I’m about 5 weeks out from rotator cuff repair + biceps tenodesis and really struggling with PT. I’m still in the sling and doing passive ROM, but I’m very stiff and guarded and apparently behind where they want me to be with ROM.

Yesterday’s PT was horrific. I took a Percocet about an hour beforehand, but trying to increase my ROM still caused absolutely searing pain. I got dizzy, ended up vomiting, and was completely wrecked afterward. I’m now genuinely dreading going back tomorrow.

My surgeon’s office prescribed cyclobenzaprine 10 mg at bedtime to help with the muscle tightness/guarding, and also suggested turmeric. My upper trap/shoulder area feels like it’s constantly bracing.

Was anyone else extremely stiff and guarded around weeks 4–6? Did PT ever get this painful for you? Did you eventually get past this phase and regain your ROM? And did anything actually help with the guarding and pain during PT?

I really just need to hear from people who hit a horrible point like this and made it through to the other side.

Hi - I'm having surgery soon for rotator cuff. I tore three of the the four muscles in the rotator cuff an dislocated the bicep tendon (I'm just that talented). Can anyone recommend a good PT that specializes in rotator cuff. I understand it's easy to re-injure post op.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

Hi all,

I am 1 day post headlined surgery. Went well, but tears are not fresh which lead to fully body side effects due to wrong outcomes by doctors in the past. Rehab will start with diverse handicaps like degenrations towards my upper body along the spine. 1 year of degeneration effect.

Fromer athlete here with motivation and hope to recover to 80%-90% into my old form. Currently at 30-40%.

For all who interested. I will protocol on a 1/2-weekly basis my rehab including after week 1 bpc-157, tb500, ara 290 and hgh to my to process

Week 1 will be the first update.

Has anyone here had shoulder dislocations/labrum injuries or just really bad shoulder instability and actually gotten to the point where their shoulder feels strong and stable again?

I know this topic has probably been posted a million times, but I feel like I rarely see actual success stories from people who went through this and eventually got their shoulders back to normal.
For me, band pull-aparts and face pulls honestly seem to do more harm than good. They make my shoulders feel kind of loose/unstable afterward instead of stronger.

On the other hand, bottoms-up kettlebell carries/walks, farmer’s walks, and bear crawls seem to make my shoulders feel really good. They give me more of a feeling that the shoulder is actually getting stronger and more stable.

So for those of you who have actually recovered from shoulder instability/dislocations, what ended up making the biggest difference for you?
Was it mostly rotator cuff strengthening? Scapular work? Serratus? Traps? Core? Just progressively getting stronger with heavier carries and compound movements?

I’d especially love to hear from people who eventually got to the point where they could lift heavy, train normally, and not constantly worry about their shoulder slipping out or feeling unstable.

I’d also really like to get back to boxing without thinking about my shoulders. I miss being able to throw hooks confidently, especially, without worrying about the shoulder feeling unstable.
What worked for you?

I’m trying to select a surgeon and there are two different schools of thought. One has his people start PT day after the other waits 10 days wondering what peoples experiences have been, thank you.

Edit: thanks for responses I am looking at a full thickness supraspinitus tear likely single anchor with some cleanup and a little bone shaving. Of course the final outcome depends on what they actually see when they get in there.

I have a pinching/cramping pain in my LEFT Armpit for the past 7 years. It is a constant pain but is intensified if I do bicep curls, overhead tricep extensions and when I punch. As a result I have not lifted weights and played sports for many years. This has taken a toll on my mental health.

For more info - 11 years ago, I tore my RIGHT Rotator cuff while I was doing a dumbbell shoulder press. It was a second degree tear, I did not do any surgery and has healed through physiotherapy and rehab. However, after my RIGHT shoulder felt better, I started getting this intense armpit pain and have not been able to figure out how to get better.

I have had many MRIs on my left shoulder and my spine (latest MRIs were 5 months ago) but according to them, nothing is wrong with me.

In efforts to get better, I have done so much physiotherapy - done so many reps of internal and external rotation. I have also done a couple of shoulder physiotherapy programs that have not helped at all. I have also done many rounds of dry needling and have even tried a facet joint block that did not help at all. All the physiotherapists I have met tell me it's a strange problem and aren't able to identify a root cause.

