SLAP tear in my shoulder

[MR. ASA HOLE]

Originally Posted by rhound50

For such an ASAhole you are a pretty decent guy.

What the hell is the matter with you? You're going to ruin my "rep".

[oilslick58]

Originally Posted by rhound50

Got my MRI results back and I have a SLAP tear in my right shoulder. The orthopedist said that there is a chance that is could heal on its own since its in a very low blood flow area the odds are not good. That for me being young and active I am better off having surgery. That on its own it can take years to heal and there is a chance that it will never heal on its own. The surgery takes 3-4 months for a full recovery but has a very high success rate. Has anyone been through this? Any advice? Thanks

Bro I am with you right now............doin everything I can not to have surgery

[rhound50]

And here we go again, so the good news is the most recent cortizone shot seems to have worked which seems to indicate that my 2nd opinion was right and I dont have a SLAP tear. It seems that I have a larbum tear and a small rotator cuff tear. So now what the heck to do? The 2nd opinion says that I can go through the rest of my life with what I have without surgery if I dont play any more ball(not an option). He said that if I continue to play throwing sports that this will almost defiantly flare up again at some ppint. I have been able to do some throwing at 75% with no pain and been able to lift my shoulders at about 75% with no pain. I was scheduled to have surgery 11/6 but I pushed it back to 12/4. If I am able to play winter ball pain free and lift shoulders I think I am just going to cancel the surgery and take my chances. Now if this flares up next summer and I have to miss playing next summer I'm not going to happy.

[curse21]

I had the same surgrey in nov of 2007. good luck. and also good luck with that 3 to 4 months recovery time. that is BS and only if your tear is small. if they have to put a lot of anchors in there, it is more like a year. and also like sonny said how he had 2, it is about 90% chance if you have surgrey to repair one, it is only a matter of time before it tears again. I need it again also, but this time I hurt it lifting weights. oh and that is another thing, good luck reaching all the goals you were hitting in the gym before. I really do hope yours is one of the lucky ones and it is not that bad. mine was destroyed and so was my boy who had 2 of them. when he got the second one done they cut his bicep and attached it to his chest, it is never good. I do wish you the best

[jaj23]

Superior
Labrum
Anterior (to)
Posterior

This means that you have a tear in your superior labrum that started in the anterior and is working its way posteriorly. The labrum is a thin rim of cartilage that surrounds the glenoid fossa. It is the part of the shoulder joint that somewhat deepens/enlarges the socket part of the joint and helps to keep the head of the humerous from dislocating. If it tears, the shoulder becomes unstable. When the shoulder is unstable it typically results in inflammation and possible injury to the surrounding structures such as the rotator cuff.

Your two doctors seem to be giving you different terminology for the same thing. SLAP = Labrum tear. You can have a SLAP lesion without a biceps tendon rupture. In fact, I would say that it would be rare to have both.

A labrum tear is most often caused by the biceps tendon (which inserts at the labrum) pulling the labrum away from the bone.

If the cortisone injection seems to be working, I would keep playing until it flares up again and then have it reevaluated right away.

[jaj23]

This shows how the biceps tendon inserts at the superior labrum. You can see how if there is enough strain from the biceps tendon on the labrum, a tear can form.

[rhound50]

Thanks for all the help guys, the shoulder is freakin complicated. I have had mostly knee problems in my life resulting in 2 surgeries, the knee is much easier to understand.

I think its probably a combination of the cortizone and the fact that in the month of figuring out what was wrong I took about 5 weeks where I didnt throw. Since this is a cartilage problem caused by stress from the bicep tendon is this something that physical therapy wont help? I was thinking about going back to my physical therapist and seeing if he had any suggestions on how to keep the shoulder strong so this maybe wont happen in the future. Or is this something that strengthening wont help? I did a light shoulder workout for the first time in 2-3 months and wow are my shoulders weak.

[jaj23]

Originally Posted by rhound50

Thanks for all the help guys, the shoulder is freakin complicated. I have had mostly knee problems in my life resulting in 2 surgeries, the knee is much easier to understand.

I think its probably a combination of the cortizone and the fact that in the month of figuring out what was wrong I took about 5 weeks where I didnt throw. Since this is a cartilage problem caused by stress from the bicep tendon is this something that physical therapy wont help? I was thinking about going back to my physical therapist and seeing if he had any suggestions on how to keep the shoulder strong so this maybe wont happen in the future. Or is this something that strengthening wont help? I did a light shoulder workout for the first time in 2-3 months and wow are my shoulders weak.

It's hard to rehab torn cartilage since it's not a muscle and there is virtually no blood supply.

[onion]

I don't like all the responses here. Just had MRI yesterday on my shoulder after trying cortisone, meds, rest and it still feels like crap. Sounds like no matter what it will be a lengthy rehab.

[1SAST]

I had my SLAP repair done back in April. PM me if you want any details on the healing process.

[rhound50]

Well quick update, last night I played in my first winter league game. I was back playing short for the first time in over 2 months. I have been throwing since the cortinzone shot without any pain. I got through the game with no pain, though having not thrown for a couple of months my accuracy left something to be desired. Either way it was really exciting to be out there playing again without any pain.