Been dealing with some shoulder issues for over a year now. Finally found out my right labrum is torn, and I’m planning on having surgery for it between mid-May and early June. I was reading Jim’s article regarding his shoulder surgery for what seemed to be labrum/rotator cuff repair, and I was wondering if anyone has done anyhing similar. I already know my doctor is going to prescribe P.T. for me after the surgery, but I don’t feel confident in any of the therapists I could go to, and I can’t even afford it anyways, without bankrupting myself. I’m starting college in August so I’d like to be able to save some money leading up to it.
So yeah, I’m just wondering if anyone’s dealt with anything similar, and if they think I could potentially follow a similar routine as Jim did. I’m not trying to be bad ass, or get back to lifting heavy right away - I’m fine waiting a long time and being patient. I really just don’t feel comfortable with my options for therapists, and can’t really affored the therapy anyways.
I had rotator cuff surgery in 2015, it was very painful and recovery took a long time.
Find a reputable physical therapist, maybe a teaching clinic to save a few bucks. You only get two real shoulders, money spent on a sensible physical therapy plan will be money well spent. You are not Jim Wendler and your injury and surgery will not be the same as his was.
Spend the money, you have a life ahead to earn more, that life will be far less enjoyable if you F up your shoulders trying to save a few bucks.
Agreed. You’re going to have situations in your life where you could pinch some pennies and do it yourself, but a good PT is invaluable in a situation like this. Shoulders are so complicated that there’s a chance that you could hurt yourself again trying to do self-rehab. Play it safe because I would imagine that spending your life from 18 years old and onward with one bad shoulder would be absolutely terrible
My son and I have both had to use PTs several times each, and their quality varies very widely. Many PTs do most of their work helping elderly people recover from surgery and get back to the basics of everyday life, and many of these are not very helpful in getting an athlete back on his feet.
One great PT we found had been a strength coach in his former life, and he was fabulous. In another case, we called up the head trainer for the track team at the university my son goes to, and asked who they used for PTs, and went there, and again it was great.
I recommend finding a PT outfit that mainly takes care of athletes, and one of the best ways to do that is through a local university athletic department, that by necessity places a premium on getting their athletes healed and back in the game as fast as possible.
I agree with the other posters that this is not the place to be cheap. Save money other places. You may be able to negotiate with the clinic to get a discount. Insurance companies do, and they often get huge discounts.
Agree with others, if you’re not going to do specific to your situation PT afterwards, the shoulder surgery would be a tremendously painful waste of time. I’ve had lots of PT for various stuff, it can vary, but for the most part I’ve been lucky. Most recently I contacted the local cross fit… thing (don’t want to call it a box, that’s stupid), figuring they’d have plenty of experience with injuring people and sending them somewhere, and it ended up working out pretty well. If you can only afford 1 session a week, maybe the therapist can still work out a good home program for you to do as you recover.