Hello,
I was diagnosed with a labrum tear. It happened 2 years ago when I was 27. It may be from tennis or weight lifting or both.
I wonder whether to have surgery or not. My shoulder gets sore after overhead activities like serving in tennis. Then it hurts for one month. After a month it hurts only in certain motions. I can do all things with my shoulder right now with very little pain that occurs only when I twist my hand.
I read about surgery. Some people get 90-100% to what they were before, but most have lost range of motion and still have pain.
I consulted 3 doctors. 2 of them said I need surgery if I want to be back to normal, one of them said I’d better not to have surgery because it is not 100% sure and my shoulder is not bad right now.
What are your thoughts on this? Should I have surgery or not?
I had a labrum tear grade 4, really there was no option for me except surgery. So, this is just my experience. Surgery is pretty tough in the immediate recovery period but then after the swelling goes down it is SOOOOOO much better. I couldn’t even throw a baseball with my son. I had a bicep tenodesis (reattach the bicep tendon into the upper humerus) instead of a traditional slap repair. The doctor explained that healing tends to be better with that because better vascular supply to the humerus than into the actual shoulder joint. The reason I got into triathlon was I enjoyed the swimming rehab I did after surgery and I really needed to stop playing rugby and try to avoid those types of injuries. I don’t really notice any loss in range of motion. However, I still have to deal with some significant arthritis in my shoulder, not caused by surgery and would’ve had that either way. So, I can’t answer if you should have surgery but it was really good for me.