Am I doomed for surgery?

[tdaly01]

Age: 31
Gender: Male
Height: 5’7
Weight: 160

1.5 years ago, right before the start of COVID, I had a bad pain in the back of my right shoulder while doing dumbbell floor presses. Over the next 3 weeks I dealt with truly awful pain, especially at night, it was so bad that it prevented me from sleeping some nights. Since the world was shut down I did rehab myself with exercise bands, ice, etc. after 3 months I felt pretty good and returned to lifting but I’ve been too nervous to try any push exercises as my shoulder still doesn’t feel right.

I finally got an MRI last week and am awaiting a doctors appointment to review results. The report states the following:

“Tendinosis with low-grade articular surface partial tear of the distal supraspinatus tendon. No full-thickness tear or retraction. Chronic inferior capsular sprain. Mild subacromial subdeltoid bursitis. “

My goal is to one day work my chest out again. I want to be able to do incline/decline dumbbell press with decent size weight, as well as classic push-ups. That’s it, I’m not a body builder, I just want to be able to do an athletic full body lifting routine 3x per week.

Is surgery my only realistic option to achieve these goals? Will I only be kicking the can down the road?

[Szyszak]

Age: 31
Gender: Male
Height: 5’7
Weight: 160

1.5 years ago, right before the start of COVID, I had a bad pain in the back of my right shoulder while doing dumbbell floor presses. Over the next 3 weeks I dealt with truly awful pain, especially at night, it was so bad that it prevented me from sleeping some nights. Since the world was shut down I did rehab myself with exercise bands, ice, etc. after 3 months I felt pretty good and returned to lifting but I’ve been too nervous to try any push exercises as my shoulder still doesn’t feel right.

I finally got an MRI last week and am awaiting a doctors appointment to review results. The report states the following:

“Tendinosis with low-grade articular surface partial tear of the distal supraspinatus tendon. No full-thickness tear or retraction. Chronic inferior capsular sprain. Mild subacromial subdeltoid bursitis. “

My goal is to one day work my chest out again. I want to be able to do incline/decline dumbbell press with decent size weight, as well as classic push-ups. That’s it, I’m not a body builder, I just want to be able to do an athletic full body lifting routine 3x per week.

Is surgery my only realistic option to achieve these goals? Will I only be kicking the can down the road?

Supraspinatus pathology is almost always related to bad biomechanic around shoulder blade, mostly related to weakness in muscle which control scapula - serratus A, upper and lower traps.

https://www.northsidesportsmed.com.a...s-it-important

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwQE...UCLARecreation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVLL...l=Ccedseminars

[Darkius]

I recommend really shopping around before getting any surgery. A bad one can make it worse and remove the possibility of a good one being able to fix it.
I would avoid push exercises and give this some thought and get a second opinion

I know one guy who got a shoulder surgery that went well, and another who got a forearm surgery that left him only able to lift 10 pounds. He was a super muscular dude.
I also know someone who went to 3 different experts who told him 3 different injuries. But in your case, the MRI likely is authoritative. The first two experts just went by symptoms and even then were not very skilled.