General Cycling Discussion - Anyone ever had a should injury

Today is such a nice day to ride- looking out windows like the kid who can't go out to play.
Friday I hurt my shoulder . X Rays said no broken bones.. Third day. I feel swelling about the outer top portion of my arm.. On the internet they call this tendon the Supratosa tendon, if I located it correctly.. I have either a swolen tendon/maybe muscle or probably a partial tear. Can not lift my arm up in an outward direction- 180 degree direction from the body, which means can't put my right arm over my head. Can't pick it up one inch for all that if the action is from the shoulder.
Anyone ever have this. What needed be done, and how long before on the bike..? Doctor says can't make a diagnosis until pain is less intense. Wait till Monday is wearing on my patience.Thanks for anyone's experiences.

I've had what sounds like something similar, although they classed it as an overuse type injury. The only thing to do is wait it out until it gets less severe. I've had physiotherapy a couple of times, and that helps. For me it's something that comes and goes, although since I've been back into weightlifting, after warming up carefully, it seems to be a lot better.

I've had adhesive capsulitis. At it's worst I couldn't get my arm up to shoulder level by about 20 to 25 degrees. Part of my problem is chronic over-use at work, 20 years of putting half-Nelson's on dogs on exam tables have taken their toll. Chronically inflammed tendons can start to adhere to the tendon sheath. That is why anti-inflammatory meds are important, even after the pain has become more tolerable. So is icing. However, if you can not lift your arm, but someone can raise it for you, chances are that you have a torn tendon or ligament and you may need to see an orthopod. This is where a MRI study is helpful, they can determine if you have a partial or complete tear, which lets them know early on whether you will need surgery or not. Most people have partial tears of shoulder tendons at some point in their life and can heal with time. PT can speed recovery. In my case, I got dramatic relief from ultrasound and stretching. I've lost the link, but their is a good video presentation by an orthopod at the U.Washington that deals with athletic shoulder injury management for trainers. I try to track it down for you.

Here is one: http://www.orthop.washington.edu/movies/smithk/view

and another: http://www.shouldersolutions.com/

Keep seeing your MD so you can get timely referrals. Good luck.

Tomorrow will be a week since I have been on my bike. I am going crazy, we have had such nice, sunny weather. My HMO had everything x rayed. No broken bones.
I can't lift my arm outward, away from my side. Just no muscle to lift with. Only hurts when I attempt to do so.
US HMO's will not allow MRI for long periods of time. This will probably effect my job, eventually. I need to know what is going on. There is a liagment running up the top side of the arm. When I pull my arm up more than 45 degrees there is pain atop my arm.
I suspect a somewhat torn liagment. Should this be the case, anyone have any experience with this.? What did it take to recover and restore normal functioning of the limbs.? It only hurts when I pull the arm up.
I can't stand not being on the bike. Think about getting the trainer out soon.

you have a trainer right? well go and put it out on the drive, and ride in the sunny weather! make sure your arm is in a sling so people dont think you're completely nutz......

Brendon
:beer:

What you have sounds an awful lot like what I had when I tore my rotator cuff. The good news is they can fix it. The bad news is that it wrecks your golf swing.

I had a Fx clavicle once. Thats was from dog running in front of me while biking down a hill. It hurt. Dog came over and licked my face.

I concur with georgesnatcher. I'll bet 100 bucks you tore your rotator cuff.Remember the rotator cuff is made up of tendonous insertions from four shoulder muscles, supraspinatous, infraspinatous, teres minor and subscapularis muscles. You may have torn 1 or all 4. (I suspect the subscapularis by your history)
good luck. Definately keep following up with the doc and just jump through the hoops necessary for your assinine HMO to finally approve a MRI.

i separated my shoulder 2 years ago during the summer playing ball and had similar symptoms of not being able to lift my arm. after one week i was able to lift it out in front of me but could not lift if higher than my waist nor rotate it at any angle. i was in a sling by day.
like i said, i could only lift it forwards, out in front of me. then it hit me. if i crouch down....that is almost a bike position. i got on my bike and rode (the value of the smooth ride of steel is immeasurable here) - i couldn't comb my hair, it took me 1/2 hour to put my contacts in, couldn't lift my kids, had trouble sleeping, couldn't dress myself (socks were tough) went through rehab....but was able to ride. <i realize that if i fell or had an accident out on the road i would have been in real trouble> mind you this was mid-june and prime riding. in chicago there are only like 60 perfect days for riding the whole year and i had already lost a week....

after about 3-4 weeks there is excellent exercises to do. one useful excersie for me was to hold either end of a towel with each hand, behind your back with the injured arm up and the other one down and stretch. but that's me and my shoulder.
good luck to you.

Been there done that. Doctor gave me strong pain meds, told me to go home, put a heating pad on my shoulder and not move. This went on about 5 days. Extremely frustrating. Finally I was sent to Physical Therapy, the second time I had a shoulder injury. Twice weekly massage treatments, and exercises, finally they taught my fabulous (massaging it about 2 hours a night)how to separate the shoulder.

I won't tell you how bad it hurt, but you've got a shoulder injury, you know it hurt. In my case the problem is permanent, hopefully yours won't be. The therapy works and only needs to be done infrequently now but at least I know how to deal with it, when it reccurs.

Have patience (I know not in peak season)but it will be worth it.

In the mid-1970s, I fractured the L clavicle and separated the R shoulder in two separate cycling incidents. In both cases, recovery was rapid, thorough, and uneventful. Unfortunately, your problem sounds more serious. If you can stand the thought, try studio cycling at the local gym, to maintain your cardiovascular and mental health while your shoulder heals. Get well soon!

