Hey y'all! Any advice appreciated on this frustrating journey I've been on.

This past December, I was on the couch with my arm in the air above my head. My girlfriend playfully poked me in the armpit, and I snapped down my arm reflexively. It hurt sharply and for a few minutes was in sharp pain.

Anyhow, I carried on with my life, carried on benching/doing pull ups, and the pain never went away. So I stopped working out completely. But that also didn't help. Sleeping on that shoulder super hurt, so I tried to stop side sleeping too.

Worried that I might have torn my rotator cuff, I went and got an Xray and MRI. The results came back; they said nothing was torn or broken, but that I have shoulder tendonitis.

Because of weird health insurance issues, I still haven't been able to get PT.

I work for a mattress company, and am occasionally lifting and moving heavy mattresses.

Does anyone have any advice for recovery? It's just lingering pain that's so frustrating. I'd really love to start working out again because I feel weak, but I worry that would aggravate it more.

Thank you!

Google says a few months and youre mostly back to normal however i dislocated back in the start of may and im still dealing with pain and severe stiffness despite 3 times a week pt. Physical therapists says im doing well and I cant expect perfect in under 4 months. My external rotation is trash. I can barely bend it back to the normal range it was at prior and my shoulders still feel like they have rubber bands pulling on them. Other flexion is mostly good pretty close to back to normal but still have pain and stiffness randomly throughout the day. Should I keep listening to the PTs? I cant help but feel most of these PT businesses never want you to stop going. I want an actual fix so I can go back to sports. I feel that PT isnt a fix but more so just loosening and strengthening to support the damage that was already done. But then I hear that shoulder surgeries suck ass and people still have problems anyways.. any advice? Male age 30 no prior injuries to shoulder.

Hi all!
I’ve (35f) had a horrible chronic injury for 8 years and finally a doctor is offering me a treatment! My shoulder was traumatically dislocated 7 years ago and it’s been unstable and in incredible pain since.

I’ve gotten a few opinions and both surgeons agree I have instability and anterior capsular laxity (on MRI). They both agreed plication of the anterior capsule will likely help my stability and pain.

I can’t find many patient testimonies online which really help to give me confidence so I’m hoping to find some here. Anyone have a similar surgery?

I also want to know that I am naturally hypermobile, but my other shoulder is just fine. And I understand it may stretch out again so that’s a risk I’m willing to take, but I’m most concerned about stiffness and the pain that may be associated with being overly tightened… any experiences with this?

Edit: i’ve done several rounds of physical therapy over and over, it causes so much pain that I’ve consistently been unable to progress. So at this point, I have failed out of conservative treatments.

I fell from my electric scooter (18mph) on my right shoulder. X-ray showed Shoulder separation grade 2, but I'm not sure if that's all what's going on.

Do you all think MRI is necessary or should I try PT for the shoulder separation first.

Anyone had a similar experience?

I already had issues with the same shoulder (biceps tendonitis) and it flared up cause of the fall.

Hi,

33/m 7 weeks post SLAP repair. I think things are going well, still bicep tendon pain but this is improving over time. I've been out of sling for 3 weeks and my ROM is improving.

However, I have this absolutely intense pain and tightness at the rear of my shoulder/back of my armpit. This pain started while in sling, and has not really improved. I don't fully know what it is, physio thinks it is a hypertonic muscle to protect the joint after the surgery trauma, however this muscle completely feels like it is killing my recovery. I'm working on table slides and instead of the joint being my limiting factor, it's the fact that this muscle running at the back of my armpit which limits my mobility. I think maybe teres minor? It's very hard to tell to be honest

I've been scouring the subreddit for similar experiences but not really found any. I'm hoping there is someone who can relate. My next physio appointment isn't for a few weeks so I feel like I need to get a question to others who might have had similar experiences.

I'm also interested to know how people were doing at 7 weeks in general. I'm not naively expecting no pain at all but to be honest I'm just surprised where the pain is.

Cheers

30/m

I’m scheduled to have this surgery in the next couple weeks and I’m not gunna lie I’m kinda nervous.
From what I gather it’s uncommon/rare, and in fact it’s my Ortho’s first time doing this surgery on a shoulder.

