Have any of you had to deal with a torn rotator cuff in your shoulder? I've been diagnosed with a 50% tear in my super spinatus (sp?) muscle in my right shoulder. I had an MRI last week, and the doc gave me a cortisone shot today. The doc wants me to do 6 weeks of physical therapy twice weekly, and hopefully that will improve the situation enough to avoid surgery. For those of you who have had this, how did the recovery go? Did you recover full overhead use of your shoulder? This is the arm I fly cast with, and as it is now it would be painful to fish for a day. Thanks!
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Hi Black Dog, I've torn mine twice and both times i was as good as I was before maybe even a little better. My only advice is research the dr. that your seeing and find out there success rate.
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I had a complete tear of my super spinatus and a torn labrum from a dislocation. I got the rotator cuff repaired in a mini-open procedure and that took about three months to heal. It took another three months to be back to full strength. Then, two years later (last year) I got the labrum fixed arthroscopically. That only took six weeks to heal. I never really lost strength from that because of PT going into and out of the procedure. Both times they were in my shoulder they reshaped the bones to open the space and remove spurs.
My worked on shoulder (dominant side) is now much better than the other side.
A 50% tear sounds like it will heal if you don't make it worse. I went for many years with a completely torn cuff. I just learned to do things differently, like not making a throwing motion. The pain was extreme when I did something wrong. I'm very happy with my operations.
You should consider if it will be easier or harder to get an operation in the future, otherwise just try the PT.
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I have had a slight tear on each of my rotator cuffs. Fortunately, not at the same time.
Both tears confirmed via MRI.
Saw dr's for surgery both times.
Both dr's told me the same thing, may or may not improve.

Instead of surgery, I did the same with the second tear since it worked so well for the first.
I did physical therapy and lots of it at home, on my own, with a towel while in the shower.
I used the towel and my good arm to aid the hurting one stretch gradually every day.

I ended up being fine. I still have an occasional flare up but the major pain is long gone.
No surgery done and glad I went this route.

In your case, 50% tear sounds way more than what I had.
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Thanks guys. I'm in more pain today than before. I'm sure it's just from the physical effects of getting the shot, but holy cow it hurts a lot. I can't even lift a cup of coffee. I'll be glad to start PT tomorrow.
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This is really a timely thread for me. I am going in tomorrow to get an MRI of my right shoulder. Not sure what I did but the pain is getting crazy. Not sure if it softball, bowling, golfing or working out that has killed it. Some good comments here that I can think about it if there is a problem.
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Cortisone tends to be painful for a couple of days. Don't overdue the PT once the shot starts kicking in.
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Cortisone might make you feel sick for awhile as well. I had my last shot it July to try and put down Bursitis/Tendonitis that formed in my shoulder a year after surgery.

It would be fine while I was doing something (playing golf, working in the yard, whatever) and then the next day I would be in agony.

I had bone spurs that were cutting into my labrum in both shoulders. They were both scoped 3 months apart two winters ago.

Recovery from the procedures was easy enough, about a month to get my range of motion back, maybe another to get the strength back. I know by the time the scheduled PT was supposed to start I had 100% motion from doing the stretching on my own.
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ouch...good luck man.
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I tore mine just before a deployment and I sucked it up until I returned 7 months later. By that time, the shoulder had frozen and I had very little range of motion. It took months of PT to get enough range back to do the repair. I'm not a doctor, not even on TV, but I'm thinking a 50% tear is probably still stronger than a repair. Do a lot of research and ask the orthopedic surgeon a lot of questions. Good luck. BTW, this is a very common injury for guys in their 40's...
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I tore mine and was avoiding surgery but then I had a labral (no jokes guys) tear as well that required an operation. Shoulder surgery is tough but at 50% it might not be as painful but then again at 50% you might be able to work it out without a procedure. I remember not even being able to toss a piece of paper into the garbage at work prior to the operation.
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I think the 50% means it is torn half way through, not that half of it is torn away. Maybe someone else is sure about this. If half is torn away it will be hard to allow it to heal and to keep it from getting worse. Unless ll you do is PT and take it easy.
My repair stood up to a pretty nasty dirtbike fall. Not as good as it used to be but I can sleep and throw and cast and swim and a lot of other things I couldn't do before the surgery. I can't throw hard like a pitch and I need to be careful overhead lifting, but that's about all.
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That is my understanding as well.

I've started PT, and so far so good. I haven't lost much range of motion so that's a good sign. I do need to build strength though, and learn to move the shoulder blade when I lift my arm. I have muscles in my back today that hate me. :-)
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How did you tear it Warren? Was it one incident or over time?
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Don't get too involved with Cortisone shots. Leave it at this one and that's it. You'll need surgery if it is "torn", but I could be wrong. Search out the best clinic to do the surgery near you.
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My daughter is the nanny for the child of the MN Twin's doctor. He's already said he'd manage the situation for me if I need to go the surgery route.

Other's have also warned me against more cortisone shots. I'm not clear on what the risk is, but I'll research it.
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Warren, I had three tears in my left rotator cuff. I wrecked it when I was 18, never got it fixed until I was 28.
In order to fix it, I went to the doctor every week for 8 weeks and he gave me big long needle injections. Over the course of said weeks, he went in from every single direction, including the back of my neck. Each week was a different direction.
I also went to PT 3 times a week. In addition to that, I went to the YMCA and worked out every other day. I got way buffed out.
The reason for all that working out is because it was explained to me that I had to get all those muscles as strong as possible in order to hold the joint where it was supposed to be. I had lots of different excercises that worked small muscles that would normally be missed. The PT people and the trainer at the YMCA worked together to give me a routine that I followed religiously.
It took a few months until things felt a lot better, and maybe a year until it was fully repaired and painless. I have never had a problem since.
Granted, it was a royal pain in the ass, but after hurting every single day for ten years, it was a small price. And yes, I gained full motion of my arm, along with freakish strength. :-)
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I disagree with Moses about the cortisone shots. Kind of.
They're a patch. They give temporary relief. If you use the shots to help you work out and rehabilitate, and you actually do the work, if it takes a number of them to get you to the goal, they're great.
If you're gonna get shots and sit on the couch, he's right on the money. More won't fix anything.
The thing with them is that sometimes they provide enough relief for people to stop "guarding" injuries and they allow the soft muscles to rebuild, thus allowing the joint to be supported and repaired by the body.
Some people get "fixed" with one shot because their problem isn't severe.
Your problem sounds like it may take a good number more than one.
Just know that the cortisone doesn't "fix" anything. It just aids in fixing stuff.
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Over time. The doc said that lots of 40-50 year old guys have rotor cuff tears of one degree or another. Evidently it's pretty common. I noticed it first about a year ago, when it got painful when I played ball with my teenaged son. Throwing a football or shooting baskets hurt. And doing any sort of overhead work, like hanging a ceiling light, was outright painful. About a month or so ago I built a play/therapy area for our younger son, and when I was installing a bracket on the wall for a piece of his hardware I broke the head off of a bolt, and the "snap" from the sudden release of the wrench hurt really bad. That's when I decided I needed to do something about it. I'm 49 and have a 4 year old son. I need to try to stay in good shape for him.
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I have had 4 and regret all but the first one. The first one gives some light to the tunnel, but it negatively effects the body and is not a cure. I'd rather live with some extra pain and know where I stand then rely on temporary shot of cortisone. The false sense "healing" the cortisone shot gives could put you back further if not careful. If what you do hurts, you know how far is safe to go. :-)
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