Labrum tear and training

[Mikko Myllymäki]

Hi all.

A year back I started to have pain in my shoulder, first only during the night and then during the day also. I had not injured it in any way that I could remember. Anyway after about 6 months of going to different doctors and physiotherapists they finally took an MRI and found a tear in the posterior part of the labrum (left shoulder). The orthopedist said that it was probably caused by some repeated pushing since I couldn't recall a specific trauma. I trained a lot of handstands last fall and I think that's what caused the injury.

 

The shoulder was operated in August and now I'm slowly getting back to training. It's just that I'm scared to start handstand training again because I'm afraid that I will injure the shoulder again. Based on this very superficial description does anyone have any idea what might have caused the injury? Something wrong with my technique maybe or some too weak muscles? Any ideas? The orthopedist wasn't exactly a specialist on handstands so I couldn't ask him.

 

Here's a clip where I do a handstand in the beginning, if it's of any help:

 

Any help is very much appreciated.

[Daniel Burnham]

There are a lot of different types of labral tears. I very much doubt any of them would be caused by handstands unless you had a subluxation of the shoulder during one. However I guess anything is possible. Unfortunately it would be nearly to diagnose what the cause was unless we saw all of your training and knew all of your history. Best bet is to just try and do prefect form and build the shoulder correctly and slowly.

[Douglas Wadle]

Most of the handstand workouts, if taken slowly, will improve your shoulder health more so than putting them at risk. Weak shoulders are a major cause of impingement and Labral pathology. I would follow a well thought out regimen like H1, though, and not just start training handstands on you own.

[Douglas Wadle]

Nice video, by the way, with good demonstration of good strength. I suspect with you abilities you'd have no problem easing back into handstand work. Just go slowly and work on proper position and do a lot of shoulder Prehab work.

[Joshua Slocum]

First of all, make sure the orthopedist has cleared you to begin pushing work again before you start doing any training. I'm guessing you've already done this, but if you haven't, then do it. 

 

Second, you're going to want to build your way back up to handstands very gradually, with an emphasis on developing strength in your tendons and mobility in your shoulders. Slow, methodical progressions are key. Handstand 1 is your best bet, but if you lack the money for that, there's plenty of info available for free on this board and other sites. 

[Mikko Myllymäki]

Thanks for the input guys! I was hoping to hear something like that. I'm allowed to start doing pushing exercises next week. For the first time in my life I have a coach now who does my programming and checks my form every now and then so hopefully I will regain strength and mobility to my shoulder quickly.

 

There was no subluxation, not that I'm aware of anyway. The orthopedist said that this type of injury is sometimes seen with guys who do a lot of bench pressing. Obviously handstands weren't the only type of pushing movement that I was doing so maybe the total stress combined with some technical deficiencies was just too much.

[Craig Chambers]

Hello millhill and hope you had a merry Christmas. Thought I'd offer a bit of general rehab advice. I work as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist and occasionally see these, although typically they are more anteriorly situated (post-dislocation) or superiorly (associated with long head of biceps injuries). I'd definitely agree with your surgeon in that unless associated with acute trauma (posterior subluxation/dislocation) then repeated trauma in a posterior direction is likely cause. Bench press would be likely, although from your video don't forget that planche variations are similar in terms of direction of loading on shoulder. If you were operated on in August then I doubt you have many restrictions in place (check with your surgeon/rehab professional). Vital for your rehab is full shoulder girdle strengthening, so don't neglect lower traps, serratus anterior and rotator cuff as these will all help in terms of maintaining humeral head 'centred' on glenoid fossa. I wouldn't place any long term restrictions on your training but instead would emphasise a steady progression. Other thing of importance would be your other hobbies and work requirements and assessing whether these will 'overload' your shoulder.

 

Glad to hear you have a trainer and presume he has explained all of this anyway (if so just ignore this limey physio and carry on ). Have a happy and healthy  new year,

 

best regards,

 

Chunkypuffin

[Mikko Myllymäki]

Thanks for the advice Chunkypuffin. Very true that I did also a lot of other stuff that loads the shoulder in a similar way like handstands. I just somehow connected the injury to handstands because I trained them a lot more than ever before. But anyway, rehab is going well and slowly I'm doing more and more demanding exercises. Happy new year!