To be honest the rehab/recovery will really depend on what type of tear and what they find when in there. There are multiple types of tears and without more info it is difficult to tell you what they recovery will be like.

Having gone through a pretty significant tear I can tell you that if requires 6wks of immobilization post surgery it will be rather slow.

Find a good therapist PT/ATC who has some experience with this type of rehab and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Mine took about 2 month's before I was able to do normal ADL's after getting out of the sling. 6 mo until I was really lifting and swimming and all of that again. And to be honest about 12 mo until it felt 100% normal. Been over 18 years now after having the labrum pinned back with bioabsorbable sutures and haven't had one problem. Numerous falls on it as well.

Speedy Recovery!!

I get the depends part as to what they find once in there. I think the doc said something along the lines of 8 weeks with a sling but that was a general comment. I have another appointment or two in the next couple of weeks to discuss things further.

My brother is in his last year of getting his PT doctorate or whatever it is and he said the same. Depends on what they actually find and do but his experience and learning has it generally at 6-8 months before resuming normal training and a year before the person feels 100% recovered. So he basically said to clean my training and race slate clean through next summer and I could do a late season 70.3 or IM if I were lucky.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I had a badly torn labrum leading to a shoulder reconstruction a couple years ago. On the plus side . . . since you're accustomed to a rigorous training schedule, it will be mentally much easier to do everything the PT prescribes. At one point, I was doing physical therapy at home (after the surgery) between 3 and 4 hours a day. Because I did it, everything came back together quickly and the shoulder rehabbed extremely well. It feels better today than it has since I was a teen and injured it throwing a baseball.

3 days post-op, I was back at work on a very part time basis. (I work at a desk.) Sling and immobilizer were on 24 hours.
2 weeks post-op, the stitches came out and I no longer had to use the immobilizer during the day. With assistance, I got back on the indoor bike trainer on a daily basis and did some easy 1 hour workouts.
3 weeks post-op, 4 hours of at-home PT every day. Arm and shoulder were getting noticeably stronger every day.
4 weeks post-op, I tied my own shoes for the first time.
6 weeks post-op, I was cleared to ride the bike in an empty parking lot. Biggest hazard is crashes undoing all the work.
7 1/2 weeks post-op, I was prescribed to ride the bike on real roads. The vibration and load from the roads became part of the PT work.
10 weeks post-op, I did my first metric century ride on the bike. The purpose was to get in an aerobic workout in preparation for Dirty Kanza (less than 3 months in the future).
11 weeks post-op, a knee injury required getting off the bike again. No Dirty Kanza for 2016. The injury was exacerbated by the time off the bike during shoulder rehab.
14 weeks post-op, I had full use of my arm and shoulder again. They were a little weak, but fully functional.

Advice:
- Do ALL the rehab exercises exactly as they prescribe. All of them. On schedule.
- Take enough drugs to keep the pain at bay the first few days, then get off them ASAP. Do NOT operate your phone or a computer while under the influence. Things will make sense then that will never make sense once you're off the meds.
- I was unimpressed with the machines provided to keep the shoulder cold after surgery. Reusable freezer cold packs worked a lot better -- kept the shoulder cold, were more comfortable, were less trouble, cost a LOT less, etc. (But I've still got two of those worthless cold machines.)
- Get/use a good recliner and set yourself up with tons of entertainment programming for the first week. You will need it to keep from going bonkers. (I think I've now seen every pre-2016 episode of "Cops".) You will be living in the recliner 24/7 for at least a couple weeks.
- Get a surgeon and a PT who are experienced working with athletes. That way, they will understand your goals for rehab and they will be a lot less likely to prescribe "just enough" for you to get by. "Athletic" surgeons and PTs won't be happy until you're fully rehabbed and back racing again.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your injury. Soft tissue injuries can be super frustrating.


Have you gotten a second opinion? I'm not an expert and certainly can't say if you need/don't need surgery. But I'm dealing with a torn labrum in my hip, which I’m assuming is comparable to the shoulder, and while it was super painful at first, once I was able to get the swelling and inflammation down (ibuprofen and ice regime for a week or so), the pain more or less completely subsided. My ortho told me that as long as the pain is low/non-existent, he doesn't recommend surgery.


