Rotator Cuff/ Delt/ Shoulder Injury - Looking for advice.

Doug Simpson wrote:

With this in mind, I will see if the GP wants me to get an MRI. You’re all a convincing bunch…

You may call us whatever you want as long as you see a shoulder specialist who deals with athletes and can read MRIs.

PT PT PT PT.

Say NO to surgery unless absolutely necessary!! Surgery = calculated risk. You don't want to take that risk if you don't need to.

Injured my shoulder arm wresting - I couldn't even brush my teeth with that arm for months. Couldn't even walk on a treadmill without pain for weeks. I thought I would never climb again. Dr. said I don't think we should do surgery unless climbing is your profession. 

Went to PT religiously until it was over. Then I continued PT excersises at home practically every day, every week, every month. Now my shoulder is 99%. After a year I hit a bench press PR. I am climbing at my all time high. I have learned a lot about prehab, and mobility exercises for injury prevention. 

Shoulder injuries are forever. You will now have to do PT regularly, (pre-hab if you will), or be in pain. 

I did this exact thing but on a boulder wall in the gym almost 4 weeks ago now. No history of shoulder injuries on my part. Four weeks prior, I felt my left shoulder pop out of the socket briefly during a shoulder heavy move, but as soon as I let go of the hold, it popped back in on its own. The whole (partial?) pop out situation lasted about 3 to 4 seconds. Didn't hurt at all at first, just sounded really juicy and suctiony when it splorped back into the socket. I kept climbing on it really tenderly for the rest of the sesh but it felt pretty wobbly in the socket, like a shaky knee but in my shoulder this time freal.

I figured I subluxed after a bunch of internet research, and this was tentatively confirmed when the pain only crept in to around 4/10 lvls the following day. Also, my range of motion was not really affected but I experienced persistent clicking from hand raising motions (still clicking now but markedly less so), a general stiffness throughout the entire shoulder (kind of like hitting your kneecap super hard), and just a general lack of confidence in it.

I went to a physical therapist shortly thereafter who corroborated to my self-diagnosis of getting str8 subluxed, and their advice was that I should just rest and ice it for as long as until the pain goes away 4-8 weeks with some gentle mobility exercises during this time. Afterwards, I should really focus hard on elastic band / very low weight upper back muscle strengthening exercises that target the rotator cuff zone once the joint pain had disappeared, and that I have to do this indefinitely since if I get another subluxation ever in the same shoulder, it really schbeefs the potential for a lifetime of rock climbing adventures :(

And also, to always warm up! I always climb easy problems to start with, but on this day I didn't do any easy shoulder-intensive problems during this session. I think that's what really did me in. 

Sound advice SDawg, but I don't have money for surgery and I'm only in my mid twenties, so I'm willing to chalk this first subluxation as a mulligan of "climbing too hard, too early" after being away from the wall during covid.  I've been climbing for 4 years prior to this with no shoulder issues so I'm very reluctant to get cut. If it happens again, I will definitely consult a shoulder specialist and pursue surgery (if recommended).

Same thing happened to me on Memorial Day, ended up getting an MRI and they said I have a large tear in my labrum, the orthopedic surgeon said where it’s torn at the shoulder will continue to be unstable and come in and out with my arm overhead. I have surgery the 17th of august to repair it and it might be 4-6 months recovery time but I’ll be fully cleared to continue all activities gently at about 2 months post op 

I went to see the orthopedist this week, who diagnosed the subluxation and told me my infraspinatus and supraspinatus are severely sprained. She also said that I am lucky to not have torn any tendons or torn my labrum. So that's good news. Now the GP, PT, and ortho agree it is a severe strain, and no one sees the need for further imaging or diagnosis. Sure does hurt, tho! I'm looking at 10 more weeks of taking it easy and working on my PT rehab exercises. I've been going out to climb about 1 pitch per week, just enough to string me along and not go insane. I continue to restrain it gently, which is annoying. Sometimes from sleeping on it accidentally, using it incorrectly during the exercises and light climbing, or a random muscle spasm. Might be a couple more months before it feels good enough to climb anything harder than 5.9, sure feels like it will take a long time. Strains seem to heal really slowly. I can tell this will be around for quite some time! 

