UCL Tear in Elbow

Hey, anyone tear their UCL ? Partial or full tear ? I can’t find much on this particular injury in relation to climbing and recovery time. 6 weeks ago I did a high grade partial tear of my UCL and still find it’s not healing well even though I’ve properly dialed back the climbing and incorporated proper rest. I would preferably like to avoid surgery - just wondering if anyone can expand on this particular injury ? If it can heal on its own over time with proper rehabilitation. 

Feel free to PM if you want, I had a partial tear that I lived with for 10 years. It did not heal, but became less painful/limiting over time. Tore it completely 10 years later with a minor incident and then had the reconstruction. It was a difficult surgery/rehab, but was my only option at that point and I’m glad I did it. The UCL just doesn’t have great healing capacity so anything more than a small tear won’t heal, but if it isn’t impacting your stability or activity, it might be worth waiting. Erika

Hi Cyree - tried to reply to your email and it bounced back.

Hey, I dislocated my elbow and tore my UCL 3 months ago. It has been a painful road to get to where I am at now, which is still in a fair amount of pain and lacking extension in my arm. Feel free to pm me.

I had a partial tear a few years ago. I stopped climbing and focused solely on rehab and whatever exercises I could manage without the use of my arms. At first, I couldn’t even pump my arms while jogging. 

I started with some UCL rehab stretches/exercises I found on Google and Youtube. Once I had a decent range of motion and stability back with little to no pain, I started incorporating strengthening exercises with light weights and worked my way up as tolerated. 
It took about 4 months before I could fully and comfortably lock my outstretched arm again. At that point I started climbing again, but stayed away from mantling or anything that would strain that elbow.
I’d say it took the remainder of year before I stopped noticing the ‘weakness’ of that elbow, but it eventually stopped bothering me. TBH, almost 3 years later, it still doesn’t feel 100%, but that could just be in my head.
Hope that helped! Feel free to PM. 

ErikaNW wrote: Feel free to PM if you want, I had a partial tear that I lived with for 10 years. It did not heal, but became less painful/limiting over time. Tore it completely 10 years later with a minor incident and then had the reconstruction. It was a difficult surgery/rehab, but was my only option at that point and I’m glad I did it. The UCL just doesn’t have great healing capacity so anything more than a small tear won’t heal, but if it isn’t impacting your stability or activity, it might be worth waiting. Erika

Hey! I'd love to hear about your experience if you can shoot me a text 9168733711. Desperate for input, I tore my UCL completely

Strengthening external rotation shoulder muscles was a huge part of my recovery after a partial ucl tear. I did not have surgery. westidahoorthopedics.com/sh…