Anterior Bankart Labrum Tear Surgery – My Recovery Log

[383max]

Curious to anyone here who's at/been at the 5-6 month post-op mark - I seem to be doing well, but the one stretch I seem to be "lacking" with is the sleeper stretch (i.e. internal rotation). I think this stretch is a common stretch that you do after this operation. I've improved a lot with it, but I get this "tight" feeling at the top of my shoulder when I really stretch it out. Luckily it loosens up after I stretch it out but not completely. This kind of happens with external rotation as well.

Not concerned because my doc told me it takes 8-10 months to feel completely normal after a plication, but I'm wondering if anyone has noticed this too.

EDIT: I would actually describe this sensation as a "pinch" more so than tightness. But it's both

My ER is also pretty tight too when I stretch it out. As my chest gets stronger my ER is opening up as support develops and the capsule needs to do less. I wasn't progressing in my stretch for a while but now with strength its getting opened up. I still need to work on it each day tho because it seems to close back up when i stop stretching it. I want to get it open tho because if i caught something or moved my arm to support myself sideways it would be the capsule doing the stopping, not muscles -- which is what we dont want.

[383max]

So did any of you guys also rupture your biceps tendon? One doc said its better to rupture it as it doesnt pull on the labrum any more and the long head only provides minimal strength. It looks kind of wierd but i think with overall hypertrophy it will even out a bit

[HammZ]

So did any of you guys also rupture your biceps tendon? One doc said its better to rupture it as it doesnt pull on the labrum any more and the long head only provides minimal strength. It looks kind of wierd but i think with overall hypertrophy it will even out a bit

I had no damage to my bicep tendon but oddly enough that area always snaps now and it's actually kinda painful snapping. A little more awkward than painful but probably the only pain I ever feel now. Could be a separate issue. Maybe bicep tendonitis? Idk lol

[HammZ]

Curious to anyone here who's at/been at the 5-6 month post-op mark - I seem to be doing well, but the one stretch I seem to be "lacking" with is the sleeper stretch (i.e. internal rotation). I think this stretch is a common stretch that you do after this operation. I've improved a lot with it, but I get this "tight" feeling at the top of my shoulder when I really stretch it out. Luckily it loosens up after I stretch it out but not completely. This kind of happens with external rotation as well.

Not concerned because my doc told me it takes 8-10 months to feel completely normal after a plication, but I'm wondering if anyone has noticed this too.

EDIT: I would actually describe this sensation as a "pinch" more so than tightness. But it's both

Yes it took a year to really feel normal. I had surgery Jan 2013 and if you look at my posts you can see me still dealing with issues until early 2014, it does get there eventually.

[theuptownfan]

So did any of you guys also rupture your biceps tendon? One doc said its better to rupture it as it doesnt pull on the labrum any more and the long head only provides minimal strength. It looks kind of wierd but i think with overall hypertrophy it will even out a bit

My biceps tendon was in good shape. It had been really irritated and sore for a while but I did a lot of icing/myoflex (tiger balm)/massage and it hasn't been bugging me lately. Your comment about a rupture being better actually makes sense. Brett Favre had his biceps tendon cut to alleviate pain.

[theuptownfan]

It took me close to a year for the sleeper stretch to not cause any discomfort. It's very normal for external rotation to take a long time to return to normal. Don't sweat it too much, it'll come back eventually.

Thanks as always

My ER is also pretty tight too when I stretch it out. As my chest gets stronger my ER is opening up as support develops and the capsule needs to do less. I wasn't progressing in my stretch for a while but now with strength its getting opened up. I still need to work on it each day tho because it seems to close back up when i stop stretching it. I want to get it open tho because if i caught something or moved my arm to support myself sideways it would be the capsule doing the stopping, not muscles -- which is what we dont want.

Yea I should be doing that too

Yes it took a year to really feel normal. I had surgery Jan 2013 and if you look at my posts you can see me still dealing with issues until early 2014, it does get there eventually.

Yea I'm expecting a long recovery but I'm seeing progress. Just gotta be patient (I'm almost 6 months out). Thanks for the reassurance

[TmdRockz]

Did u guyz feel the lower trapezius muscle becomes tight when using the injured shoulder ?