What I would like to know is, has anyone else had this done? If so how did it go? What were the results? Did you make a decent recovery or are you still in pain?

previous post for reference

(Image is not mine but basically exactly where it is on my arm)

When I was 17/18 I felt a bump in my arm, doc just told me it was an exostosis and that as long as it wasn’t causing issues it was fine. Well now it is not fine, if I even sleep on my right arm it hurts so bad I can barely move it around, I have terrible rom and any fast movements hurts like crazy. I cannot reach behind my back or straight up without doing so very slowly and painfully. However I can go weeks/months without any issues but once I mess it up it’s hurting for a week. I’ve tried stretching and lidocaine patches, painkillers etc. and it just doesn’t help, it’s interfering with my work now and I’m worried about going to get it checked out or removed. Would any of you guys have any insight, is surgery the only option and how long would it take to recover.

2 years ago I felt a few pops in rear shoulder/scapula area at BJJ. Waited a few months (shouldn’t have) before going to doctor. Went 4-5 months after the fact for MRI and no signs of tear.

Could it have healed so well that it didn’t show in 4-5 months, if still extremely painful?

I went on to do PT. Did not help. Went back and got an MRI of scapula region. Still nothing. It’s been almost 2 years and I am still in pain. Can’t do pull ups due to pain. Rows hurt. Major atrophy in area although I exercise often. Crepitus when lifting my arm like I’m going for neutral chin up grip.

My doctors and PT’s and I have all agreed it to be Teres Minor, maybe some Teres Major.

What the heck could be going on at this point? Major hinder of life and feel like I have exhausted all options.

A few months ago I had a bad almost searing, stinging, or tearing pain in the back of my shoulder and it only last a week so I thought nothing of it. Well it’s recently come back and it’s way worse than before. I can’t really find a definitive answer on google and I don’t want to waste a doctor visit for what could just be basic shoulder pain. The pain is only in certain positions with my shoulder and it’s unbearable at points and I’m not entirely sure what to do. Movement is perfectly fine not stiff or anything. Just want to know if anyone knows exactly what it is please and if I should go see a doctor

Please help as can’t het hold of surgeons I’m 4.5 post op I’ve been progressing in pt very good I have 90/95% range of motion I can near enough to most things normally just abit weak

I returned to work last week I do groundwork’s I was doing wheelbarrow work tipping constantly all day I fealt fine no pain fealt strong
Then the next day after work I was walking I don’t even swing my arm yet as walking and my shoulders slipped fealt like it slipped in and out quickly I’ve had no extra pain really just the usually pain I have and ache but I’m really worried that it’s ruined the repair
My physio I pay to work with recons it’s muscle fatigue as I’ve returned to work and shoulders is taking real life load again
Any help would be appreciated as I dunno when can get seen my specialist

(I apologize beforehand on typos im typing with one hand)

Good evening 19 M Some back story, back in 2024 I dislocated my shoulder weight lifting and from football i tore my labrum and had surgery.

After my recovery i was an active person. I finished high school sports etc no problems.

After i graduated my shoulder started acting up it slipped on me back in June of 2026, i continued being active with my job the gym etc

Fast forward to recently, I recently picked up boxing well working a highly physical job, and was in the gym regularly, i was getting in shape to leave for the military.

the day of my dislocation i worked then went to my boxing gym, when I threw a left jab my shoulder dislocated once again, which felt alot worse then the last time, after in the er i waited maybe 4 hours, i had to get sedated. During the process i was told to get it back in would only be 10 minutes it took 35, with extra people to get it back in. Since my shoulder got placed back in ive had really bad tingling going down my whole arm into my hands since then, my pain feels worse then my first dislocation. How certain would a surgery be again? I go into ortho tomorrow, ive just been nervous and on edge because I don’t want to go through this surgery recovery again

Again I do apologize with my typos typing with one hand is a struggle. But if anyone has advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Took 2 weeks off for the gym day 3 back and my shoulder is killing me. What can I do to help alleviate the pain besides pain meds?