my first rotator cuff injury

[IronFist]

A few weeks ago I hurt my left shoulder doing a human flag, which is something I'd been working on for a few months.

It didn't go away for a few weeks, so I got an eval from a physical therapist who said I have microtears in my rotator cuff and an inflamed biceps tendon.

So no upper body work for a few weeks (months?) for me. Pressing actually hurts. I can't do biceps work because of the tendon, and she didn't specifically say no triceps work but I would imagine that the rotator cuffs act as stabilizers in things like skull crushers, and they certainly come into play in things like triceps pushdowns.

I can't even squat because holding the bar hurts my shoulder

All I can do is deadlift and ab exercises. I guess that's better than nothing.

I start shoulder physical therapy soon.

Anyone here had a rotator cuff injury before? Discuss.

[JamesC]

I've had problems with both of my rotator cuffs.

Like you, I got to a point where I was unable to even do dumbbell curls because of it. I ended up taking off about a year(only movements that involved the shoulder) before it healed, but I didn't do any rehab. Also, even when doing exercises that didn't seemingly involve the shoulder, I would sometimes tweak it just right and it would floor me.

Now, for some strange reason, if I don't work my shoulders regularly the pain seems to come back.

The important thing is to think of it as an oppurtunity. What can you work on during rehab that is lacking? Running? Flexibility? Footwork? Technique? You get the idea.

Anyhow, good luck with recovery. I also recommend you rehab the other shoulder in the process. My left shoulder never had any problems until months after my right was injured. There was no catalyst, they just started to hurt one day.

Probably from years of front-delt pushing on bench, years of grappling, and lots of rock climbing.

[taai gihk yahn]

RTC stuff comes from direct trauma to the area, which is straightforward, in a way, because u know the cause, or because of compensatory damage from another area, which is for many people the case, and also a bit trickier to treat successfuly; for example, a lot of people have extension restriction at mid thoracic level, meaning that the vertebrae of ~T4-6 are stuck in a relatively flexed position; this can result in local hypomobility that can impact the way the scapula sits on the thoracic cage, usually biasing it into a relatively forward tipped position; as a result, u can get relative inhibition of lower trapezius, which is an important scapuar stabilizer, especially during deceleratory movements, such as when throwing a ball or thowing a punch (especialy hooks / overheads); as such, RTC, specifricaly supraspinatus and infraspinatus, which are shoulder external rotators, end up doing the job of develerating the arm, without the benefit of lower traps to stabilize scapula or optimal biomechanics of thoracic spine; as such, u can start to get overuse injury of supra/infraspinatus which are sitting in a relatively elongated position, given that the shoulder, because of the forward tipped scapula and relative flexion bias of the trunk, biases into internal rotation; on top of that, u can have relative faciitation of latissimus and pecs, which r shoulder internal rotators; lats especialy r influenced by flexed thoracic, as they attach from T6 on down, so dysfunction there can create aberrant firing patterns in lats;

take home message is that the shoulder / RTC is the terminus onto which a lot of stress is dumped due to hypomobiity / dysfunction elsewhere (I can even make an argument for how a chronic sprained ankle can create RTC tears, if anyone realy wants to suffer through that);

my suggestion: find a therapist who thinks the way I have outlined above - meaning that they don't just treat locally at the site of pain and apparent dysfunction - they need to look at the whole kinetic chain as a totality to understand what's going on; this can b a PT, or chiro, osteo, ATC - anyone who reasons intelligently about these connections;

good luck...

[JamesC]

Awesome info TGY. Thanks a ton.

Never knew this. Seems like lots of heavy bag work and heavy sparring could have been contributing factors for me.

[taai gihk yahn]

Awesome info TGY. Thanks a ton. Never knew this.

glad it was useful for u - and just remember it's food for thot only - it's a somewhat idealized example of how the spot where u have the symptoms, in the absence of direct trauma to that area, can become symptomatic bec it's compensating for restriction elsewhere, and how u hav to take a big-picture look at things to manage it properly; to treat the shoulder w out clearing ribs, spine and pelvis is to ignore this perspective;

Seems like lots of heavy bag work and heavy sparring could have been contributing factors for me.

well sure, they absolutely could be - it may b a combo of direct trauma and compensating for other areas - the point again is to find a practitioner who thinks in a way that looks at the local issue but in context of the whole body - there are people out there doing this, u jus hav to keep looking until u find someone, and not sttle for cookie-cutter, assembly line therapy...