[383max]

Did u guyz feel the lower trapezius muscle becomes tight when using the injured shoulder ?

Yeah itt's working harder all the time to stabilize the joint now that the labrum is torn

[383max]

Alright so I'm scheduled for a surgery to fix the labral tear in Jan. Shouldn't be too long of a recovery because it is fairly minor. My surgeon said he was going to remove the bursa as well though because he thinks I have inpingement causing pain too--I'm kinda hesitant to have the bursa removed because I think it will calm down once the RC muscles arent supporting the joint anymore.

Anyone have their bursa removed either in the labral repair or in a sep surgery?

[TmdRockz]

Alright so I'm scheduled for a surgery to fix the labral tear in Jan. Shouldn't be too long of a recovery because it is fairly minor. My surgeon said he was going to remove the bursa as well though because he thinks I have inpingement causing pain too--I'm kinda hesitant to have the bursa removed because I think it will calm down once the RC muscles arent supporting the joint anymore.

Anyone have their bursa removed either in the labral repair or in a sep surgery?

Can u tell me ur symptoms of the slap tear ? U positive to obreins test ? Where is the pain coming from ?

[TmdRockz]

im very dissapointed guyz. i went to the Surgeon in our area today and took a ultrasound and it says rotater cuff tendons are normal. i have no pain at rest. but i have pain when doing shoulder presses and bench presses. feel unstable when doing those presses. pain when the arm is raised up and externally rotated to the throwing position. at the top of the bench press movement when the arm is straight , my injured arm is shaking .. its unstable.and my lower trapezius gets real tight when doing presses. did 1 year of PT . helped a little. when i went to the surgeon today he said that i have no pain at rest and i have nothing to do a surgery . i read lots about slap tears and im pretty sure im having a slap tear. he said that dont do shoulder presses.. he said i dont need surgery . WTF ?.. he said improve my excercising form . he is wrong. even he didnt let me talk about my symptoms.

[TmdRockz]

Guyz see this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=165448041

[Liftrunlift]

Guyz see this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=165448041

You need to get an Arthrogram MRI. You also should see an orthopedic that specializes in sport injuries.

My original mri showed small slap tears. Months of PT and not lifting...still same pain. I had an arthrogram and it showed the severe tear that they couldn't see in my original mri.

One week post op today. I go to the doctor for my first post op appointment tomorrow. Looking forward to hear what is planned to start my recovery.

[TmdRockz]

You need to get an Arthrogram MRI. You also should see an orthopedic that specializes in sport injuries.

My original mri showed small slap tears. Months of PT and not lifting...still same pain. I had an arthrogram and it showed the severe tear that they couldn't see in my original mri.

One week post op today. I go to the doctor for my first post op appointment tomorrow. Looking forward to hear what is planned to start my recovery.

Good luck on ur recovery man. In our county that gadolinum dye is given to the body through veins. Not directly injected to the joint. What abour ur mri ? Do u have mri pics of ur shoulder ? Here the mri we have is "mri with contrast " dye is given by Iv

[383max]

im very dissapointed guyz. i went to the Surgeon in our area today and took a ultrasound and it says rotater cuff tendons are normal. i have no pain at rest. but i have pain when doing shoulder presses and bench presses. feel unstable when doing those presses. pain when the arm is raised up and externally rotated to the throwing position. at the top of the bench press movement when the arm is straight , my injured arm is shaking .. its unstable.and my lower trapezius gets real tight when doing presses. did 1 year of PT . helped a little. when i went to the surgeon today he said that i have no pain at rest and i have nothing to do a surgery . i read lots about slap tears and im pretty sure im having a slap tear. he said that dont do shoulder presses.. he said i dont need surgery . WTF ?.. he said improve my excercising form . he is wrong. even he didnt let me talk about my symptoms.

yeah unless the MRI arth. shows tears no one will operate. Get that first from a sports med doc like he said. You prob have some tears which are affecting stability similar to what I have

[383max]

Can u tell me ur symptoms of the slap tear ? U positive to obreins test ? Where is the pain coming from ?

