Rotator cuff injury.

[shiningstar2]

Has anyone any experience of a rotator cuff injury? I had a bad fall six months ago and I am still having shoulder discomfort. I can't raise my arm fully above my head and can't get my arm behind my back. I have seen no improvement in 6 months and have been referred for physiotherapy. I am following the exercises but have seen little improvement and I have more pain, especially at night, than I had before I started them. Does anyone have experience of physio working for this injury or alternatively any negative experience? Has anyone had surgery for it? If so how successful was it? Thanks for any replies.

Can you let me know where in the Uk approx you are? South east?

Sorry pressed send to soon, could you look up any physios near to you who practice the Hendrickson Method and see if you get get referred specifically to them? Or pay privately.

This can be managed and relived, I'm also assuming as it was a fall you've be X-rayed for any fractures?

My DF injured his in a fall during covid. The physio exercises given on Zoom didn’t really help. The best thing he did to help lifting his arm above his head was to stand away from a kitchen cabinet with his fingers on the cabinet, then bend his knees so the arm went above his shoulder level. He did this for a week or so and saw an improvement.

You may have gone on to develop a frozen shoulder as a result of the rotator cuff injury. It’s what happened to me.

it’s bloody awful and you have my sympathy.

I have had this. I did the exercises from the physio and unfortunately it made it worse. Massage helped unlock the frozen shoulder which developed . I tried acupuncture and had two steroid injections which didn’t help. I had two mri scans, the first was reported as normal but I did get a referral to a specialist. He ordered a second mri with dye which showed damage. I am currently managing it by being careful and have the option of surgery to remove fluid from around the joint etc. I injured it over two years ago and it’s so much better than it was but I know if I have overdone it. It was so painful when I first did it, so you have my sympathies.

I have a rotator cuff problem which physio is helping with. But only from seeing a different physio from the first one I saw - the exercises they gave me did nothing.

Apparently, according to my personal trainer, rotator cuff issues are common in menopausal women.

I had a bad fall and took a heavy impact to my shoulder, causing a rotator cuff injury. In the immediate aftermath it was very painful, I had limited movement, but after the immediate pain had worn off, and some mobility returned, I then had 6 months of mobility becoming more and more limited until I reached the point of struggling to get dressed.

But then, by itself it started to improve and over the following several months the mobility returned and now it's almost back to what it was and the pain has largely disappeared leaving me with occasional twinges. (These have a nerve damage quality but are nothing compared to how painful it was before when I was having frequent electric shock type pains running up and down my arm.)

An X-ray showed no damage and neither did a soft tissue scan.

I didn't have physiotherapy, it was during lockdown and accessing services was too difficult, so I just tried to keep the arm in use.

I had one 10 years ago.

It took two years to heal and really only improved when I started physio.

Standing in front of the mirror on my first session it was evident that I was carrying one shoulder much higher than the other. That was the first thing the physio worked on and the relief from correcting that was enormous. Further sessions worked on mobility.

I have to be honest and say I still have some weakness in that shoulder, but am relieved that it eventually recovered 99% of its function.

I had physio three times for rotator cuff condition, it didn't help me at all. I had excruciating pain for three years, three steroid injections before consultant said will have to be operation. I was in so much pain at times, I would be whimpering as I couldn't get my clothes off at night to go to bed, work was difficult as I was doing a lot of online work and the repetitive movements really made the condition unbearable.

Fortunately was referred to a private hospital as NHS patient in 2018, operation done within three months and has been absolutely fine ever since. Tiny little scars that have healed, only one is slightly noticeable now.

Handhold Op, it’s terrible pain I know, I saw two different private physios, my shoulder has improved and is probably the best range of movement it is ever going to achieve now, but it’s far from perfect. There are lots of suggestions for physio exercises online, also massage can help, although it is painful, heat and cold can also help. Good luck.

I've just noticed the OP was from September. I hope things have improved over the past couple of months @shiningstar2.

Hi @nauticant and others who have posted today. I injured my shoulder in a bad fall in April so almost 8 months ago. I have had physio but it didn't really help much as, although doing the exercises wasn't particularly uncomfortable, they increased my pain at night quite considerably so I ended up stopping as I wasn't getting any sleep. This last month though the pain is milder and I have more movement. Still difficulty dressing or undressing and I still can't get my arm around my back. I can raise it above my head now and brush my hair. Rotator cuff injury seems to be quite a long term injury with slow, gradual progression. Hope others on here are getting some relief. 💐

I fell on to my shoulder and experienced the same symptoms. Never got a diagnosis as it was COVID times and I didn't want to go to A and E. Just treated my self at home. It took a year and a month to be able to raise my arm above my head again though I did get reasonable functionality back in days. It took six weeks before I could drive. Resting, hot wheat bags and a TENS machine seemed to work a heck of a lot better than physio. I saw a physio several times. We did massage and exercises but I just ended up with more pain and no real improvement. Time healed.

I had a bad sporting accident nearly 30 years ago, broke my collar bone, tore the labrum, and tore rotator cuff tendons. NHS gave me no physio or follow up and sent me home in a sling with some painkillers. It was 8 weeks before I could even move my upper arm, and all these years later I still can't lift my arm much higher than shoulder height if I point it straight out to the side, and I can't do any sort of activity that involves holding my hand above shoulder height.

There's no pain or anything from the ligament damage, just extremely limited movement. When I do get pain it's invariably down the upper arm and I think it's lingering effects of the labrum tear. Any time I've brought it up with various GP's I just get brushed off with 'what are you expecting us to do about it now?' type flim-flam.

As others have posted, it's a nasty injury with many different outcomes but I would say that your progress @shiningstar2 sounds similar to mine. There was the initial injury then about 6 months of deterioration, at which point I was feeling very pessimistic about the future, followed by about 6 months of gradual recovery with the end result being something I could definitely live with.

Sorry to hear about other people on the thread who have not recovered so well.

Anyone posters experience this on normal wear and tear? I would like to know any surgery outcomes. I've been recommended surgery to reattach three rotator tendons..