Torn labrum on MRI, but lifting/pressing heavy without pain

[EBarbz]

This thread has really helped me out.
I just got my MRI results back yesterday saying I have a posterior superior labral tear in the right shoulder.

A little background.
Ive had pain in my right shoulder since Oct of 2018. Thought it was just inflammation and over overuse.
Pain would only happen after a workout, and while I slept.
All my workouts were fine. Would do full strength. Even increase weight. No pain while lifting, but afterwards the pain would arrive.
I have stopped lifting for about a month now. Pain is no longer there, but there are times I will get the popping sound when I make a motion with the shoulder.
I worked on the yard this past weekend and while I was mowing the lawn, my shoulder and traps started to flare up.

This has really hit me mentally. I haven't started any PT as of yet. Hoping the doctor can explain more to me, and I can see where to go from there.

[Josediaz59]

Ive been having pain in my shoulder since october of last year. Got an MRI and they found nothing, I would assume a small tear was missed or something. I also got a cervical mri and thry found a very mild disc bulge at C5-C6. Ive been able to do overhead press and dumbell bench press with 20lbs each side (havent tried anything heavier just to be safe) and there isn't any biscomfort except that my left shoulder doesn't get sore contrary to my right.

Could it be the resukt of the bulging disc or could it be that a torn labrum was missed on the MRI?

[MKIV_]

E Barbz - Search the net for PT for your rotator cuff exercises and start them. You want to do high reps and low weight, and hold the exercises at the end fo the motion. (You may be starting out with dumbells that are 0.5kg for example). See what your doc says, get a second and third opinion.

Jose - Hard to say whether its a torn labrum. have you had any instability? Not sure if its to do with your bulging discs but get that looked at. Investigate non-surgical routes.


While I'm here I'll update - All is well. Took a month off for my honeymoon and managed to do some exercises twice during this period as I was hauling heavy bags and didn't want to mess anything up.

Hit the gym today for a light session and felt a pop with pain whilst doing lat pulldowns. Wasn"t happy at all. Hopefully nothing to worry about.

[MKIV_]

In closing out my contribution to this thread - I am pleased to advise that I have beaten two labrum tears (with rehab, supplementation, time and perserverance) WITHOUT surgery - some two years later.

Sending my thanks to the OP, as his anecdote gave me hope to pursue the non-surgical route (where everything else pointed to surgery).

To anyone else stumbling on this thread when exploring the depths of the internet for an answer, living with (healing?) a torn labrum is possible; but will take time (years)

Regards,
MKIV_

[TonySturch]

Awesome to hear MKIV_! Thats incredible. I'm also happy to report my shoulder has healed up well, and the other never really developed into a problem. Unfortunately with COVID, I'm not benching nearly as heavy as I used to, but the fact that I'm still able to is still great in my book.

Anyway, thanks for your contribution over the years, glad to hear you're all healed up.

[TheAndyThompson]

Did any of you non-surgery guys have any setbacks? I've had a posterior labral tear since late February 2020 and other than the first 6 weeks it's been good. Benching, OHP- Basically everything but pull ups. 3 weeks ago I moved my are and it popped like crazy. It's continued to pop a lot but this morning I woke up and the shoulder was incredibly stiff and sore. I went and lifted shoulders anyways with no more pain than when I begin. Just wondering if you guys experienced any set backs like this and if it's par for the course. Thank you!

[TonySturch]

Did any of you non-surgery guys have any setbacks? I've had a posterior labral tear since late February 2020 and other than the first 6 weeks it's been good. Benching, OHP- Basically everything but pull ups. 3 weeks ago I moved my are and it popped like crazy. It's continued to pop a lot but this morning I woke up and the shoulder was incredibly stiff and sore. I went and lifted shoulders anyways with no more pain than when I begin. Just wondering if you guys experienced any set backs like this and if it's par for the course. Thank you!

I dont recall any popping or specific secondary injury incidents. I would have soreness if I pushed it too hard too soon, but other than that, it was pretty straight forward, but a long long road to full recovery.

Good luck with it, hopefully your setback clears up soon.

[MKIV_]

I dont recall any popping or specific secondary injury incidents. I would have soreness if I pushed it too hard too soon, but other than that, it was pretty straight forward, but a long long road to full recovery.

Good luck with it, hopefully your setback clears up soon.

Similar here - I would get especially sore if I pushed too hard, too early.

Sometimes the joint was more "clicky" too.

Progress methodically and with caution would be my advice. Focusing on higher reps over adding weight especially.