Yeah I am, pain in the top and front of the shoulder, sometimes the armpit area. It is a minor tear causing instability with forward pressing movements and irritating my bursa causing other issues.

[TmdRockz]

Yeah I am, pain in the top and front of the shoulder, sometimes the armpit area. It is a minor tear causing instability with forward pressing movements and irritating my bursa causing other issues.

ur arms shaking when the arms are straight in pushing movements ? .. lower trap tightness ?

[Liftrunlift]

Good luck on ur recovery man. In our county that gadolinum dye is given to the body through veins. Not directly injected to the joint. What abour ur mri ? Do u have mri pics of ur shoulder ? Here the mri we have is "mri with contrast " dye is given by Iv

I just did a quick search. It looks like MRI arthrogram uses gadolinium. Did you have the MRI with gadolinium? The dye on the arthrogram will show the tear better than a normal MRI.

I replied to your PM...

[TmdRockz]

I just did a quick search. It looks like MRI arthrogram uses gadolinium. Did you have the MRI with gadolinium? The dye on the arthrogram will show the tear better than a normal MRI.

I replied to your PM...

yea we have mri with gadolinium .. but it is injected to blood

[Liftrunlift]

yea we have mri with gadolinium .. but it is injected to blood

I just checked...the dye was injected into the joint.

[TmdRockz]

I just checked...the dye was injected into the joint.

can u send me ur MRI image ?

[theuptownfan]

TmdRockz first off... that surgeon is wrong. Just because you don't have pain at rest doesn't mean you don't have a tear. I would say that almost 3/4 of my labrum was torn (not quite sure if it was that big tbh) for 9 months, and I never had pain at rest. It is truly incredible how ignorant some professionals are about diagnosing these injuries. I was misdiagnosed for a very long time. My timeline:

- Sufferd injury 09/2013
- 7 weeks later go to doc. Gives me some stupid "tests" to diagnose me with a supraspinatus issue. Sends me to rehab
- Return in January. Still having problems. Tells me to return in 1 month if I continue to have problems.
- Still having in problems in February. I ask for the arthrogram, but she insists that I don't have a labrum tear.
- MRI shows a grade 1 delt strain
- Do rehab for the next few months
- Playing basketball in 05/2014, feel a severe pain going up for a rebound, nobody was around me.
- I say eff this, go to a real orthopedic surgeon. Looks at my old regular MRI. Sees that they misread my MRI and he can see a SLAP tear, but orders an MRI arthrogram to see the extent. Find out the next day that I had a very large bankart tear. it turned out to be a SLAP/anterior bankart + reverse bankart tear.
- Ended up costing me money out of my own pocket to cover some of the post-op rehab. I used up a lot of my benefits doing useless physical therapy before the surgery, thanks to my 9-month misdiagnosis because I saw someone who did not know wtf they were talking about.
- What was so sad about this misdiagnosis was that it should have been obvious - my shoulder was violently thrusted back, causing the injury. It was clearly a subluxation. I thought it could have been a torn labrum initially, but when you have 3 professionals tell you (1 doctor, 2 physical therapists), that it isn't that serious, you start to trust what you're hearing.

My point about this story, Tmd, is that you shouldn't settle with what your doc is saying. Instead of his speculation, you need to figure out once and for all what is wrong with your shoulder. It's not your "form" during exercises. The human body is very reliable in terms of giving you cues if something is structurally wrong, which explains your pain. this has been going on for a year now. If this surgeon is too stubborn to give you the facts, then go to another surgeon if you can! I can totally relate. It's extremely frustrating. That's why I'm writing out this long post.

I'm not sure why some doctors are so ignorant with diagnosing this injury. I understand that it can be difficult, but a torn labrum is one of the most common shoulder injuries for younger active men.

Anyways, tmd, like I said in the PM, see if you can get an arthrogram. You mentioned your dad works for a surgeon facility... maybe look around for other ones? If not, your only solution would be a scope. I'm sure there's gotta be someone in your country who can fix this problem for you.

[theuptownfan]

can u send me ur MRI image ?

