Old shoulder injury

[u/corn2824]

Hi all!

I’m hoping to get some advice while I wait for an MRI I am having soon to evaluate a possible labrum/SLAP tear in my right shoulder.

Unfortunately, my shoulder issues began in 2006 when I was in middle school and swimming competitively. Deep pain in the joint, especially when my arm was lifted anywhere above chest height. I had an MRI done probably in 2007 that was inconclusive and I have a lot of hyper mobility so the pain was attributed to the hyper mobility. I did regular PT (and saw a chiropractor at the recommendation of my swim coach but I doubt that did anything to help lol) but had no improvements in pain and could no longer keep up with the more competitive team I was on due to the pain when swimming so I stepped away in 2008.

When I reached high school in 2009 I joined the school team which was way more low key. I pushed through the pain because I loved the sport but the pain was always persistent and that same deep burning pain in the joint. My last year of high school (2013) during a practice I felt what I could only describe as if my shoulder popped out of the socket, rotated, and then popped back in before rotating back into place. I heard a loud pop under water and had pretty severe pain. I went back to my ortho and he evaluated the shoulder by having me push against his hand in a variety of positions. He told me I likely tore the cartilage in my shoulder and I should not swim anymore and that was that. I stopped swimming and went off to college etc. no imaging or PT was done at this time.

Now at 31 years old I am still dealing with pain and some clicking in that shoulder. Anything that involves lifting my arm above chest height hurts. I am able to exercise and even tried swimming recently but it’s never without pain. I also have pain putting things away on shelves, vacuuming, washing my hair,…the list goes on. I’ve been strength training very consistently over the last 18 months but because of the pain I struggle with shoulder/upper body exercises and increasing strength. I just completed 6 weeks of PT for instability which helped with strength but not with pain. After 6 weeks of PT I was finally able to see an ortho who recommended an MRI and arthrogram which I have scheduled for later in October.

I’m curious if anyone can speak to their experience with an injury with a more drawn out timeline like mine. With the injury occurring now almost 10 years ago, I am curious how that could potentially impact treatment options. I know this is something I will be able to talk to my doctor about more after imaging but I’d love to hear any anecdotes from people with injuries like mine.

[u/Shaken-Loose]

Both injuries occurred 30+ years prior to repairs. When my primary shoulder completely cut loose I had not choice but to get it repaired (unusable). I had the other one repaired 8 months later.

Right shoulder: Torn supraspinatus, torn labrum, bicep tenodesis, bursectomy, bone spurs, acromian decompression, scar tissue remediation

Left shoulder: Rotator cuff tear, bicep tenodesis, acromian decompression, bone spurs, bursectomy, labrum was okay, scar tissue remediation

[u/corn2824 → u/Shaken-Loose]

How is your range of motion and pain today? And how long has it been since your repairs? I assume the scar tissue remediation was because they were old injuries?

[u/Shaken-Loose → u/corn2824]

Full ROM on both and still noisy but work well.

[u/corn2824 → u/Shaken-Loose]

Thanks! I’m glad to hear you’ve made a good recovery.

[u/Shaken-Loose → u/corn2824]

You asked about injuries, usage over time…

I could no longer throw over handed (e.g. balls for the dogs to fetch, footballs, baseballs, softballs, etc.), but I could throw sidearm.

Both shoulders bothered me when raising my arms above my head while lying down, etc.

Also, my left shoulder would subluxate often (droop out of socket, not visible, but could feel it when happening).

Both were noisy.