More biking and running for me. I've also picked up a tension block to maintain some finger strength without having to raise my arm above my head to do so. I'm going to have huge arms and a tight core from all of the PT when it's all said and done since I'm spending more time focusing on strength work - that might be the only plus! 

Edit: Would a cortisone shot help speed up recovery, or slow me down in the long run?

Doug Simpson wrote:

Edit: Would a cortisone shot help speed up recovery, or slow me down in the long run?

DONT CUT CORNERS. DO THIS RIGHT. NO CORTISONE.

Don't worry about maintaining finger strength. You can get that back quick.  

Grug M wrote:

NO CORTISONE.

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. 

Update for me. It's been about 2+ months since my subluxation (see previous post in thread). And my shoulder feels 75% back to where it was prior strength wise. There is a bit of what I'll call "deep joint" fatigue or inflammation still present in my shoulder socket when I do my elastic band exercises to target my rotator cuff muscles, but no wobbliness or deficiencies in my range of motion. If I just live my life and don't do my exercises, I'd be hard pressed to say which shoulder I injured as the amount of pain I'm experiencing is similar to a night of side sleeping on a wood floor (at most after the excercises). 

I think I got lucky that I didn't do much damage but only time will tell. The elastic band exercises really have done a lot to tighten my shoulder socket, and prevent the wobbly feeling from creeping in. I plan on restarting my gym membership to climb real ez 5.9+ and below for the next month to test her out. Against PT recommendations, I'm just now able now to do full grip, full body weight one arm hangs (briefly) on the injured shoulder without any real residual stiffness (only tried this to test the waters, don't plan on doing this much more until after month 4).  

I hope this helps someone reading this! 

Doug Simpson wrote:

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. 

Cortisone shots reduce/eliminate inflammation and swelling but can weaken tendons and have other negative side effects. So a good doc will only recommend one if the benefit of reducing inflammation is bigger than the risk of weakening your tendons. I had one once due to "frozen shoulder" and it definitely helped, but when symptoms returned later the doc didn't want to give me another shot so I resolved it with stretching, PT and time. (This was all before I started climbing.)  

Thanks, John. I'm at the two-month mark and my shoulder mobility has greatly improved. I'm able to climb moderate stuff again, but once I get into the 11+/ v4 range in the gym it is a no-go. Happy to be touching rocks again.

I’ve been dealing with a shoulder “injury” that sounds similar. My physician and x rays did not come up with much, but she did refer me to PT. 3 sessions in, and I’m seeing fantastic results! 

Yep, the consensus from the docs I've met with is so long as you haven't done any structural damage with a dislocation, you just rest until it chills out then get after the PT! If you have done real damage, then the pathway to recovery is different. A few more weeks/ months of PT and this will be fine. 

Since you're in Broomfield, I'd recommend you talk to Kevin at The Climb Clinic   He's a PT and climber who works out of the G1 gym, and he's really, really good in my experience.

Seriously Moderate Climber wrote:

Since you're in Broomfield, I'd recommend you talk to Kevin at The Climb Clinic   He's a PT and climber who works out of the G1 gym, and he's really, really good in my experience.

Yes, he’s the PT I work with. Great guy

Resurrecting this forum from the grave for an update if any other loose-shouldered folks go looking for information. 

I got an MR Arthrogram done this week to look for the suspected labrum tear, and indeed the labrum is partially torn. In my case, the other structures around it are in good health. The orthopedist recommends surgery at some point to prevent future disfunction and degenerative arthritis. My PT agrees that I am a candidate for surgery, but can continue with non-operative treatment until things get worse. Ortho agrees. If they continue to get better, I may never need surgery. If I have 3-4 subluxations a year, nerve pain, and significant weakness (25%), this would be the time for surgery.

SO, all that time ago, I did in fact tear my labrum on P1 of the Durrance, and still finished the route. If you're gonna be dumb, ya gotta be tough.