That said, I’m going for a second opinion because I don’t want to make my situation worse by ignoring it, which the first ortho said I wouldn’t. I just want to be sure.


Not sure any of this is helpful to you, but just thought I’d share my take on it.

Thanks for the post and for the advice.

I will do the PT as prescribed. No doubt.

I'm not a fan of painkillers and only took them for a couple of days in my two previous surgeries. My barometer is if I can sleep without pain then I'm all good when I'm awake.

Already looking for a good recliner. We have one in the house that my wife used when our son was born but the foot rest is not long enough for me so I can't really sleep in it comfortably.

The folks doing my surgery are part of one of the big sports medicine institutes in town that do work with the local college and pro teams. My doc is an endurance athlete.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

First opinion was from an ortho sports medicine doc but not a surgeon. Second opinion from surgeon.

No amount of rest, mild strength/stretching exercises, or NSAIDs has worked. In fact it gets worse each day. So I'm pretty much out of non-surgical options. :-(

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I've posted this before but here it goes again.

Surgery end of December 2016, few weeks later riding 40 -60 minutes on the bike a day, three weeks later swimming. Started running end of February, did a crit in April and an Olympic tri in June.

I felt well enough I did a half IM at the end of July.

Do a ton of core strength training before surgery. It took 10 months before I was 100%....

Dude. So very sorry to hear this.
PM sent.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder unfortunately I've been there 3 times with a torn labrum. Follow all your doctor's instructions to the T and get a kick ass physical therapist. Also pre-surgery absolutely make sure you get the nerve blog. Once you're able months after the surgery swimming helped mine immensely. It is definitely a slow go though don't rush it the wind-up back on that table

Sorry about events, I have no direct experience but I subscribe to uprighthealth.com

They have some pretty good videos on rehab of various injuries, but with relative on doorstep of PT then he might point to some better clips. https://uprighthealth.com/...lly-causing-problem/

Just saw this, sorry to hear.

Good luck not getting fat. I am still trying to burn off the excess I put on during ACL recovery.

---

===============
Proud member of the MSF (Maple Syrup Mafia)

“How long were you out of work? How long until you could drive a vehicle? How long before I can hold an Xbox controller? How should I sleep and what should I sleep on? I assume I should invest in a nice recliner. How long before you were back to training? How do I not get fat? Most importantly, how long until you more or less felt like you were back to "normal"? “

My wreck was in august of ‘16. Like yours, mine took some time to manifest. I wrecked 8/8 and did Augusta on 9/25. Then, it got bad. I

Other shoulder was operated on in ‘99. 50% year of the Supra spinatus tendon and a type III spur. This time was torn labrum and minor RC tear. I’m 54 (USAT) and I have a desk job.

My surgery was 12/14/16. I wore my sling to work (drove myself) on Thursday (aka the next day). I never put it back on. I ran the next week and was riding the trainer in about 4 weeks. I swam 50 yds on March 27 and a mile one week later. I did Choo 70.3 in may of ‘17.

I did sleep in a recliner for about a week. There were a few times I did things that hurt. I bought a hand ergometer and did band exercises 2x/day.

Good luck.

Sorry for your pain/suffering, I too had a torn labrum years ago, with an impingment at the same time. So happy I had surgery. I'll never be 100% like I was pre-bike wreck/crash for the shoulder, but I can sleep much better. Recovery did take a long time, it was painful, and working on P.T. was absolutely CRITICAL to the healing process. I'd take my breaks at work and do P.T. and at the time, ate at my desk. Best advice I can say is seek out the best ortho and P.T. crew you can find. Then, when all is said & done, don't rush it, do what you're told.

Lastly, realize you will tear scar tissue & you'll swear up & down you just ruined your surgery--it really hurts when that happens, but be warned, it will happen. Don't panic & keep the faith! Good luck.

