Torn Rotator Cuff

So this past friday I was training chest. Started off doing flat Dumbell Bench. I warmed up throughly and worked my way up. Felt pretty good and being that my PR for this movement is the 135s x 5 reps I decided to go for the 140s and shoot for 5. I got the weights on my lap and went to sit back and on the first rep about half way up felt and heard a crunch noice in my right shoulder dropped the weights right away and that was the end of my workout. Applied ice immediately and started taking aleve the following afternoon. Went to a PT and had it assessed now that its over 48 hours later. Seems to be a torn supraspinatus. ROM is coming back fairly well and overall pain has gone down but cannot do any adduction at all. I am seeing a Orthiopedic tomorrow. I am writing here to see if anybody has had this injury and what the recover time was like or if it has limited what you are able to do in the gym. not TERRIBLY concerned, but I am curious as to what I may be facing. Thanks in advance.

just wait for your ortho and his diagnosis. not a complicated concept as he is the expert. every persons body is different and he should know and be able to judge these factors for you

Go into the bodybuilding forum and have a read through Stu’s threads mate, he has recently had a shoulder injury, and although its not the same injury, he’ll be able to provide a lot of insight for you.

I’d wait for an MRI before I would think anything is torn.

I tore both my pecs this year… I think, I had massive bruising on each pec… the tendon was fine, I just did overhead for a few weeks and went back to benching once the bruising was gone.

I think you just need a bit of time, and possible some form changes.

A lot depends on the prior history of the shoulder. If you have had repetitive bouts of pinching (impingement) and inflammation in your shoulder you may have been breaking the tendon down over time and a portion or all of it finally let go. If it is a torn Supraspinatus it is likely you had an instant increase in shoulder adduction. I am asssuming the PT diagnosed the injury and came to the conclusion by way of Orthopedic tests.

Here in Canada the MRI wait list is almost nine months long. I would be pursuing an Ultrasound on the shoulder. You sound like you are strong enough that if you are missing the action of the supraspinatus muscle the others that perform similar actions will do the job just fine. Seeing the surgeon is good they will clarify the extent of the injury for you.

For starters id quit with the anti inflammatories and start eating super clean (lots of vegetables). It’s vital to the healing of any injury, and trust me i’ve healed MANY. It won’t solve your problems but it will go a long way to speeding up the recovery

[quote]rehanb_bl wrote:
For starters id quit with the anti inflammatories and start eating super clean (lots of vegetables). It’s vital to the healing of any injury, and trust me i’ve healed MANY. It won’t solve your problems but it will go a long way to speeding up the recovery[/quote]

That advice sounds good.

Thanks for the advice everybody. I have an MRI set for late next week. My mobility is coming back and is almost 100% at this point. Swelling and pain has gone way down to almost nothing (unless I go into too much adduction-at the very top). I have and always do eat very clean including a lot of veggies and have been resting up with plenty of sleep as well. Thanks again for all the advice.

Ahh some shit I can talk about. I won’t bore you with the story of how it happened other than mine happened with DB’s also… 3 years ago… I’ll just stick to the relevant stuff.

After living with this issue for 3 years I finally saw an Ortho last January. Blew off his advice and three months later I had no choice but to do the surgery. Went in for a torn Labrum because that’s all the MRI showed. When I woke from surgery ( May 12th) I was told that in addition to the Labrum I has a torn rotator and a 1/2 torn biceps tendon. After fixing all of that I started Physical Therapy. 13 weeks later I was able to do push ups on the edge of a counter and curl 15# dumbells. I graduated their PT class a week early because I was ahead of the curve.

First bench work out was a month after that, end of August, first of Sep if my memory is correct. I got FUCKING OWNED with 65#… MAJOR hit to the ego since the Sunday before my surgery I had benched 315 for 3 sets of 8. Last Wednesday I worked up to 265 for 3. It’s getting better and better but still hurts. Shit still gets little pangs in it from time to time. For example, this morning I grabbed the milk to may my kid some cereal, left shoulder had a sharp pain shoot down my arm and then was ok.

I’d like to say it’s a quick recovery but it’s not. Just commit to easing back into things if you get surgery and if you live with it know that it will get progressively worse. Stuff doesn’t heal itself no matter how much ice and blue heat you put on it. Not to drag you down but you have to take care of yourself.

In the big picture of life, 8 months to a year in my case is nothing. Better take it easy to heal vs fuck shit up and be a guy who USED TO LIFT right?

Good luck man.

Thanks StrengthDawg. I appreciate it.

I received surgery last year for this same thing. It took me 8 months to get back. I still have troubles with it now. It doesnt affect my lifting, I just broke a couple state records last month. It does however; give me intense amounts of pain. Applying ice will help, just let it rest. They told me it can heal on its own but mine was too late so that was why i needed the surgery. Wait a couple months, if not… suck it up. thats what im doing now.

UPDATE: The MRI results came back and I do not have a tear. I have my followup with my Dr. next weekend. I hit light upper body this week with a lot of attention to my supraspinatus. Felt fine kept the weights super low and focused on blood flow into the muscles. Not gonna be doing anything crazy any time soon.

Just had the follow up with Dr. today. He said it was bursitis and fluid in the joint. No tear at all-just a strain. There is no more pain in the shoulder. Im good to go! Thank you everybody who read/posted in this thread for your advice!

congrats man, that’s good news! anytime you can avoid surgery it’s a good one