Rotator cuff injury and cycling...

[Dekonick]

Anyone here ever have one?

How long was your down time?

Did you do PT only or get cut? Results?

I am a little worried that I may have torn mine (at least it happened while at work... but still!) as adduction hurts like a bitch and the 'throwing' motion also hurts...

Gonna go see my doc as soon as they can fit me in... and then I am sure its MRI time...

looking for 'cycling' answers - how long until you could ride etc... as the answers for the general public have little bearing on how it will impact yours truly.

Thanks in advance

[thwart]

No tear, just 'severe rotator cuff tendinopathy', in my dominant R shoulder. Likely main causes: lifting bikes to rafters in garage, staining the exterior of my house, and... oh, yeah... three years of 5K or more road miles. I'm 55.

Symptoms started late '08. Lots of PT, steroid injection, home exercise regimen, etc. throughout the first 9 months of last year.

Bike mods: raised all my bars and slight upward rotation of the nose of saddles instituted early summer of '09.

Still a minor issue but nothing at all like a year ago. Haven't had disrupted sleep because of pain for at least 9 months. :beer:

Hope your recovery story is a bit shorter...

[scooter]

I have problems in both shoulders from crashes. In the left, I pretty much tried the whole gamut of conservative treatments - physical therapy, rolfing, Pilates, yoga, acupuncture, cortisone injections, osteopathic manipulation, chiro doing ART, prolotherapy, and platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections - all with limited success. I had three rounds of MRIs done on the shoulder, the first two done with an open MRI (unenclosed unit). They showed no tears. I got a third MRI in a traditional enclosed unit which identified the cuff tear. I had it arthroscopically repaired (along with the labrum tear which doesn't show up on MRIs). The shoulder is better than it was before the surgery but not 100%. This was over a 5 year period. I haven't really addressed the other shoulder (new injury) because I'm still rehabbing my hip fracture, but I am doing stretching, strength training for the shoulder and rotator cuff, along with heat, ice and Voltaren gel (prescription in the U.S, but OTC in Europe).
My recommendation is to follow what Thwart details above, but if you are not seeing some improvement (in say 6 months) , get an MRI (note: the open units don't show as much detail as the traditional units so avoid them). If you need it repaired, get solid referrals for a shoulder arthroscopic surgeon.

[Erik.Lazdins]

I had a Labrum SLAP repair and rotator cuff done mid April 2010

I rode around the neighborhood at 3 weeks - did up to an hour at 4 weeks - all this was easy effort - my bar drop is 5cm

Up to 2.5 hours now at 7.5 weeks post op - occasionally get out of the saddle

I am not yet
riding off road
riding in the rain/wet
riding hard
riding every day (yet)

FWIW - I am doing PT exercises as well

[djg21]

Rotator cuff and labrum fixed.

PT is not optional, and it hurts a lot. You don't want to develop "frozen shoulder" syndrome.
In regard to riding, you won't be able to hold a handlebar for a little bit. Once you can, stay inside on a trainer for a couple weeks.

[Floyd Dakil]

I have had sore rotator cuff (more specifically, a sore "teres minor") for decades, probably the result of repetitive overhead lifts and behind-the-neck pulldowns in my 20s and early 30s. I'm 54 now.

At its worst, which was about 5-10 years ago, I could ride for only about 45 minutes before the pain forced me to stop. I would be pain free for the first 40 minutes of the ride, and then over a 10-15 minute period, the pain would become progressively worse until I couldn't lift my arm to the side. So I was only able to ride for just under an hour at a time.

PT didn't help at all. But I got some relief after undergoing a series of Prolo treatments, which allowed me to ride for a few hours. My handlebars had always been in more of a touring than racing position. Later I started racing, so I lowered my handlebars, and the pain returned.

I've undergone PRP therapy over the past year, and that has significantly improved my shoulder, although not to 100 percent. Sometimes I can go for a few hours without much pain. At other times, I can go for hours only if I take short breaks during the ride. Overall, I can't complain about my current situation. I ride about 10 hours a week.

Interestingly enough, my shoulder usually feels better during a road race than a training ride. Maybe the adrenalin rush of competition is accompanied by a mild chemical reaction that acts like an anasthesia.

[twin]

and I started riding about 4 months later and changed my bars to a much more upright position. it still hurts but nothing like it could.

[mgm777]

Same here. Went in for a torn labrum to be fixed by arthroscope. Checked out with that and partial shoulder replacement and some extra metal and sutures. Surgery was mid-November, was back on the bike in March. For me it was surgery + PT + Manipulation Under Anesthesia (frozen shoulder syndrome) + PT+PT+PT+PT. Still hurts a little and is still a bit stiff, but a lot better. Follow your Doc's orders. Once I started riding again, I was surprised by how quick my cycling fitness returned. While I was off the bike, I tried to stay fit by running 2x week + stretching and PT workouts. Now, my cycling is nearly back to normal.