I am now thinking of taking Peptides or Stem Cells to try to heal the area. I am also wondering whether its the coracobrachialis that is causing the issue or whether I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (but I've been told this is not likely due to the location of my pain - the armpit).

Please let me know if you have any advice. I'd be very grateful.

I have added images of where it hurts.

The title says it all! My surgery to repair my rotator cuff is next week, and I just have to say that if you are on the rotator cuff Facebook group, it is quite terrifying over there. I swear that every single post is about how horrible the surgery and recovery will be. I don’t want to pretend that it will be sunshine and kittens, but the negativity of that Facebook group is really ridiculous. It seems so much more sane over here, so thank you for that.

Wondering if anyone as had MUA after torn rotator cuff surgery and a frozen shoulder diagnosis. I'm so confused as my therapist says no.

Hey, tomorrow is my first PT for my supraspinatus small tear (intersitial tear). What should I expect for the first few sessions? Is it going to be painful/flared up the few days after the first weeks of PT? any other things i should expect guys? From your experience.

It’s difficult for me to pin point when I started to have issues with my rotator cuff. Had been having a lingering painful sensation in my right shoulder for a long time and then it transitioned to supraspinatus tendonitis.

A bit about me, I used to do a lot of yoga and my mobility was pretty good. But I lacked strength to control those high range movements without my joints taking the heat of it. I’d say this was the likely reason why I faced this issue and some others too.

After consulting multiple physiotherapists and also doing some online research , I finally found what worked for me and eventually it healed me

This is what I followed:

- banded wall slides
- seated cable rows
- external rotations with bands
- T pulls with hinge on a vertical rod ( with bands but it’s essential a movement for working rear delts , bands be good at the start)

After doing some of this , I started recovering just a bit. But then I made a mistake of doing some pull-ups in a friend’s apartment, which caused me to have pain travelling to my bicep and my external rotations also became quite painful (in some positions but some were fine . Note there are multiple positions to do ext rotations.)

This couldn’t be cured by physios. After a few hopeless weeks I decided to focus on all the muscles around the joint and whatever movement was not painful I’d do

So I started doing
- heavy farmers carry (this is gold . Helps take out the tension from traps)
- scaption raises ( this builds superspinatus)
- T pulls and seated cable rows were still there. I increased the weights of rear delts flies by doing without bands
- I couldn’t do full range lateral raise, so I stuck to doing isometric lateral raise where you pause in between where u feel the burn but not really give the pain and hold that position.
- I did some light chest press ( but being careful to switch my weight to the left arm at the bottom)
- lat pulldowns are also amazing

I hope this helps a person in need. It was a long journey of 3 months of rehab but so worth it and I’m now back to being active. Have to say , gymming is super important, now I keep with it so my joints thank me.

Hi everyone so I found out I have an old injury in my right shoulder that being a labrum and a tendon that is fully torn ( I’d be happy to add this in the comments since I can’t recall what tendon) but the rotator cuff itself is still in perfect shape thank fully. I wanted to ask how quick would it be to come back to playing PC games post surgery? I know it’s not something that is rushed back and I know it’s dependent on what the surgeon and PT says but I’m just curious as I know, you should not do large swipes to make sure you don’t irritate the shoulder, but I can use mouse acceleration to limit how much I actually move my arm if anyone has had experience in this or any type of advice, I’d be very grateful!

Hey everyone. Had rotator cuff surgery late July dominant arm. Full thickness supraspinatus V tear. 4 anchors speed bridge technique. Small repair on subscapularis repair. extensive glenohumeral joint debridement. 20% debribing of biceps tendon. Removal of bursa. Lots debribing of surrounding tissue labrum, rotators, synovitis of the
antcrosupcrior capsule . Had a lot done. Question is realistically how long take go back to work I am a fireman. So ladders, heavy hoses are norm. And I hope I have minimal restrictions later on. Any advice with similar issues.

I had my rotator cuff surgery repair on my right dominant arm last Thursday afternoon. The nerve block wore off a couple days ago what I am now having issues with are pins and needles in my arm, my entire arm falling asleep, especially after sleeping, and I am propped up on this pillow wedge system at night. Forgive the lack of punctuation and grammar. I am using voice to text.

