My doctor thinks I have a labral tear. It may not be torn too badly since apparently it wasn't obvious on the MRI. I took three months off of swimming before seeing the doctor - I figured it would get better on its own, but it didn't.
I've done about 4 weeks of physical therapy and will do another two before seeing the doctor again. My range of motion and rotator cuff muscle strength have definitely improved, but the impingement pain and shoulder clicking during freestyle recovery motion is still there. My doctor suggested that after 6 weeks of physical therapy he'd have a better idea if surgery would be necessary. Two weeks to go...
In searching this and other forums, it seems that physical therapy doesn't do the trick for most swimmers with labral tears, and they end up in surgery. Or maybe those that choose surgery just like to post more about it?
If you've recovered from a labral tear without surgery, let me know! I'm willing to do many more months of physical therapy if I think I can avoid surgery!
Brian
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Former Member
Well, my mid-November follow-up visit with my doctor has changed so many times it's now scheduled for Jan 30...
In the meanwhile I've continued to do the strength and range of motion exercises from physical therapy (though not very frequently now; I've gotten lazy...), and recently started swimming.:applaud: Started with just 500 meters easy, now at 2,000 meters with some decent intervals, and I'll go back with my Masters team starting next week. My shoulders are a bit sore afterwards so I'm building yardage slowly and limiting myself to two swims a week for now.
I was surprised that I could swim without pain on my first swim in December. When doing "air swimming" at home I still had (and have) a sharp impingement pain during recovery. But in the water I found if I concentrate on good rotation and high elbows during recovery, I experienced no pain at all. If I start swimming flatter, ouch!
I still can't swim backstroke without light pain during recovery, and I suspect fly will be very painful (kinda hard to rotate and keep elbows high in recovery!). No problem with breaststroke.
The good news is no surgery! Even if I can't swim fly or back again I'll probably not elect surgery. The bad news is that I suck at breaststroke. :afraid:
Brian
Well, my mid-November follow-up visit with my doctor has changed so many times it's now scheduled for Jan 30...
In the meanwhile I've continued to do the strength and range of motion exercises from physical therapy (though not very frequently now; I've gotten lazy...), and recently started swimming.:applaud: Started with just 500 meters easy, now at 2,000 meters with some decent intervals, and I'll go back with my Masters team starting next week. My shoulders are a bit sore afterwards so I'm building yardage slowly and limiting myself to two swims a week for now.
I was surprised that I could swim without pain on my first swim in December. When doing "air swimming" at home I still had (and have) a sharp impingement pain during recovery. But in the water I found if I concentrate on good rotation and high elbows during recovery, I experienced no pain at all. If I start swimming flatter, ouch!
I still can't swim backstroke without light pain during recovery, and I suspect fly will be very painful (kinda hard to rotate and keep elbows high in recovery!). No problem with breaststroke.
The good news is no surgery! Even if I can't swim fly or back again I'll probably not elect surgery. The bad news is that I suck at breaststroke. :afraid:
Brian
