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Torn Rotator Cuff healing and working out?
Ziac45
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well Recently it has come to my attention that I probably tore my rotator cuff, I say probably as I wasn't diagnosed by a doctor. My mother who is a personal trainer and see's these injuries pretty regularly believes that it is torn. I trust her judgement on that one, however what she told me to do for it sounds a bit insane.
The obvious don't work it at all no overhead motions, pretty basic advice. She also said for me to take 4 ibuprofen 4 times a day, that seems ridiculous and fairly unsafe, I am really wondering if what she advised me to do is reasonable or if I need to go to the doctor for this.
The second part of the question is I have been making great project at the gym and I can't think of anything I can do to work my chest or back without overhead motions. I don't want to lose the progress I have made on my body so I will keep running curls and such but I would also like to get some ideas for what I can do for my chest and back while hurt.
The obvious don't work it at all no overhead motions, pretty basic advice. She also said for me to take 4 ibuprofen 4 times a day, that seems ridiculous and fairly unsafe, I am really wondering if what she advised me to do is reasonable or if I need to go to the doctor for this.
The second part of the question is I have been making great project at the gym and I can't think of anything I can do to work my chest or back without overhead motions. I don't want to lose the progress I have made on my body so I will keep running curls and such but I would also like to get some ideas for what I can do for my chest and back while hurt.
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As for your shoulder, go to a doctor. 16 pills of ibuprofen is an absurd daily dosage to take unsupervised and without valid medical advice... it's nowhere near the LD50 (you'd need to take upwards of 20-30 pills at once before you even start approaching that) but ibuprofen is pretty hard on your GI system, your liver and your kidneys.
Regarding exercises, well, "doing whatever doesn't hurt" is my motto. My shoulder has been hurt for a while too, but I stupidly kept using it.
I think most back exercises are safe, but you'll have to be selective with chest exercises. Push ups are okay, dips, flys...just keep the weight light and you'll be fine.
Seriously. See someone who knows what they're doing. An actual tear may require surgery to heal properly. If that's the case then trying to rehab it on your own is not going to get you anywhere. If you don't need surgery, a physiotherapist will be able to give you a proper programme for recovery. Take their advice and do the exercises thay give you, no matter how ridiculous they look or how useless they feel.
Two articles which helped me, not just with training but with understanding rotator cuff injuries in general are here and here (thanks, Wook). Personally I got a lot of mileage out of face pulls, push-ups, YTWLs, internal and external rotations (cable and dumbbells) and, once I was a bit further along in recovery, shitloads of pull ups and chin-ups, rows and more push-ups.
And yeah, start low and build up gradually. It is an injury which is very prone to being reinjured very easily so be careful.
To clarify, by 'on your own' do you mean 'without surgery' or 'without a professional assessment'?
Because I think the latter would be poor advice.
Surgery. It fucking sucks.
I was advised, to daily, (while watching TV and so on) outstretch the affected arm from the body and lift it as much as possible (as much as pain and injury allows) while outstretched. This was to be repeated until the arm felt some fatigue, then to stop and repeat again later. This was never uncomfortable and you will see increased movement over time.
I was advised to stop lifting (shopping bags, etc) for about six weeks to allow healing, and because there was some pain, but after that to slowly build back to normal as the pain allowed. I had pain occasionally, but only took 2 Tylenol about 6 times in the first few weeks for that and not again. 16 pills a day is completely unnecessary, you should instead gauge appropriate usage by your pain. I could often relieve the pain through a combination of slow, careful stretching and adjusting the arm and weight of the arm to a comfortable position.
Today I have few remaining problems, the biggest problem (as it has been the whole time) is sleeping on the arm can cause a lot of pain when waking up.
16 (200mg) pills of ibuprofen daily is perfectly safe for the average person. I haven't seen an LD50 for ibuprofen, but I'd be very surprised if it was under 30 grams in something like a 6 hour period (that's 150 pills). You are correct that it can be hard on your GI system, but I've also never heard of it having any significant adverse effect on liver or kidneys. It isn't highly toxic like Tylenol.
The reason that ibuprofen bottles usually recommend not exceeding 1200 mg daily is that it's a blanket statement that covers their ass legally against possibilities like a 90 lb woman taking 12 pills daily for weeks on end and then suing for pain and suffering because it gave her a stomach ulcer.
There are many grades of rotator cuff tear and you don't know which one is torn (there are 3), but it's likely the supraspinatus (most likely one to notice impaired movement).
Some grades can be healed with physio and weights, some need surgery. If you skip the surgery when you shouldn't, you will ultimately end up having to have it anyway, except then you'll have permanent impairment of movement, long term chronic pain and possibly need an even bigger reconstruction.
So yeah, get an expert to check this out. Take it from a man who's had multiple tears and two reconstructions.
Edit: Also, weight training is a long term commitment - years and years. Keep in mind that you need a strong foundation in terms of bones, joints and ligaments in order to put on slabs of muscle. Don't build your castle on a foundation of sand.
Eg - I had a tear in my left arm supraspinatus which I tore when I was 15 - didn't get surgery because it was marginal. Now I am 26, it's really starting to affect how much weight I stack on in the gym, plus it is also more likely to injure if i'm not careful.
you can always hit the gym harder better etc. later on
no need to fuck yourself up permanently over a month at the gym, you'll live
I had this EXACT same injury, from trying to play volleyball at a level I was used to back in High School. I play a lot of baseball/slo-pitch in the summer time, and was tripping balls over this injury. Summer baseball is my life and I had a throwing arm shoulder that hurt to sleep on.
Regarding the Ibuprofen, it's not for the pain, although it will slightly prevent you from feeling it, it's for the inflammation of your shoulder. The same reason you must ice a swollen injury is the same reason your mother recommended Ibu for your shoulder. It will heal faster. I had the same questioning, and got this answer from my doctor and physiotherapist.
By the way, this injury never really heals 100% if you half-ass your recovery. Take it from me. I hurt my shoulder 7 months ago, and although it doesn't physically hurt anymore, I can still FEEL something in my shoulder. Like it's always stiff.
Good luck with the healing process.
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And definitely take it easy on that shoulder. Your other side and still be worked though. Try one-arm push-ups and assisted one-arm pull ups. You can maybe do one arm DB Bench if you can maintain your balance, and you can do dumbell rows, along with dumbbell overheap presses.
However, it might also be a good time for you to just have some totaly body recovery, or upper body recovery. Then after your healed you can make great progress in the gym without hiccuping.
i just had my labrum repaired surgically. you don't need surgery, when i first tore mine, i did therapy on it to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint, worked for years.
finally broke down though and had it repaired. like mentioned. its a long and painful recovery.
go to an ortho. you will get examined and likely need an MRI.
questions:
pain levels?
when does it occur?
what kind of motion do you have?
as a muscle physiologist, taking that much ibuprofen is ok, but its not good for recovering muscles. you need swelling to heal. it may heal faster but it will heal into a weaker muscle.