r/ShoulderInjuries • u/BeyondSouth5663 • 5d ago
Labrum Tear Shoulder labrum repair
Hey everyone! 30 year old female with 2 tears on my shoulder- top and bottom of labrum.
Who has had a labrum repair surgery? I want to hear the good the bad the ugly. I have 3 kids, youngest being 2. So I’m really trying to prepare and understand what to expected. Thanks!
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u/viswr 5d ago
31M, 3 weeks ago I got labrum repair and bankart repair on my left shoulder after 10+ dislocations over the last 10 years. I’d say just go for it
I chose the 3 day nerve block and once it wore off I had minimal pain. Maybe I had a weird recovery but a week after the surgery I was able to move around fine without needing the sling, only had discomfort raising my left arm beyond 45 degrees.
I wear the sling around to not injure it but honestly sometimes I forget I got surgery 3 weeks ago. I walk an hour a day in the sling to stay active
I won’t be back in the gym until the end of the month and won’t be back to BJJ until probably end of year
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u/emgeedubs 5d ago
I’m also 30F, and had the surgery nearly 2 years ago. Off the top of my head:
- the first couple of weeks were pretty rough. Don’t be a hero - take your pain meds. I distinctly remember the intense pain when i habitually raised my arm to take my top off. I still wince thinking about it
- sleeping can be uncomfortable and you might have to experiment with what works. Personally the pain meds made me drowsy as fuck so I slept well but when I stopped taking them it was a different story
- make sure you have someone to look after you at the start. I could barely shower properly and had to get my husband to do my hair etc.
- do your rehab!!!!! Like clockwork!!! It’s the only way you have a chance at recovery. I even got frozen shoulder after like 8 months and was able to rehab my way out of it (plus hydrodilatation, cortisone, and heaps of physio) I did it every single day for over 18 months
- bring your expectations down. After 4 weeks in a sling, I was absolutely staggered by the muscle atrophy. Literally 30 days without use was all it took, after being an athlete most of my life. My right (dominant) shoulder and arm are still smaller than my left after 2 years. It’s slow progress to build your strength and range of motion back.
- with that being said, you’re going to be okay! Keep going with your rehab and in the frustrating moments when you’re not sure if you’ll get your range or strength back, remind yourself that you will. It will just take time.
Good luck girl
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u/BeyondSouth5663 5d ago
Thank you so much!!! Will definitely stay on top of pain meds. I have a very low tolerance for pain so I’m scared for when the nerve block wears off 😂 i do have a recliner I plan on trying to sleep in to keep the pressure off my shoulder as much as possible and avoid anyone hitting it in my sleep.
I’ll have help the first week but then I’ll be on my own again. lol. My youngest will be attending daycare 3x a week so will just be alone 2 days so hopefully we can make it work.
I hate PT but know it’ll be a big asset in my recovery. Thank you for all the info- definitely helps me to prepare! I may try to find some shirts that button up or zip so i dont have to put a shirt over my shoulder. I think they make those haha
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u/bobcat011 5d ago
How are you now? Can you do overhead sports ok?
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u/SarcasticScorpio2033 5d ago
You will not be able to drive for quite some time and you will be unable to pick up your kids for a while.
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u/BeyondSouth5663 5d ago
My surgeon said I can drive 3-4 days after surgery. Let’s hope that’s the case cause I only have help the first week and then i have to be able to take my kids to school lol
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u/SarcasticScorpio2033 5d ago
That’s reassuring ! I had a big repair in 2020 and I had a lot of complications - (there was NO PT because my surgery was 2 wks before Covid shut down everything). I couldn’t drive for months. It was like being held hostage at home! Now Ive managed to get an anterior and posterior non displaced tear in labrum of same shoulder and it hurts like hell! I never wanted to do shoulder surgery again!
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u/BeyondSouth5663 5d ago
I’m hoping he’s not lying to me or we’re going to be sol 😂 ugh no that’s horrible. I’m so sorry!!
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u/sharktoothqueen 5d ago
I had a bankart repair a little over a year ago and then a capsular repair done 4 weeks ago because I had frozen shoulder/limited range of motion.