Hey, I tore my labrum in a bike accident a while back as well. You'll likely have to get an MRI to confirm as I just went to physio on & off for about 7 years after the crash before I realized it was actually torn (lol?). Surgery was simple enough. 2 months and I was back on bike, 6 months back to 90% functionality I'd say (normal). Surgery was in October, I was back racing in May pain free. Personally I viewed the whole experience pretty 'good' for recovery from a surgery. Shoulder pain is gone on the bike now vs when I was living with a torn labrum and not realizing it. I would highly recommend the surgery. Find a reputable surgeon! I went (drove) back to work 5 days later. Was my non-dominant arm though.

Looks like the labrum is okay from what was seen on the MRI w/contrast. The issue is my joint capsule and apparently it's a mess. So the surgery would be a Bankart repair. The surgeon wants me to try a month of PT. He didn't seem to think the PT would work but felt it was worth a month's time in the oft chance it did. He feels surgery is to be used as a last resort option and PT was still an option that hadn't been ruled out yet. I can appreciate that.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Our son just had the same surgery. Torn labrum and cartiledge in the joint. He is 15, so his recovery may be different. Per our surgeon, PT is really limited in what it can do and the joint will always be compromised without the repair. Also, the more the shoulder “slips” or dislocates, the less tissue there is to repair, resulting in a much lower level of ultimate success.

He is 7 weeks out of surgery. Very slow (to me) rehab and PT, but both the surgeon and PT are really pleased with his recovery. Been on the spin bike for a couple weeks now, running next week, and should be cleared for non-contact sports after 4 months. Initial PT focused on ROM exercises, now working towards strength. Basketball and skiing will wait for a full 6 months.

He had 3 anchors installed.

YMMV, but we are happy we went with surgery.

drn92

My four weeks of PT are done and it didn't help one bit. Same pain, same instability, same range of motion and strength issues.

I did get real good at exercise band workouts though.

So I'm scheduling surgery for hopefully beginning of November as I have work travel coming up that I can't miss. Surgeon is giving me the following timelines:

• Two weeks in a sling
• Two months until slow jogging would be comfortable
• Three months until cycling would be comfortable, tri bike could take a bit longer
• Six months until he'll allow me in a pool to swim again

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Good luck dude hopefully you’ll recover quick.

Me too. I've had a rough go the last four years with surgery in 2014 and 2016 (I guess I'm going for every even year so look out 2020). Those surgeries I was able to kind of workout while dealing with it. This one has rendered me near useless for my typical training. It hurts to run, it hurts to ride, and it's impossible to swim. I've gained like 15 pounds while still trying to maintain a decent diet. I haven't slept a good night's sleep in five months. It has sucked.

I'm thinking about signing up for Ironman Louisville as my triumphant return for 2019.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

T-minus three hours until surgery.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I'm now 24 days post-op. Surgeon repaired my joint capsule, labrum wasn't itself torn but it was torn from the bone in a certain spot so that was repaired as well. Seven anchors in place to hold all that and sutures together. Total recovery in the 6-8 month range from what I've been told.

I have my second follow up with the surgeon on December 3rd and hopefully he tells me I no longer need to wear the sling.

PT has been going well. My range of motion is a little beyond the benchmarks at this point so hopefully my recovery is on the shorter side of things. I would like to start jogging first of the year, hopefully that's possible. Been doing some recumbent bike riding at the gym. Need to lose about 15 pounds I've gained since the bike crash six months ago. :-(

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I hadn't seen this thread before. I knew you were hurt but this is rough. Hope recovery and rehab goes well so you can kick ass next year.

---

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

Advice from someone who’s gone through two similar surgeries. One that went well, and one that didn’t.

TAKE YOUR TIME ON RECOVERY. Nothing keeps me up at night quite like knowing I screwed up the doc’s great handiwork by pushing too soon.

---

"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

I have a very good and highly recommended PT guy. Apparently college and pro athletes come specifically to the Houston area to see him while in the rehab process. I will stay within his protocol and won't stray off the reservation.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One