Labral Tear Recovery
Hey guys. I've been meaning to write about my labral tear recovery for some time now. I have been super busy with graduating, moving across the country and starting a new job so I haven't had much of a chance. I thought I'd go ahead and throw down my thoughts here and if you have any other questions I would be happy to answer.
First of all this advice is not meant to replace the advice of a professional physician. The following is just what I experienced during my labrum surgery recovery and should not be taken as a medical consult. I am not a medical doctor.
My Background:
I had points of damage in my left labrum. One was a slap tear and the other was a bankhart lesion. The Bankhart lesion was from years of subluxation of the joint due to 1. Genetic predisposition and 2. Repeated injury with lack of strength development. I played soccer and did basically no upper body strength routine until senior year of highschool. I also repeatedly fell on the field and should knock the shoulder loose.
The slap tear came later as I was attempting to train competitive gymnastics. There was never a single incident that I am sure tore my labrum, but it seems to have been due to the lack of stability caused by the pre-existing lesion and training that wasn’t appropriate for me at the time. Pain from my slap tear was most felt during overhead stabilization movements such as ring handstand. I could also feel the combined instability on movements such as the cross. I did 3 months of physical therapy with little effect and eventually decided to go ahead and get the surgery so that the condition would not get worse.
Surgery
I had several anchors placed into the labrum to reattach it to the bone. The surgery wasn’t terrible and I was never in a great deal of pain. Post surgery I was on a constant ice-bath machine which kept my entire shoulder cool for a full 18 hours post-surgery and greatly reduced swelling. I also was aided by legal narcotics J. I recommend that anyone who decides to have the surgery get the ice bath machine. Mine was called a GameReady and was basically a miracle. I also specialized my diet towards healing starting several days before surgery, which included lots of soup and cartilage.
Recovery
If you are considering surgery meet with the physical therapist beforehand and get a feel for how much they will be willing to help you. Be honest about your goals and get their opinion. My physical therapist was fantastic and therapy actually started just a few days after surgery. We did passive stretching consisting of pendulum swings to keep range of motion from closing too much. After a few weeks of this we moved into joint manipulation where my therapist would physically force my joint into greater ranges of motion. These sessions are the most painful thing I have ever endured in my life. One of my friends who went through a similar surgery and therapy vomited from the pain the first time. These sessions are absolutely imperative for opening the joint and getting the range of motion. We also did dry needling once the wounds were healed to be sure that muscle tightness was not affecting motion.
After this we went into basic isometric strength exercises where I would push against a wall mimicking external rotation, internal rotation, abduction and adduction. At this point I also started opening the shoulder angle more with passive stretches on my own. Be very careful about this. With professional athletes they quickly move to passive stretching, however those guys are monitored. The last thing you would want after surgery is to yank the anchors out of the bone although mine were pretty resilient.
After several weeks of isometrics I started back with general physical therapy using bands for external and internal rotation as well as a lot of plank variations. We did a lot of long holds for totals of about 3 minutes. My therapist kept track of this progress and eventually added weighted pull-downs assisted rows and some weighted trap lifts. From this point I moved very quickly and we added in a lot more exercises. Many were from the Foundation series which my therapist was very receptive about using. We spent several months moving through progressions and I was released from physical therapy about 6 months after the surgery.
At this point I was still very weak. I added in basic handstand stuff and started working back through the foundation and handstand series. These programs along with continuing my therapy exercises were immensely helpful in recovery. The only times that I had problems with my shoulder after surgery was from skipping the mobility and basics to focus on strength. Now after a year I am still performing these exercises near daily and increasing resistance.
I am now about 1 year and a few months out of surgery. I would say 18 months is typical recovery time to be back to near where you may have started. However there are a few things to consider. I am pretty young and still heal relatively quickly at 25 years old. I also had excellent mobility before surgery including being able to lift into manna. This greatly benefited me in recovery and I recovered faster than anyone they had from surgery including professional athletes. I was actually doing handstands in the office before I left J. I am still working on full range of motion. My shoulder was surgically altered to be tighter so that I am protected and it is difficult and takes a long time to loosen this up. I would say ROM is about 90% of what it was before surgery. I was told I could get a maximum about 95% back.
Takeaways:
I would always try physical therapy before surgery for at least a few months with a good physio who is focused on your goals. Get one who is willing to help and isn’t focused on just making sure you can throw a baseball in your yard.
Surgery is rough physically and emotionally. I was in school at the time and several months without one arm was really hard. Especially when you are on painkillers for some of the time. Do not approach it lightly
Recovery is long. Do not convince yourself that you are special and will recover faster than anyone else. I recovered pretty quickly and still am not quite back to full strength after over a year. You will need to be slow and diligent. A long smooth road is going to be better than trying to speed it up and reinjuring something.
Focus on something else while in recovery. I focused on finishing my masters thesis and getting full splits. Both of which I have now J
After surgery never stop doing the recovery exercises. And do everything on both shoulders. Your other arm will take a beating while you compensate I the beginning. There is nothing more disheartening than injuring the other arm while waiting for one to heal.