[Brule]

just goes to show you that the human body is not individual parts but more of one long link to make up the chain. everything is interconnected.

great info TGY.

[Oso]

3, 90% tears in the cuff, 2 tears in the labrum, a large bone spur removed from inside the joint, some arthritic spots scraped down and the shattered end of my collarbone smoothed up a bit.

do what they tell you to do. i couldn't afford to stick with the post-surgury rehab for more than the three months of insurance was paying for...and, I participated in a seminar 4 months post-op...stupid...

anywho, I stay away from martial arts these days. I still had chronic pain until I started crossfit. I credit just getting the shoulder stronger and, i think, the static overhead stuff like overhead squatting, turkish getups, etc. helped a lot, for me.

but, i've been a year away from weights of any sort...and my shoulder hurts again.

[IronFist]

I've been doing the exercises at home (stretching every day, exercises every other day) which means I don't get the benefit of the ultrasound machine at the PT office, but it seems to slowly be feeling a bit better. Maybe 10% better than it was when I made this thread.

I can't really do any upper body work in the meantime, but that's ok because I don't want to risk making it worse.

Slow and steady.

[Lucas]

i totally feel your pain, i just messed my rotator cuff up a couple weeks ago...sucks balls big time. im at about maybe 50% recovery but its tough. doing what i can, but its a beotch.

[wenshu]

I've had chronic rotator cuff impingement/overuse/degeneration issues for a couple years. The most recent issue took nearly two years to clear up (nearly pain free). Still have the popping and clicking but range of motion and stability are better then ever. Here are some of the exercises I have integrated into my shoulder prehab routine.

Y, T

"L" (can be done prone on a bench)


"Prone Skier"



External Rotators
I often use bands or cable machine for external rotation work as well.

Standing raises:

Sword Raise


Forearm planks

forearm plank push ups

Scapula push ups.

Self Myofascial Release

"Sleeper Stretch"

I've found these "Tea Cup" exercises to be great for shoulder mobility. We do them in Shaui Jiao as well.
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4

[Lucas]

thanks for posting that wenshu!!

[IronFist]

I can't do planks right now without pain but once it heals that may be a good preventative exercise.

Thanks for posting those!

[kungfublow]

I messed up my RC a couple of years ago in a bad moutain bike fall. I was reduced to just practicing sword forms because it was the only thing I could do with one arm. It took about 4-5 months before I was close to normal.

I'd say this! Make sure you are working on flexability and range of motion as this heals. I got lazy and didn't do my exercises and becuase of that the scare tissue built up and I lost some range of motion. To this day I cannot raise my arm totally straight above my head. The doctor tells me I might not be able to do it ever.

Lesson learned! Do your exercises and give it time to heal.

Good luck! It's a crappy injury!! Heal well!!

[Lucas]

I messed up my RC a couple of years ago in a bad moutain bike fall.

holy crap that is exactly what happened to me!!!!

[Ray Pina]

Dealing with this now and seeing a specialist later this week. Sounds like a rotator cuff issue.

Five years ago I broke my clavicle training for a fight without knowing it. There was some pain but full range of motion so I fought and lost a decision. The shoulder wasn't an issue, din't feel a thing.... learned a lesson there.

A couple years later I got a rib x-rayed and they informed me of the clavicle breakage, a chip off the end.

Two BJJ locks on the sam arm later, separated by about 7 months and a surf crash onto the same shoulder, I'm now out of action. Sucks..... though I am enjoying the time off. Holy cow is the work day easier knowing I don't have to rest up for training or that work can be picked up after dinner.

Now running to cut weight gained from the down time. I missed all last surf season so my concern is that I don't want to miss this season as well b/c of surgery.

Seems like you all are recovering without surgery.... that's promising.

I can paddle no problem but a little pain popping up. Push ups hurt. In that I can't do more than 5 without feeling like I'm doing damage so I stopped.