go from there". Again, I don't feel pressured.

SLAP tears and other labral tears do not always cause pain. The pain is from the inflammation. If there's no inflammation, there's probably no pain. According to the orthopedic, it's not that uncommon to not be in pain.

An MRI would, of course, would come before the surgery.


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## SAD (Jan 4, 2014)

Sorry, forgot you got an x ray, which cannot show ligaments or tendons.

I will bow out of this now because I can't help you, which is what I've been trying to do.

Good luck.


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## djt248 (Jan 4, 2014)

Just throwing this out there considering you really need the MRI and it's a money issue. Check with your local hospital and see if your eligible for relief from the bill if you get not only the MRI but the surgery as well. There is a little paperwork to fill out (not much at all) but if your struggling financially they will excuse the bill. They did it for my wife who refuses to go on my insurance due to what the monthly payment will become. Even with what I make $75,000 a year, they excused the bill. Just an option for you. You can't go on forever and I'm sure depending in the severity of the problem pain will eventually follow. Good luck bro.


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## SAD (Jan 4, 2014)

Just a side note, I currently have a torn labrum grade 2 and it doesn't require surgery.  Even a completely torn labrum will not always require surgery.  It's not ideal to have a torn labrum, but the surgery is not overly successful and often, going under the knife causes more issues than it fixes for labrum repairs.  Now I'm really done.


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## shenky (Jan 4, 2014)

djt248 said:


> Just throwing this out there considering you really need the MRI and it's a money issue. Check with your local hospital and see if your eligible for relief from the bill if you get not only the MRI but the surgery as well. There is a little paperwork to fill out (not much at all) but if your struggling financially they will excuse the bill. They did it for my wife who refuses to go on my insurance due to what the monthly payment will become. Even with what I make $75,000 a year, they excused the bill. Just an option for you. You can't go on forever and I'm sure depending in the severity of the problem pain will eventually follow. Good luck bro.




I have insurance with a 1500 deductible (pretty good, if you ask me). If PT is unsuccessful, an MRI is certainly the next step, followed by surgery, if recommended. The MRI is 1300; After the MRI, my deductible is pretty much met and the surgery will be covered. 

I'll call around, though, because that sounds excellent. Was it a private hospital?




SAD said:


> Just a side note, I currently have a torn labrum grade 2 and it doesn't require surgery.  Even a completely torn labrum will not always require surgery.  It's not ideal to have a torn labrum, but the surgery is not overly successful and often, going under the knife causes more issues than it fixes for labrum repairs.  Now I'm really done.



If I offended you, I apologize, but it was simply a rebuttal to your reply; I personally don't feel like I'm making a foolish decision or cutting any corners. The MRI will come, if necessary, but if PT is successful, then I wouldn't bother because the problem will be resolved. Surgery is absolutely a last resort and the MRI would obviously come before that. I also wouldn't go under the knife without a second opinion.  The last thing I want is to be out of the gym for 9 more months.


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## djt248 (Jan 5, 2014)

No it was public. Catholic if that makes a difference. Worth a try. SAD is correct though. Sometimes the surgery causes more trouble than its worth. I believe this to be the case with me.


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## SFGiants (Jan 5, 2014)

SAD said:


> Just a side note, I currently have a torn labrum grade 2 and it doesn't require surgery.  Even a completely torn labrum will not always require surgery.  It's not ideal to have a torn labrum, but the surgery is not overly successful and often, going under the knife causes more issues than it fixes for labrum repairs.  Now I'm really done.



My daughter just had labrum surgery but it's a must for a soccer goalkeeper or her shoulder would just keep popping out on her then something real bad will happen other then that though they said they wouldn't need to do anything if she stopped playing but at 17 years old she is just beginning.

You would end up with a loss in range of motion that would effect you being able to get under a straight squat bar bro if you got it repaired chances or you may not be squatting with a straight bar again.

The range of motion you lose is the range you do with outer rotator cuff work with bands the motion of your arm having to get under a straight squat bar.


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## Bullseye Forever (Jan 5, 2014)

Im a weight lifter still recovering from labrum surgery,its been 3 years and its still not where its supposed to be,the surgeon had to tighten it up when he sewed it up and its been a long ordeal,i just keep lifting around it


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## SFGiants (Jan 5, 2014)

Bullseye Forever said:


> Im a weight lifter still recovering from labrum surgery,its been 3 years and its still not where its supposed to be,the surgeon had to tighten it up when he sewed it up and its been a long ordeal,i just keep lifting around it



That is the sole purpose of the surgery bro to tighten it up to the point your lose some range of motion because where it was before was to weak and tore the labrum.

A good fall or dislocation with tear it also.


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## Bullseye Forever (Jan 5, 2014)

Oh yea man I totally agree,I've had to adjust a lot of excercises around it it just took a while to get used tithe way it felt


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