Advice for Returning from Shoulder Injury

[Oldcolonial]

Hi;

was wondering if any one has had experience returning from a shoulder injury. My repairs where to the supraspinatus, subscapularis and biceps. The first two appear to not be directly involved beyond providing for shoulder stability during the drive phase. The biceps feature prominently throughout every part of the stroke except the recovery.

I am not particularly competitive but do push myself somewhat when training. Recently, and prior to the injury I was flirting with a sub 7 2K (I had done a few sub 7:10 efforts, best 7:05.2 ).


http://www.concept2.com/files/pdf/us/tr ... esUsed.pdf

[bisqeet]

go see a doctor and ask him if its ok to train
start off slow
if it hurts - stop...

sorry - mechanical engineer not a doctor, jim..

[c2jonw]

Agree with Bisqeet, and I'll add from my own experience in recovering from hand surgery. It's very easy to modulate the amount of force coming from each arm on the drive. Move the hand of the good shoulder closer to the middle of the handle and move the bad hand to the end of the handle. The most extreme is to put the fingers of the good hand through the ribs in the middle of the handle and put the bad hand out at the end. You'll be pulling with virtually 100% of the force coming from the hand in the middle while the recovering shoulder goes through the range of motion with minimal force being applied. Adjust hand positions as you get better....... C2JonW

[Oldcolonial]

Agree with Bisqeet, and I'll add from my own experience in recovering from hand surgery. It's very easy to modulate the amount of force coming from each arm on the drive. Move the hand of the good shoulder closer to the middle of the handle and move the bad hand to the end of the handle. The most extreme is to put the fingers of the good hand through the ribs in the middle of the handle and put the bad hand out at the end. You'll be pulling with virtually 100% of the force coming from the hand in the middle while the recovering shoulder goes through the range of motion with minimal force being applied. Adjust hand positions as you get better....... C2JonW

Thanks for the suggestion. At the extreme, I can start with one arm rowing and work my way into more and more equal distribution of force. For now, I am walking on a treadmill. ETA for starting to row is still 4 weeks away.

[Cayenne]

...if it hurts - stop...

GREAT advice! Last year I was recovering from a knee injury. I asked my PT, who helped me tremendously, what I shouldn't do. He said that I could do anything, as long as it didn't hurt. The strain of effort did not count as "hurt", pain at the injury site did. He said this type of pain was an indication that I was not allowing the tissue to heal. That guideline liberated me to be as active as I could be and recover more fully and quickly.

Wishing you a full and swift recovery!

[Oldcolonial]

I am now 10+ weeks post surgery, 16+ weeks post injury. Surgeon opened up my shoulder and dropped in 6 anchors to fix the suprapinatus, subscapularis and do a tenodenisis on the biceps. There has been a massive amount of atrophy. My shoulders and back look like they belong to an undernourished and over trained distance runner. Back when I could run well, I did not have a problem with it. Now, that I can't, I do.

It Looks like I will get the go ahead to row "gently" in a week or so at 12 weeks. I am thinking 4 to 6 weeks of 3 short light sessions (10 to 15 minutes very easy) to build coordination in addition to the prescribed PT and then reassess. Any thoughts on how to proceed beyond that.

Before this whole fiasco I was training somewhat seriously. Now I am not so sure how to proceed. Would love to hear others thoughts on how they clawed their way back from muscular / tendon injuries.

[Nick]

Great advice. Listen to your doctor and above all, listen to your physical therapist! I've had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder (2005), reinjured it in 2009 and developed serious issues in my right shoulder in 2010. Physical therapist worked magic but the age old advice still is valid. If it hurts when you do that, don't do that!!!!!!!!

[Ripples]

I suffered a two-part fracture of the left surgical head of the humerus and related soft tissue injury December 2015. Once I was allowed to do PT, I doubled up on the "homework" I was given, doing PT before I left for work and again in the evening, as well as on weekends. Each time a new exercise was introduced, I'd just add it to my list of PT to do - which I kept on a spreadsheet.

Four months later my orthopedist told me I could do what I wanted, but if it hurt to back off. Didn't have my erg then, but was able to start paddling my kayak. While the fracture healed nicely, my muscles and tendons were certainly not 100%. That took longer, most likely because I probably paddled longer distances than I should have.

Physical therapy exercises will rebuild and strengthen your rotator cuff. In my experience, rowing, while beneficial, doesn't involve the stretches, external and internal rotation, abduction, and shoulder strengthening that PT does. I've continued to do the rotator cuff exercises three times a week because shoulder health is crucial to my sport.

PT first, foremost, and often. Have your therapist check you for scapula dyskinesis. I developed it and had to add more PT to correct it, which was a PITA. Might also look into increasing your protein intake during this healing/strengthening period.

With patience and perseverance, you'll achieve your goals.

[Oldcolonial]

Thank you all for the advice. Interesting to see a mention Scapular Dyskinesis. In addition to regaining elevation range of motion, addressing / reversing this has been the focus of much of my PT to date. I started to develop one of the signs, shoulder droop and the PT has given me a host of exercises and stretches to address it.

[Ripples]

Thank you all for the advice. Interesting to see a mention Scapular Dyskinesis. In addition to regaining elevation range of motion, addressing / reversing this has been the focus of much of my PT to date. I started to develop one of the signs, shoulder droop and the PT has given me a host of exercises and stretches to address it.

Bummer. In my case, I was the one who noticed my shoulder droop, not my PT. I then mentioned it to my orthopedist on my last visit. He told me it would resolve itself. And it did, as I strengthened my rotator cuff. I still do shoulder shrug exercises because it feels good.