A single image is useless, unless you're a professional radiologist

[TmdRockz]

Thanks for the reply man. My next fear is that radiologist will not find the tear. If there is nothing wrong with the shoulder. Then what is this pain ? In going to thew best surgeon in thw country tomorrow. With my dad. He will order a mri. But im not sure about radiologists in our country. Damn

[TmdRockz]

TmdRockz first off... that surgeon is wrong. Just because you don't have pain at rest doesn't mean you don't have a tear. I would say that almost 3/4 of my labrum was torn (not quite sure if it was that big tbh) for 9 months, and I never had pain at rest. It is truly incredible how ignorant some professionals are about diagnosing these injuries. I was misdiagnosed for a very long time. My timeline:

- Sufferd injury 09/2013
- 7 weeks later go to doc. Gives me some stupid "tests" to diagnose me with a supraspinatus issue. Sends me to rehab
- Return in January. Still having problems. Tells me to return in 1 month if I continue to have problems.
- Still having in problems in February. I ask for the arthrogram, but she insists that I don't have a labrum tear.
- MRI shows a grade 1 delt strain
- Do rehab for the next few months
- Playing basketball in 05/2014, feel a severe pain going up for a rebound, nobody was around me.
- I say eff this, go to a real orthopedic surgeon. Looks at my old regular MRI. Sees that they misread my MRI and he can see a SLAP tear, but orders an MRI arthrogram to see the extent. Find out the next day that I had a very large bankart tear. it turned out to be a SLAP/anterior bankart + reverse bankart tear.
- Ended up costing me money out of my own pocket to cover some of the post-op rehab. I used up a lot of my benefits doing useless physical therapy before the surgery, thanks to my 9-month misdiagnosis because I saw someone who did not know wtf they were talking about.
- What was so sad about this misdiagnosis was that it should have been obvious - my shoulder was violently thrusted back, causing the injury. It was clearly a subluxation. I thought it could have been a torn labrum initially, but when you have 3 professionals tell you (1 doctor, 2 physical therapists), that it isn't that serious, you start to trust what you're hearing.

My point about this story, Tmd, is that you shouldn't settle with what your doc is saying. Instead of his speculation, you need to figure out once and for all what is wrong with your shoulder. It's not your "form" during exercises. The human body is very reliable in terms of giving you cues if something is structurally wrong, which explains your pain. this has been going on for a year now. If this surgeon is too stubborn to give you the facts, then go to another surgeon if you can! I can totally relate. It's extremely frustrating. That's why I'm writing out this long post.

I'm not sure why some doctors are so ignorant with diagnosing this injury. I understand that it can be difficult, but a torn labrum is one of the most common shoulder injuries for younger active men.

Anyways, tmd, like I said in the PM, see if you can get an arthrogram. You mentioned your dad works for a surgeon facility... maybe look around for other ones? If not, your only solution would be a scope. I'm sure there's gotta be someone in your country who can fix this problem for you.

AFAIK, bankart tear occurs when ur arm dislocates. U didnt dislocate the shoulder right ?

[383max]

TmdRockz first off... that surgeon is wrong. Just because you don't have pain at rest doesn't mean you don't have a tear. I would say that almost 3/4 of my labrum was torn (not quite sure if it was that big tbh) for 9 months, and I never had pain at rest. It is truly incredible how ignorant some professionals are about diagnosing these injuries. I was misdiagnosed for a very long time. My timeline:

- Sufferd injury 09/2013
- 7 weeks later go to doc. Gives me some stupid "tests" to diagnose me with a supraspinatus issue. Sends me to rehab
- Return in January. Still having problems. Tells me to return in 1 month if I continue to have problems.
- Still having in problems in February. I ask for the arthrogram, but she insists that I don't have a labrum tear.
- MRI shows a grade 1 delt strain
- Do rehab for the next few months
- Playing basketball in 05/2014, feel a severe pain going up for a rebound, nobody was around me.
- I say eff this, go to a real orthopedic surgeon. Looks at my old regular MRI. Sees that they misread my MRI and he can see a SLAP tear, but orders an MRI arthrogram to see the extent. Find out the next day that I had a very large bankart tear. it turned out to be a SLAP/anterior bankart + reverse bankart tear.
- Ended up costing me money out of my own pocket to cover some of the post-op rehab. I used up a lot of my benefits doing useless physical therapy before the surgery, thanks to my 9-month misdiagnosis because I saw someone who did not know wtf they were talking about.
- What was so sad about this misdiagnosis was that it should have been obvious - my shoulder was violently thrusted back, causing the injury. It was clearly a subluxation. I thought it could have been a torn labrum initially, but when you have 3 professionals tell you (1 doctor, 2 physical therapists), that it isn't that serious, you start to trust what you're hearing.

