Ugh...SLAP tear, gonna need shoulder surgery

[Pedernal]

Forget about archery season for this year. I was allowed/able to pull my bow after six months. As has already been said, do the PT and don't rush a comeback. If you don't have a lazy-boy recliner now would be a good time to invest in one as sleeping on the bed right after surgery will be hard. At least it was nearly impossible for me. Best of luck to you.

[muddyz]

Wear your fricking sling like the doc tells you to! Don’t try and be a hero and use the arm before you are supposed to.

And like the others, get real with the PT. All the at home stuff they give you to do....do it. Don’t wait till 4-6 months and then decide you should start doing the expercises. Hit is per the Rx from the very beginning. No more, no less! More is just as bad by the way.

Speaking from experience....I have 8 anchors in mine...3 the first time and 5 the second. And those who did this in HS...it is a lot different now but the rehab is the same. I did one at 18 and another and 38. I’m 2 years off that surgery and feel pretty good now, don’t be frustrated by lack of progress, just put in the time.

[Russ79]

Well, it's official...you guys have totally bummed me out. Had my shoulder scoped on the 11TH..going back to the doctor Wednesday. Had a partial tear of my rotator cuff along with a torn labrum. Ya'll are telling me that after 30 years I am going to have to miss bow season. I can already tell the PT is going to be rough.

[JonBoy]

Thanks for the info fellas. I'm VERY active (which is partly how I got into this mess) and sticking to PT will not be a problem. I dropped 110 lbs 5 years ago through strict diet and exercise and have worked my butt off to keep it off so adopting a new exercise routine doesnt scare me.

Good info on recovery times...not sure why doc quoted 3 months but 6 seems more realistic. I have a la-z-boy so it looks like I'll be camped there for a while. Looks like I have to get some loose fitting shirts.

Biggest challenge looking ahead is this is on my dominant arm so doing stuff right handed will be awkward but I've started practicing (insert obligatory jokes here lol)

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[MQ32Shooter]

Had it done 3 times. Prepare for longer than 3 months recovery. Don’t want to be a downer, but it could take a year before you’re 100%. Like everyone said. Do the rehab religiously and take drugs before and ice after. Good luck man.

[Low Fence]

For best quick shoulder recovery:

Don’t be quick to recover. Trust the professional and give it 100% without trying to rush it. Im on borrowed time but through rehab and training “smarter” I’m allowed to put it off and live “normal”... but it’s coming

[Guest]

I’m 26 and I have two severe SLAP tears, one in each shoulder and I’m scheduled for dual surgery in August. I just had dual ankle surgery. Best of luck bud, the road after will all be determined in rehab

[Buckley99]

I’m out for the season too. Just had surgery on ruptured distal biceps tear in my right arm. Looks like it’s all boom stick for the next 6-8 months.

Good luck with your recovery man!

[twdjr]

Good luck, it sucks. Had surgery in late April. Acromion bone wore a tendon in two. They sliced me open to shave the bone and repair the tendon. Went to rehab 3 times a week for 8 weeks. Still doing exercises and it's slowly getting better. Shot my bow some yesterday and today. Plan to keep the routine up so I can make my elk hunt in September. Hopefully the day will come that it remains pain free.

Best of luck!

[NWhunter]

How old are you? Have you exhausted conservative options (i.e. physical therapy and injections)? There are a lot of adults that are completely asymptomatic out there with what would be read on an MRI as a SLAP tear. I would make surgery my last resort, especially if it is going to cost you this hunting season. There are no bridges burned with giving a "SLAP" tear time and more conservative treatment options.

Even in the highest level athletes with SLAP tears (MLB pitchers), there is a higher chance of them returning to their previous level of competition with conservative treatment (physical therapy) than surgery.

I am an orthopedic Physician Assistant and have worked for shoulder surgeons that take care of DI NCAA teams, NFL, and MLB teams. Just to give you a background of where this advice comes from.

[JonBoy]

How old are you? Have you exhausted conservative options (i.e. physical therapy and injections)? There are a lot of adults that are completely asymptomatic out there with what would be read on an MRI as a SLAP tear. I would make surgery my last resort, especially if it is going to cost you this hunting season. There are no bridges burned with giving a "SLAP" tear time and more conservative treatment options.

Even in the highest level athletes with SLAP tears (MLB pitchers), there is a higher chance of them returning to their previous level of competition with conservative treatment (physical therapy) than surgery.

I am an orthopedic Physician Assistant and have worked for shoulder surgeons that take care of DI NCAA teams, NFL, and MLB teams. Just to give you a background of where this advice comes from.

I'm 36. As I've said above I stay really active working out daily and between daily exercise, martial arts, outdoor activities, and maintaining my hill country property my body takes a pounding. The pain in my shoulder doesn't greatly limit my activities it just gets really angry afterwards and makes it hard to sleep. Based on your comments I'm going to give my ortho doc a call today and ask about conservative treatment options first...he didn't even mention it yesterday just went right to surgery. My biggest fear is making it worse...I can live with it as is I just don't want to end up with bigger problems because I delayed what would have been a minor surgery and turned it into a bigger one.

[rtp]

I can live with it as is I just don't want to end up with bigger problems because I delayed what would have been a minor surgery and turned it into a bigger one.

You just nailed it.....Ive had both shoulders fixed and my life was much better afterwards in both cases. My wife's friend put her's off for a few years just trying to live with it. Her surgery became a very major deal because she continued to tear it up worse and the outcome is still not yet determined. Best of luck to you!

[Tx_Wader]

Welcome to my world...tore my rotator cuff and got a steroid injection...MRI coming up and hopefully arthroscopic surgery the last part of August.

Going to miss my first bow season in a long time.

I wish you well.

[nativeaustin]

The surgeon told my wife she needed surgery. Her insurance required her to try physical therapy first. Six weeks of physical therapy later her shoulder pain was gone. That was 3 years ago.

[NWhunter]

A SLAP tear is different than a rotator cuff tear. You can wait too long on a rotator cuff tear leading to a higher failure rate of surgery and if you wait too long, it can become irreparable. With a SLAP tear, that is not the case. And again, there are a lot of folks out there with asymptomatic slap tears. If you were to MRI a bunch adults without shoulder pain, you would almost definitely find some with what would be read as a SLAP tear on an MRI. Biceps tendon pathology (a slap tear is technically a tear of the labrum where the long head of the biceps tendon anchors to the glenoid) and treatment are a highly debated subject among shoulder specialists. There are some that would argue that a SLAP repair in the adult population is not the right answer, and a biceps tenodesis is a better treatment.

But the take home is, a SLAP tear alone is not (in my opinion) something that I would say HAS to be addressed with surgery, especially if conservative measures have not been exhausted.