Hey, CZ, you are the man!

You will get through this and your experience will be useful to somebody else eventually.

Keep going forward!

Just got back from the doctor, i got the bad news, but at least I think I now Know.. Trainer is out in the middle of the den. Saw 4 cyclists coming back from the doctors'.. Green with envy. Weather is awesome. Seventies and sunny.
Doctor pretty sure it is a rotor cuff tear... Says I need an MRI to know how to repair it.. He will fight the HMO gods. One day of physical therapy planned.IT is so difficult to not take the hybrid out since it hasn't drops and don' t have to move hand position to change gears.
Doctor said I will be disabled for six weeks, whenever the surgery can be scheduled. This will really hurt at work. I have some some manual labor funtions to my job and we are short. Can I do my job as I am? All my friends tell me of the great rides pending.
Love and miss the bike. Can't do this again however. Slow down and watch the road better? Can't happen more than once per decade ! Thanks all for advice.
ps- does six weeks sound reasonable after rotor cuff surgery?

Let time and medical treatment do its work. Do not rush into activity that will damage your shoulder more. It may be frustrating now to be off the bike, but if you damage your shoulder further, you'll be off the bike longer. Even worse, a shoulder injury that does not heal well can lead to chronic problems later, including arthritis as you get older.

On my trainer I felt no jarring of the shoulder. Just sits there. I will really be disappointed should that be too much. Of course during the week of the surgery, that is an exception. I will ask that question to my doctor.. Hope this situation will not be aggrivated by fact, I think I have to work until close to surgery. We are really short and I am a very reliable employee. And our service is critical to the public health.

i ran into a tree at a very fast speed while mountain biking last year, and a stub from a broken off branch hit my collar bone. i run into trees and wipe out regularly, but this time i knew something was wrong. my friend stopped, too, because he saw it happen. i couldn't move my arm, and during the next few days i was constantly feeling an extreme tingling sensation running down my arm. i started to think the worst-- maybe i broke my arm, or cracked my collar bone. i finaly went to the doctor, who said it was only a very bad bruise. i was very lucky... about 10 days later it was back to normal.

this winter i broke my leg playing soccer-- it's almost healed all the way back now. i'm 27, and just now goiong throught he realization that i'm not indestructable. i know when i start back up i'll be a lot more careful, although i'll probably still push it a little further than i should. with what we do, accidents and injuries are inevitable.

When I had my rotator cuff fixed it meant one day in the hospital. One week off from work and about the same off of the bike. I did'nt have a complete tear though. In my case I think I was pushing it though because I had pain on movement for about one month. The way the Doc explained it to me in my case once he did what needed to be done I really could'nt do any more damage. Push your insurance company to get this done soon as possible. In my case the wait allowed more damage to be done.
I think you will see some loss of movement due to the surgery but you will get most of it back.
Feel better.:thumbup:

Anyone please tell me.. It seems one treatment for a torn rotor cuff is physical therapy. I have a couple sessions pending, while hopefully my HMO gods will decide not to give me any grief for my pending MRI, that my doctor has recommended.
Should the rotor cuff be torn, how can therapy help it to re-join? Seems to be a standard form of treatment? Hope I am not hurting myself while waiting for the HMO gatekeeper.
I am so tired of finding it a challenge to put my socks on.

My husband tore both rotator cuffs a couple of years ago. Last year he had one shoulder repaired, and will get the other repaired on 5/22 of this year. Last year he was off work for 3 months after the surgery going to pt 3 times a week. He had his arm in a sling and he rode a single-speed cruiser with no problem. This year, he has been weight lifiting to strengthen the surrounding muscles and one of the tendons that was separated grew 2 mm from the exercise. I didn't realize how underdeveloped his bad shoulder was, but from several years of babying it, the back muscles of his good shoulder were visibily larger. The HMO procedure had to be followed again this year, even though both shoulders showed problems in the MRI and ultrasound last year. He ran out of sick leave and had to wait for this years sick leave and vacation time to get the second shoulder repaired.
Because he waited so long after the damage, the ortho wasn't sure she could repair the problem as the tendons shrink.

Originally posted by cyclezealot
Anyone please tell me.. It seems one treatment for a torn rotor cuff is physical therapy. I have a couple sessions pending, while hopefully my HMO gods will decide not to give me any grief for my pending MRI, that my doctor has recommended.
Should the rotor cuff be torn, how can therapy help it to re-join? Seems to be a standard form of treatment? Hope I am not hurting myself while waiting for the HMO gatekeeper.


Physical therapy is a mainstay of treatment for torn rotator cuffs but it really depends on the severity of the tear ie: how many of the four tendons are involved and is it a complete vs. partial tear. Your HMO is definately hampering the orthopod's ability to quickly determine the right course of treatment. Partial tears may heal with physical therapy alone since there is still a matrix for the fibers to regrow. Complete tears, you are taking a chance. It may not as tendon fibers shrink. Until the advent of the MRI orthopods had to do laproscopic surgery just to visualize the damage even if it meant not doing any actual repair. With the MRI it has eliminated such an invasive step.

Remember, the HMO is not a doctor's advocate, it's a patient advocate. My sister hounded her HMO until they conceded to letting her get an experimental cancer treatment for her rare tumor type even though 3 specialists had been trying to get it for her. So write a letter or pick up the phone and start bugging them. It may help.

Regardless, if you have surgery, you will stil need intense physical therapy to get back to form. good luck.