My point about this story, Tmd, is that you shouldn't settle with what your doc is saying. Instead of his speculation, you need to figure out once and for all what is wrong with your shoulder. It's not your "form" during exercises. The human body is very reliable in terms of giving you cues if something is structurally wrong, which explains your pain. this has been going on for a year now. If this surgeon is too stubborn to give you the facts, then go to another surgeon if you can! I can totally relate. It's extremely frustrating. That's why I'm writing out this long post.

I'm not sure why some doctors are so ignorant with diagnosing this injury. I understand that it can be difficult, but a torn labrum is one of the most common shoulder injuries for younger active men.

Anyways, tmd, like I said in the PM, see if you can get an arthrogram. You mentioned your dad works for a surgeon facility... maybe look around for other ones? If not, your only solution would be a scope. I'm sure there's gotta be someone in your country who can fix this problem for you.

I agree with you 100%. I saw a total of 4 doctors (all ortho sports med) so far for my right shoulder to make sure that they're consistent in what they're telling me. First said just rotator cuff sprain. Then I got an MRI Arth. and now it's a labral tear and bursitis, but the tear is very minor and none of the 3 docs post arthrogram said they would operate on it because the tear is too small. One offered me a surgical date in Jan but its more for subacromial decompression than labral repair and at this point I'm actually going to push the date back to spring break and try a cortisone shot first. Im in grad school so its hard to take time off from classes but at the same time none of them recommended surgery... If it hasn't improved by mid-Feb then for sure it is time for surgery.

So yeah it makes sense to see a few people and get various MD's viewpoints on it as they all have a dif perspective.

Uptownfan did you have a constant soreness in your shoulder throughout this period? Both at rest and with exercise?

[sowilson]

AFAIK, bankart tear occurs when ur arm dislocates. U didnt dislocate the shoulder right ?

Poster said "It was clearly a subluxation". Subluxation is when your shoulder dislocates and then pops back in on its own. And yes it can cause a bankart tear.

[TmdRockz]

Poster said "It was clearly a subluxation". Subluxation is when your shoulder dislocates and then pops back in on its own. And yes it can cause a bankart tear.

damn . then i may have a bankart.

[TmdRockz]

I agree with you 100%. I saw a total of 4 doctors (all ortho sports med) so far for my right shoulder to make sure that they're consistent in what they're telling me. First said just rotator cuff sprain. Then I got an MRI Arth. and now it's a labral tear and bursitis, but the tear is very minor and none of the 3 docs post arthrogram said they would operate on it because the tear is too small. One offered me a surgical date in Jan but its more for subacromial decompression than labral repair and at this point I'm actually going to push the date back to spring break and try a cortisone shot first. Im in grad school so its hard to take time off from classes but at the same time none of them recommended surgery... If it hasn't improved by mid-Feb then for sure it is time for surgery.

So yeah it makes sense to see a few people and get various MD's viewpoints on it as they all have a dif perspective.

Uptownfan did you have a constant soreness in your shoulder throughout this period? Both at rest and with exercise?

do u have constant soreness for more than a week like duration ? rotater cuff tears cause constant pain.

[Liftrunlift]

Just got back from my post op appointment. The doctor said everything went well. Took out the stitches and gave me three things to do. Grip with my hand, move elbow (curl without a weight) and a shoulder stretch (put both hands on a table and slowly back away). Another 4 weeks before I go back and then start PT.

@TmdRockz - I don't have the disk of my MRI.