Torn Labrum

[Daniel Rose]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with a torn labrum?
Tore my labrum in my left shoulder a while ago and it's made caving rather awkward since
Did Boggarts Roaring over the weekend and my shoulder kept popping out of place which was very painful and meant I had to negotiate much of the cave with one arm (as some of the crawls did not give enough space for me to pop it back!)

Obviously this is probably not good for my long term ageing prospects so was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with torn labrums? How long did you take time off caving? Was surgery necessary? Approx recovery time? NHS is rather slow at providing answers/help to these kinds of things...

Thanks

 

[spelfish]

Have you seen a shoulder expert? Labral tears vary in severity and are often hard to assess clinically. I had a minor one several years ago, didn't take it seriously and it still bothers me (though the shoulder joint is mostly stable). Proper tears, if ignored, often don't get better and frequently get worse - this can become a real problem as you age. As a temporising measure, strengthening the muscles around your shoulder may reduce the problem or slow any deterioration but won't prevent it.

Basic recommendation, get referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders. If you can afford it, get a private consultation and be prepared to fork out for a MRI scan as this will be much, much quicker. In the meantime, you could seek out a physiotherapist who knows about shoulders and get their advice - again, this may require going privately. The 'knows about shoulders' bit is really important - it's a specialised area.

 

[Daniel Rose]

Have you seen a shoulder expert? Labral tears vary in severity and are often hard to assess clinically. I had a minor one several years ago, didn't take it seriously and it still bothers me (though the shoulder joint is mostly stable). Proper tears, if ignored, often don't get better and frequently get worse - this can become a real problem as you age. As a temporising measure, strengthening the muscles around your shoulder may reduce the problem or slow any deterioration but won't prevent it.

Basic recommendation, get referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders. If you can afford it, get a private consultation and be prepared to fork out for a MRI scan as this will be much, much quicker. In the meantime, you could seek out a physiotherapist who knows about shoulders and get their advice - again, this may require going privately. The 'knows about shoulders' bit is really important - it's a specialised area.

Yeah got a referral to orthopaedics, appointment in January. Bit sad cause it happened in June and that was the closest appointment I could get The prospect of being screwed permanently isn't great but hopefully not all is lost.

 

[Daniel Rose]

Have you seen a shoulder expert? Labral tears vary in severity and are often hard to assess clinically. I had a minor one several years ago, didn't take it seriously and it still bothers me (though the shoulder joint is mostly stable). Proper tears, if ignored, often don't get better and frequently get worse - this can become a real problem as you age. As a temporising measure, strengthening the muscles around your shoulder may reduce the problem or slow any deterioration but won't prevent it.

Basic recommendation, get referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders. If you can afford it, get a private consultation and be prepared to fork out for a MRI scan as this will be much, much quicker. In the meantime, you could seek out a physiotherapist who knows about shoulders and get their advice - again, this may require going privately. The 'knows about shoulders' bit is really important - it's a specialised area.

How does it bother you to this day? Are you able to cave? Does it pop out on trips?

 

[ChrisB]

Have you seen https://shoulderdoc.co.uk/

 

[spelfish]

How does it bother you to this day? Are you able to cave? Does it pop out on trips?

It doesn't pop out (and never did) so in that respect I'm fortunate. What it did do was partially sublux (ie my humerus slid slightly out of its socket). After several years (and quite a lot of strengthening exercises) this seems to have stopped happening and I'm left with a shoulder that's weaker than the other one and is painful when I overuse it. I could cave with it but wouldn't want to do long trips.