For a little bit of background, I dislocated my shoulder twice in the late 90s and it hasn’t been quite right since then. Basically it felt like it was popping around when I moved it certain ways, but never really caused much of an issue. No pain, but arm movements always felt different on that side and I had to be careful with some arm weightlifting exercises (like pec deck) as it would feel like it was going to pop out of the socket with heavy weight. Fast forward 20+ years of various minor injuries on the same shoulder to the past Thanksgiving holidy when I heard a pop getting luggage out of the car. The next day there was heavy swelling and I eventually lost the ability to move my arm in a full circle. Think of a freestyle swimming arm motion that stops before you go above your head. Pretty much a steady but manageable pain unless I try to move it behind me or up and then I get a nasty sharp pain.

Had an MRI and surgery consult this week, MRI showed:

1. Posterior inferior labral tear with associated intralabral cyst formation. The tear is best seen on series 9 image 17. Intralabral cyst is best seen on series 6 image 5.

2. Trace subdeltoid bursitis noted.

The MRI also notes I have a particularly deep shoulder cavity. Surgeon I was seeing reccomended surgery but said it was beyond his ability to fix and referred me to a sports injury surgeon. I see him tomorrow, and I want to get this fixed ASAP. My question is could those who have had this or a similar corrective shoulder surgery share their experience with recovery? I’ve been told that it’s about a 6 month recovery, but I don’t know anyone with first hand experience with something like this. We have a family vacation to Yosemite planned for next June with hiking half dome being the big event. If I can get this corrected soon and begin recovery I think I’ll be ok doing strenuous hiking, but I want to realistic.

Shoulder injuries sucks.

Thanks in advance for your replies and Merry Christmas.

I don't know the specifics of the injuries/surgeries involved, but I've known two people in the 60+ year old range who've had shoulder surgery w/in the last few years. One was physically active, but never worked out. The other worked out regularly. The former has to be careful shaking hands to this day, and was told his shoulder will never get better than that. The latter was back to the gym after six months or so and now, a couple years later, is back to a normal workout regimen.

Good luck with your shoulder, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

6 months to be mostly functional, one year to be as close to normal as you're likely to get.

Labral tears are not fun. I had a bone impingement and rotator cuff tear at the same time. It was two years before I could do a push up and at nearly four years now, it still hurts. Depending on the severity "recovery" may or may not ever really happen. That said, I had a buddy who had his done and was almost normal in two weeks.

OP:

I suffered serious shoulder injury over 50 years ago training for Olympic Judo trials.

At the time surgical repair options were rather primitive. I've had to deal with recurring dislocation/other issues many times over the decades.

I've learned to reduce the dislocation under a variety of circumstance, as I've found unexpected ways to provoke such dislocation, due to soft tissue tears similar to what you describe.

Most recent orthopedic exam just this week reinforced the notion that I 'should have had it surgically repaired' about 20 years ago, or 40, for best results.

I'd suggest you find the best surgeon most highly skilled in this type of procedure, pick the best option he gives you, and stick exactly to his treatment protocols.

You can worry about and adapt your vacation plans to maximize your recovery phase, and you will be much happier a year from now.

Good luck.

My labrum tear repair was quite a few years ago so I don't remember the exact timeframe for recovery.
All I remember is it seemed to take forever. (part of the problem was the fire dept light duty I was assigned sucked)

PT goes on for months because YOU CAN'T FLOG IT!
Pushing recovery = bad outcome.

The good news is my shoulder has had absolutely no problems since.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
6 months to be mostly functional, one year to be as close to normal as you're likely to get.

This was my experience.

I’ve had 5 shoulder surgeries, 4 since 2007. Key is willingness to rehab faithfully, be patient, and be positive. My surgeon does pro baseball guys. He won’t touch anyone unless he knows they are dedicated to doing the post surgery work.

Point is - you can get great results (I’m painfree first time in 20 years) - but you have to be up to rehab and modify so you don’t repeat the injury. No more trick waterskiing, I limit my lifts and dip movements, etc. I’ve had knee, neck, and foot surgery - shoulder by far is the hardest.

Four years ago I had a total shoulder replacement and it was the worse pain I ever experienced. They cut the ball off, placed a rod in the bone, topped off with a titanium ball. Additionally, I had a new socket installed.
Again, worse pain ever! And I have been shot twice and suffered concussion from an IED.
The pain in gone and I have just about full range of motion, but I have NOT been able to get my strength back. This is due to the 30 LB lifting restriction with my replace shoulder.
Would I do it again, yes as I didn't have a choice, but the shoulder is bad.
When I was shot in the leg and had to have a knee replacement, that was a tough stint, but the shoulder again, the worse pain ever!

40 years ago a tractor rolled over on me and one of my injuries was a dislocated left shoulder. That thing would pop out three or four times a day and often in my sleep (hell of a way to wake up). Yeah, it's also very painful. After about a year I said enough is enough and made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. It popped out while he was examining me in his office. Hurt like hell. He looked at me and said "we need to get this fixed!"

There was no microscopic surgeries back then so I ended up with a four inch scar. My shoulder was in a sling for a month but went back to work (office job) after a week. They had me doing PT but to be honest, that was more painful that the shoulder popping out. I said to hell with it after a month. The surgery was successful as it went but I did lose some motion with it when raising my arm over my head. That was fine with me and a more than fair trade off.

I have had zero problems with it. Get her done.

Thanks for all the replies guys, this is really helpful. What I'm getting out of this is that every recovery is going to be different. I've been through rounds of PT for my back and I know it sucks, but it made a lot of difference in the long run. If I have to do 10 million TRX rows again I might loose my mind though.

I'm stubborn as hell and not using the arm \ rest are probably going to be my biggest challenges.

I'll see how the consult goes tomorrow, but I'm committed to getting this fixed asap. Wish I had somebody take a look at this when I had the second dislocation in my 20s. Oh well.

I have had labrum repairs on both shoulders along with AC joint resections due to impingement. As stated recovery is slow and follow the physical therapy regimen to the letter. Don't over do it trying to get ahead (more reps, etc.) as that is a recipe for disaster. Did that on my first one (left shoulder) and it took about a year to get back to 100%. My second one had more damage and I was back to 100% in about 6 months. You should be fine for your hiking but might not be back to 100% for things like pull ups or overhead presses. I avoid bench pressing now as well.