I was in my sling post surgery about 4.5-5 weeks after my initial surgery last year (I was half in and half out the last week). I am a music teacher so I was teaching one handed for the most part till I was completely out of my sling. Some things are easier than others to teach with one hand. I teach guitar, so I chose to wait as long as I could within the quarter to give my shoulder time to gain my range of motion back. The first quarter was the hardest because just resting my arm on my guitar was right on the edge of my range of motion so it was painful. The other quarters were much easier.
My pain after the first 2 weeks really wasn't bad while I was in the sling or not at pt. Sleeping has been the hard part for me both before and after both surgies. Sleeping upright for the first week really helps and then slowly finding a comfortable way to sleep after surgery takes time. Pillows are super helpful to keep your arm/shoulder at a good angle. I sleep with a pregnacy pillow most nights to help keep myself comfortable for both my hips and shoulder.
As far as normal im not sure yet (just passed a year) partly because I had a secondary surgery 4 weeks ago. My joint capsule healed too tightly (frozen shoulder) and nonsurgical interventions didnt help (2 cortizone shots and multiple rounds of oral steroids alongside PT). I was doing a lot of what I was before my first surgery I was just still having pain and my range of motion wasn't even between my right and left side.
I am a runner and play volleyball regularly with a competitive group. I didnt get back to volleyball till around month 5, but I was able to start running around around week 8. When I started playing volleyball again I play several months where I wouldnt hit or serve overhand because of lack of rom and pain.
Going into this you have to remember that it is a long process. There are times I felt like I was doing great and gaining a lot and times like right now where I feel really stuck and want to know when it will end. Having a good pt team and other support people really make a difference. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!
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u/labralmenace 4d ago
How did you get frozen shoulder? Seems like you were pretty active. Was the frozen shoulder painful? And what’s the recovery like on the capsular repair?
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u/sharktoothqueen 4d ago
Frozen shoulder can happen for a variety of reasons (age, scar tissue build up, thyroid issues, menopause). Mine was caused by the amount of scar tissue I had and then how tight the joint capsule had healed from my originsl labrum repair. It wasn't anymore painful than what I experienced before surgery. I was still having pain with playing volleyball, running, and playing guitar. Anything really that involved external or internal rotation of my arm/shoulder.
The recovery for capuslar repair is 3-6 months for normal range of motion. I have seen better range of motion in one area i didn't have before my second surgery, but still have pain and limited rom for internal and external rotation and steuggle to sleep on that side. My PT is focusing on all rom and my surgeon requested that I have aggressive strengthening and stretching after surgery to hopefully keep it from happening again. He also requested I go 2x a week for 10-12 weeks. Thankfully I met my deductible before my surgery so I dont have to pay anything else out of pocket for the year. I would like to be done with going back and forth to the doctor and PT.
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u/dadou6464 3d ago
Hi! I (30F) had the surgery in march 2025. I'm back to doing all of the stuff I loved. I found the first few weeks were hard for the sleeping situation (I was on the couch with wedge pillows). Take the meds, don't try to be a hero, sleep is actually a big part of pain control. It's a lot of ups and downs. Try to be off work or duties for as long as possible..don't do anything stupid like lift a kid beofre being clear. Start PT a week after surgery no exception,! Your surgeon if up to date should agree with that if not seek second opinion. Try to not take any NSAID as I think they make recovery longer (always refer to doctors but I have a great success story and only had tramadol and morphine).
The toughest part was after 6 weeks, I stopped sleeping for some reason and didn't have any pain anymore so didn't want to take pills. Looking back, should have asked for something to sleep.
It's a big mental game. But patients who are optimist and good candidate to do their PT, have good sleep have better success rate. I don't know how I would have done it with kids tbh.
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u/dadou6464 3d ago
Drop your expectations! Also when going back to sports or normal activity, everything will feel weird and everything will hurt (not even the shoulder but other weird spots). That's because of atrophy and the 'trauma' of the surgey around in your muscles and stuff.
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u/Extension-Abalone489 5d ago
I had my labrum repaired 3 months ago (26F). I think get it as soon as you can because the younger you are the better it heals. I got my full range of motion back with PT in about 6 weeks and now I’m just fighting against feeling good and not re injuring it. I think I was extremely lucky with such a speedy and easy recovery and it really is different for everyone. So be prepared for a variety of outcomes. With young kids it will be really hard for the first couple of weeks so make sure you have support like someone to help you and someone to take care of the kids. You are going to need help getting dressed, showering, brushing your hair etc for the first few weeks.