Rotator cuff tear recovery

[CameForAVacationStayedForTheRevolution]

So my physio thinks I have a torn rotator cuff and I’m waiting for a scan. MAde the fatal error of watching some TikTok videos (think TikTok knows I’ve been looking up exercises for strengthening the rotator cuff) and lots of people saying even with surgery you’re unlikely to recover and could well be in pain and limited movement for ever.

Is this right? Has anyone had surgery and been ok? Or recovered just from exercising?

I never had surgery. I had a brilliant physio and it took a good 2+ years but im not 10 years on and 95%

There's an absolutely brilliant UKSCA seminar on YouTube where the guy is saying how terrible his shoulders were after playing professional rugby but now he does amazing things...

You can recover, do the exercises.

Took me 2 years or so. Get good physio.

2 years, blimey. How often were you doing the exercises, I am only doing them 3x a week, I keep forgetting. Were there any exercises in particular you think helped?

im doing stuff in the gym like seated rows and lat pull downs. Then banded rotations. Some odd thing with my elbow on a bench and my arm bent and holding a light dumbell and rotating the arm up and down. Face pulls. Halos.

saw a video today about wall slides and another with having one end of a band in each hand and going over my head and then backwards as far as I can so will try those too.

Thanks, will look for this.

i Saw an nhs physio today but the person I pay privately to see is actually a sports exercise therapist but she seems amazing…she’s previously sorted my ankle problem out. I have ehlers Danlos syndrome as an added complication.

Obv not suggesting you start doing mad stuff like flags but honestly, the description of how banged up his shoulders up were made me feel a whole lot better about my rotator cuff irritation!

Took me 2 years too.

If you have EDS, you are going to have to be careful but honestly getting them better then stronger is really the only thing you can do to prevent further injury.

The annoying thing is I have steadily lifted weights 3x a week at a good level to keep my muscles strong because of eds. I’ve always been careful not to push too much. I don’t think it was a weightlifting injury as I’d hurt my ankle so much and torn an ankle tendon badly for the previous 6 weeks I’d been focusing on ankle stuff.

Could well be the ankle causing the issue. It goes up the biomechical chain.

Generally if I go to the physio with a sore shoulder, it's my back or hips that's the issue.

It would be worse if you didn't train.

Two years recovery for me too. No surgery.

You will also need to be careful not repeat the tear.

I recovered with a therapist who used a combination of Emmett and Bowen technique, no surgery. Took about 18 months to get back full movement. So it is possible.

Just to add, I had excellent results with a steroid injection for a painful injury where they weren't able to definitely say if it was shoulder or arm tendon or referred pain. Shoulders are extremely difficult to diagnose because there's so much involved with all the muscular skeletal, tendons and joints.

my injury was probably tendon strain due to computer use, and after 9 months of physio treatment, the pain was slowly subsiding, but the steroid was amazing. Within a week following the injection, a lot of my mobility had returned so the physio was much more effective.

Steroid injection sounds bliss. I am fed up of it aching all the time, struggling with getting dressed and washing.

Sorest thing ever, second the steroid injection but definitely get someone to drive you home after, I hadn’t planned that and it was agony but improved rapidly thereafter and moved me from tears of pain from just getting dressed to being able to actually do some of the exercises properly

Mine took about 18 months but I am on holiday at the moment and have realised I can do front and back crawl without pain again! I had some physio and did targeted gentle exercises but the main thing for me was rest and not overdoing it.

Private physio, private acu. Don’t have the surgery, it’s less effective than placebo. Acu shortens recovery time to usually <3 months.

Don’t get a steroid injection with EDS. I can’t remember why, but I have EDS and have been told by doctors I can’t have these because of my EDS.

had a rotator cuff injury (but not tear). Agonising pain for a few months, but then we went into lockdown so spent 2 years sitting on the sofa. By the time the last restrictions lifted I think it was better. I have so many injuries from EDS though, I might just have been distracted by a more painful one. I can tell you it doesn’t hurt now though 😂

What’s acu?

Thanks, will do some research. I had steroid injections with my ankle and was ok. But will check. I know what you mean about lurching from one issue to another, it’s been constant since 2018…left ankle, lower back, right hip, left ankle, right ankle, lower back, now my shoulder/neck.

6 mths with physio and about 70%. I do 5 mins exercises every day.

Go to your doctor and get referred to a consultant who will actually diagnose what’s wrong with your shoulder. My DD had a poorly knee for months and the physio kept telling her she was improving. She wasn’t. In the end we went to the GP who referred her to an orthopaedic surgeon. He immediately sent her for an MRI and we found her ACL had snapped. No amount of physio would have repaired it. I’m still angry at myself for listening to her gymnastics teacher who recommended physio without thinking about whether it was the right course of action. I my DD had surgery and then physio and that has worked.

I was very lucky. I had a great NHS student physio who gave me alot of support, her programme worked!

My gp won’t see anyone with muscular skeletal problems. You fill the form out saying what’s wrong and are diverted to physio stream, no choice in the matter. I’ve had this before with my ankle injuries and complained and got nowhere. Not allowed to see a doctor. In fairness the physios can refer for scans and also consultant if needed so hopefully am on the right path.