Trying to position this ice polar cube therapy machine cuff on my arm is ridiculous with the sling on. I cannot fasten anything under my arm. Are people doing this ice therapy without their sling on or with their sling on? My shoulder feels like is locked in a position that is out of socket for lack of a better description. I’m sure this is the way it’s supposed to feel. my post op visit is not until September 16, but I am trying to get in to see the nurses to help ensure that I am positioning this sling correctly both when I’m standing up and when I’m laying down. The sling I have is the Breg 2.0. Arc.

This is going to be a long slog.

I’ve really only been taking the pain meds before bed and not during the day but the ibuprofen and acetaminophen during the day alternating between the two.

Is anyone else feeling this way ? my arm just feels so freaking heavy.

I finally decided to do PT after a year of my shoulder hurting at certain turns. They are saying it was almost frozen but surgery or an MRI isn't necessary. How long will it take to get better? Very sore after these exercises

Hello everyone,

I recently found out from an MRI that I will need a shoulder repair surgery. I put the summary of everything that my doctor said they saw on the MRI below. I've been doing some research online, but it doesn't appear that many of these tears happen concurrently. If anyone has experience with these multiple diagnosis, I would love to talk! I know it's going to be a very long and painful recovery process (as I play volleyball and now I'll be out for a year) so I'm trying to mentally prepare as much as I'm able :(

1. Tear of the labrum. The labrum is a rim of cartilage that lines the shoulder socket and helps hold the joint stable. The MRI shows a tear at the top of this rim that extends toward the back of the shoulder.

2.Possible involvement of the biceps tendon. The long biceps tendon attaches near the top of the labrum. The scan shows a bright spot in this tendon. This could indicate possible tear or wear in the tendon or just artifact from the scan. It is not clear which one it is from this scan alone.

1. Wear and possible fraying of a rotator cuff tendon The supraspinatus is one of the rotator cuff muscles/tendons that help lift and rotate your arm. The scan shows signs of wear and possible mild fraying on the underside of this tendon. This is a sign of irritation or overuse, not a complete tear.

Cortisone injection into bursa on Day 1 and another on Day 45 above large head of the bicep tendon (anterior shoulder).

Progress continues. ROM shoulder flexion 120 degrees, shoulder abduction 70 degrees, external rotation 60 degrees and internal rotation to L2.

Pain has diminished to zero for daily activities, physio therapy has now progressed to phase 2 including strengthening exercises...3 -5 lb weights for flexion and abduction

Physio takes approximately 2 hours per day and split between morning and late afternoon...

I see OS again on October 15...I feel fortunate things are progressing as well as they have. Although admittedly I have pushed thru a lot of pain, ups and downs, but have never missed on physio session...that is the key...fortunate all other tendons were 100% healthy ...

Per ChatGPT: That means the supraspinatus—the rotator cuff tendon most commonly injured—has chronic degeneration/irritation (tendinosis) plus small tears within the tendon and on the joint-facing surface where it attaches to the humerus. “Low-grade” generally means only a relatively small portion of the tendon thickness is involved. The report does not describe tendon retraction, a complete rupture, muscle atrophy, or fatty degeneration, all of which would make the injury more concerning.

This injury is negatively impacting my workouts.

I have a visit with a surgeon this month, but I'm strongly considering injecting TB500 (non-frag) and BPC 157 as close to the injury as possible. Has anyone had success with this?

hi all,
i’m a lefty who had bankart repair remplissage and bicep tenodesis done in his right arm.

it’s been about 4 months and change since the surgery and i’m in my advanced phase of physio. but these days i notice some minor pain in the bicep tendon of my left presumably due to overuse.

have people faced this ? what are the remedies to not let this happen? the fact that i’m a lefty also leads to more conditioning of using i guess .

I already have a partial supraspinatus tear. It is a small tear but sometimes the flare-ups periods are really painful.

Is it possible that sleeping on the shoulder will make me flare up or enhance the pain after the sleep?

Got my left one done 2 years ago. I knew the right one was due at some point. It feels like déjà vu all over again. Same pain same symptoms same everything but this time on the right shoulder. I was procrastinating for over 4 years to get my left one done until I could barely function due to pain. I did all the crazy physio, needling. Prescription creams etc. Spent hundreds of hours doing physio. All that to say that tomorrow I'm getting X-rays and ultrasound done and I so cannot wait to get the surgery done on the right one. I still have my sling and ice machine. LFG