[Dekonick]

This is the last thing I needed. It has been one year since I fractured and dislocated my right ankle. It took me 6 months to get back on track, and another 6 to get fit again.

Oh well...

[rugbysecondrow]

This is the last thing I needed. It has been one year since I fractured and dislocated my right ankle. It took me 6 months to get back on track, and another 6 to get fit again.

Oh well...


Get fit again? Fit for what, a larger jersey?

Just busting your balls, good ride today. :)

[retrogrouchy]

Anyone here ever have one?

How long was your down time?

Did you do PT only or get cut? Results?

I am a little worried that I may have torn mine (at least it happened while at work... but still!) as adduction hurts like a bitch and the 'throwing' motion also hurts...

Gonna go see my doc as soon as they can fit me in... and then I am sure its MRI time...

looking for 'cycling' answers - how long until you could ride etc... as the answers for the general public have little bearing on how it will impact yours truly.

Thanks in advance

Yes, the MRI tells all.

I have a 60-something cycling friend that recently tore the rest of his rotator cuff (was somewhat torn previously, but was now 100% torn). He had surgery about a month ago. Lots of PT since then, and not being able to ride drove him nuts (he commutes daily year-round, and has been cycling 'forever'). He just began riding again after three-plus weeks had passed, carefully, and can now do 40 miles or so, but with shoulder pain for which he has prescription pain meds.... It is still not possible for him to raise his right arm higher than his shoulder, but he had a 100% tear which couldn't be totally repaired. He plans to be back to some semblance of normal by about September.

[KeithS]

I had about a 90% tear and got misdiagnosed a couple of times. It had gotten to the point of no comfortable position to sleep. After an MRI proved it wasn't impingement I got into a highly recomended ortho group. My Doc was a rider, scheduled the surgery for late September. My Doc is a big believer in active recovery, I had a passive motion device delivered the day after sugery, three hours a day. I was warned not to ride because of the potential for falling. By the time I was cleared to ride it was the trainer. I agree with the others that said PT made the difference. Hurt like hell but I think it really cut down my recovery time. My PT was a shoulder savant, he was a pitcher in high school and college and he really understands the mechanics of a shoulder.

Tried PT before and it just hurt with no progress. When a surgeon says he needs to cut it is a day that ends in y, when your PT says it's time for surgery it's time for surgery.

Cortisone is a wonder drug, first time I got the shot I coulda lifted a Buick with my bad arm. But it wore off.

Whatever happens - Good Luck!

[JBone]

I actually started a similar thread awhile back. I had issues for about 6 - 8 months and haven't really been riding consistently since then. I did my own research (online) as far as stretching and strengthening exercises and it actually got better. It does take some time to heal and you definitely have to do some form of exercises to get you back to normal.

Good luck.

[thwart]

When a surgeon says he needs to cut it is a day that ends in y Truth.

At least for many.

[Charles M]

LOADS OF PT.


As much as is safe to start and as much as you can stand to continue...



Rotator has a pretty big effect on that entire joint and all the major and fine movements... It's darn near like the CPU in your computer. LOTS of other parts make the thing perform, but not much is getting done without it.


Take care to recover correctly and keep up all the PT... It's such a critical thing, the rotator, that if you get the active recovery wrong, you will deal with it forever...

[Dekonick]

Thanks for all of the input. Now I will confer with the MD's and see what is on the horizon. First stop is a chirporactor Thursday (the first doc that I could see... next is my primary care doc for the referal to go to an ortho and start PT. PITA - hope the knife can stay where it belongs... in the kitchen)

[palincss]

Rotator cuff and labrum fixed.

PT is not optional, and it hurts a lot. You don't want to develop "frozen shoulder" syndrome.


Is that ever true. I had that. It's easy to ignore sore shoulders, and it got worse and worse until one day I was trying to pay either at a toll booth or exiting a parking garage, can't remember, but it involved sticking my left arm out the car window and it felt like a lightning bolt struck me in the left shoulder. That drove me to the doctor.

Back then (early 90s) they fixed it by cranking you past the point of unendurable pain until adhesions broke. With a loud SNAP that reverberates inside your head along with flashes of light and the feeling that 20,000 volts have just passed through your body. When they do this, you are ready to confess to anything, as it easily hits 10 on the pain scale and makes you think it's going for Super Record 11. In my case, it went on for months.