Rotator Cuff Tear...

[Merryprankster]

Guys,

What therapies other than regular rehab are available for Rotator cuff tears? I have torn some of the tendons in my left shoulder. The tears, as far as I can tell are not complete: I have no stability problems and I have full strength within my current range of motion. Certain very specific movements cause pain, however, and I NEED those movements to be competitive. I can't be on top and spar, for instance, because if I post too hard with my left elbow YIKES!!!! PAIN!!!

I'm looking into prolotherapy and I've not spoken with the ortho yet (soon), but surgery may be required. I understand that arthroscopic is VERY good these days and has a higher success rate than the old open incision method.

Any thoughts?

[Suntzu]

i didn't get to that chapter yet....... good luck...

[fa_jing]

MP - I suggest you post your question to http://forum.dragondoor.com There are alot of strength athletes, coaches, and grapplers that could offer you advice. Good Luck.

[Water Dragon]

I got my shoulder tore up pretty good from an omoplata once about 2 years ago. Not sure if it was a rotator cuff injury, but I used acupuncture to fix it.

2 sessions and 3 weeks off and I was good to go.

[Merryprankster]

WD,

I was hoping somebody would bring up accupuncture.

Here's the deal:

Tendons are slow healing because of low blood flow.
Prolotherapy purports to increase blood flow and thus speed healing.

This is definitely the mechanism of action for e-stim (which I love).

Now, does accupuncture do the same thing, or does it treat the symptom? That's what I'm trying to identify, but I can't seem to find it. I would THINK that if you start mucking about with the whole Chinese to English mistranslating, that what you find is that accupuncture stimulates blood flow and thus promotes healing, but some seem to suggest that it's mostly a nervous system thing.

What say you? I'm willing to try everything that "can't hurt, might help," before I cut so it really doesn't matter, but I'd sure like to know!

[Serpent]

MP - find yourself a good acupuncturist and the therapy will definitely promote blood flow to aid healing. It will also reduce localised swelling, which will in turn make it easy for blood to travel to the injured area. The acupuncture should also be combined with some tissue massage and moxibustion as the combination of heat, massage and point stimulus will get the quickest results.

[wentwest]

MP,

Read my post in this link from a thread a while back. I had a similar problem, and acupuncture kicked it's ass. For real...

http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27504&perpage=15&highlight=kenny%20gong&pagenumber=2

Also, I'm being treated with acupuncture for a knee problem right now (probably a tear in my Med. Meniscus). It has relieved all pain and reduced swelling while I await analysis of my MRI as to whether or not I will need surgery.

Hope this helps. It really works man.

[rubthebuddha]

no real advice here as i've never torn my rotator bits, but this may cheer you up and speed up recovery:
http://images.somethingawful.com/mjolnir/images/cg02172004/CoasterMaster.jpg :D

[Ford Prefect]

MP,

Don't listen to anybody until you see the ortho. If he determines that you don't need surgery and can rehab it with PT, then I'd be more than happy to help. Rotator cuff tears are not something to be trifled with, and if you need surgery any PT you do will most likely make it worse.

My 50+ year old stepfather just had his shoulder scoped and is recovering quickly, but in a good deal of pain. He competes in triathalons and can out-run and out-bike me, so it's not like he's in bad shape. Expect to have a sling for a few weeks.

[KWUsCRD]

Listen to Ford Perfect, then...

http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=13

...post this same thing there.

[Kempo Guy]

I have chronic shoulder problems and have experienced tears in the AC Joint (both grade 1 & 2) as well as rotatorcuff tendonitis and dislocated shoulders...

In any event, provided you get the OK from the Ortho there are several options. General PT (including Ultrasound treatments), Prolotherapy, Myotherapy / Acupressure / Acupuncture etc.

In addition to this you need to make sure you rehabilitate by doing ROM exercises so you don't lose your flexibility and ROM. I have rehabilitated my shoulders successfully using Warrior Wellness (offered by rmax.tv) and Superjoints (offered by dragondoor.com) in conjunction with PT and Acupressure. Just remember that it takes a while to heal, so have some patience.

KG

[Water Dragon]

I'm not really sure what it does mp, or exactly what my injury was.

Basically, @sshole Blue Belt decided to crank an omoplata on the new guy. New guy tries to roll with the lock. new guy here's nasty ripping sound in his shoulder followed by a sharp pain. (which became a chrinic pulsing pain the next day)

My SC coach knows acupuncture and needled me. He needled my trapezius and shoulder and hooked the needles up to thei mini battery charger deal and ran an electric pulse thru me for about 30 minutes. I could feel the pulse-pulse-pulse in my shoulder.

When he was done, my trap muscle literally felt lik a rubber band when I touched it. I was able to wiggle it all over the place with my hand. Very strange.

If you can make it to NYC, I can probably pull a favor and have my old SC coach look at your shoulder. He's in his 2nd year of TCM school right now.

[Merryprankster]

It's WAY worse than I was lead to believe. My rotator cuff is fine. I've injured it before and I'm intimately familiar with the PT required.... so the cuff injuries I had went away with PT...

As I started thinking about it, what the GP told me about my MRI didn't make sense. I have almost full range of motion and full strength within that range. Hmmm...

So I scheduled an appointment to see for myself what the radiology report was. I have THREE tears in my labrum. This is the thing your humerus bumps up against.

To make matters worse, the bone to bone contact is wearing my humerus away and flattening it's head.

What does this mean?

Prolotherapy might do the trick. It can be used on labrum tears.

Athroscopic surgery may also do the trick. It has an 85 to 90% success rate on simple labrum tears. However, this is obviously a bit more complex.

Ugh. I'm going to have to skip the Pan-Am's. I'm not happy.

I don't plan on doing any other therapy until speaking with the Ortho wednesday next. I sure hope he's not a "Only surgery" type of guy...