Think I might have damaged my rotor cuff. I imagine that there are at least a few other cripples on here so thoughts please. And yes I shall consult my physician.

DH related impact injury to shoulder.

Now I haven’t been able to lift my arm passed horizontal with my shoulder when lifting with arm to side for a couple of years. To the front I could raise it fine.

However since I landed on in yesterday I have about 45 degree of abduction to both the front and side before it doesn’t really want to go. No strength to lift object heavier than a tea mug either. If I kinda lean to the side and rotate my shoulder I can get it nearly horizontal but it doesn’t feel right.

Have pain to the rear of the shoulder between the shoulder blade and the humerus kind of in the joint itself. When lifting the arm I have pain radiating down the back of the arm towards the and to elbow.

And thoughts? Experiences with recovery and exercises?

P.S. My collarbone aches but I think fortunately the plate bolted to it stopped it braking…

it’s way to complicated a joint to ask for any of us on here to help; go get physio and do the excersices they tell you. By the sounds of things a good rest is probably called for but there’s so much to go wrong in there you really need a good proffesional assessment. I can recommend a good physio in Broxburn if your anywhere near central Scotland. Treat what a doctor might say with suspicion go get a good physio to look at it.

Dislocated my shoulder at CyB February before last. Nearly two years later it still hurts pretty bad and is causing me problems with strength and mobility to this day.

I had several issues after mtb and skiing falls, went to a physio and had a personal trainer at the gym, but it was going to biyadoo in the maldives and swimming round the island using just my arms in an extended breastroke without using my legs (took about 1 1/2 hours) that fixed up some intense pain in my right shoulder.

Get to a physio.

I did the rotator cuff after a heavy fall a few years ago and just left it to mend on its own. Got severe reduced movement and continued pain with it.

There are two main issues:

1. When the tendons heal after being stretched they shrink back to being shorter than they were which leads to the lack of movement. I had to do a weird shrug of my shoulder to enable me to move the top of my arm under my shoulder blade to reach up in the air.

2. With the one arm being damaged, you automatically compensate with the other arm and do a lot more with it. This leads to a reduced strength in the damaged arm due to lack of use.

A few visits to a great physio for some intensive stretching and mobility work followed by a lot of strengthening work fixed mine.

Per bangin on – not an issue you want to leave unresolved…

Hi, broke my scapula in June 07, broke lower part of joint off. Consultant left to heal on its own, 6 weeks in sling.
However also suffered with “winging”, shoulder blade slightly proud on back. Was sent to nerve consultant from Liverpool who said at the time one of the three nerves down the arm was damaged, This is due to I,d say by now permanent nerve damage.
Looking from the front my left shoulder is now definately narrower, weakness/tiredness when lifting due to nerve damage.
The “electric” shock effect down my arm and into fingers can be brought on when reaching rearward to put on a rucksack
Basic physio through NHS, and determination to get on with it.

Oh and when I sleep on my left hand side my AC joint jumps!!!

Been there, done that.

I didn’t go the physio route – I went to the docs and was prescribed anti-inflammatories which fixed the problem on each of the three times I have injured it.

Well im going to try and see the quack next week as im onsite all this week. Will wait til I get a diagnosis before I start any exercises, don’t want to exacerbate it any, race season starts soon. Collarbone aches a lot more now allong the line of the plate/screws and where it meets the sternum and shoulder.

Driving is a bit of a struggle however. Was hoping after 48hrs it might have eased off but I think there is something pretty wrong with it. Had surgery twice in the last three years hoping I dont have to again any time soon! Currently taking Naproxen a NSAID, anything else anyone can recommend?

Ta.

The one movement I was taught was a very simple one – loosely clench your fist (on the effected arm obviously), let the arm hang by your side and make slow circular movements

And BTW – the first time I did it, I just left it and left it. Then left it. It was some 6 months before I admitted it wasn’t going to fix itself and went to the quacks.

Is a rotator cuff injury a home diagnosis?

As said above go and get a physio to help you sort it out.

not just any old physio – find one recommended by similair sufferers – the one I went to was a shoulder specialist but I wasn’t getting anywhere and know of several simialr stories, not just with shoulders.

My osteopath helped me more, and the swimming at the Maldives fixed it. A mate had a hamstring problem, after a year of seeing different physios and getting nowhere he went to an osteo in London who knows a lot about muscle recovery and he is now on the mend.

this book is also good:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Your-Own-Rotator-Cuff/dp/1598582062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295372355&sr=8-1

worth reading just for the stuff about how long you should stretch, etc. This is in conflict with what some people will tell you but the whole book is based on solid clinical trials.

Get to your GP, tell them it is affecting your ability to work, you’ll then get a referal to an NHS physio. You’ll be looking at about three months ultra sound and physio, but it will recover.

I’ve had chronic rotator cuff problems for about 4 years now and about 2 years ago it got really bad and the range of motion was seriously compromised, fortunately i got physio through my work and after a year of that it had only made very limited progress so i saw my GP who sent me for steroid injections which have again had limited success, just had my third and if this doesn’t work then it’s surgery for me to have a bit of bone shaved down.
If memory serves me correctly there are 4 rotator cuff muscles, infra spinatus, supra spinatus, sub scapularis and another i think, and they can all be affected in different ways, my problem is impingment, but for most injuries internal and external rotation exercises are usually prescribed to help strengthen the muscles.
Best bet is to get to your GP and maybe mention that your ability to work is affected.
Oh and just as a pedantic point raising your arm to the front is flexion, abduction is only to the side 😉

The other muscle is Teres Minor.

Oh and just to be pedantic there is no universally recognised way of describing movements of the glenohumeral joint. Sounds like the guy is describing elevation rather than abduction to me. 😉

You people all sound much worse than me. I hurt mine 4-5 times over 4-5 years, nasty pain on impact but always able to ride away even if driving home was a bit tricky as couldn’t get arm over top of steering wheel! Then one day I toppled over and it semi dislocated (“sub luxed”??) but slipped back in easily and pain stopped then a few months later it did it again in really pathetic circumstances so I went to GP, told him I had insurance, specialist said “if you must mtb then you ought to fix it”, so i did, 18 hours in hospital, 4 wks in full sling, 4 more weeks in half sling, nearly three months in total off the bike and now a year later hopefully its fixed. I have fallen off several times since but never in such a way as to wrench my arm backwards and it was that that hurt it. Hopefully was not a false diagnosis and it has worked but cannot be 100% until I have the right sort of crash.

Oh and just to be pedantic there is no universally recognised way of describing movements of the glenohumeral joint.

Well i’m happy to be corrected i’m certainly not a physiotherapist, but when i studied anatomy and physiology they taught it as thus, and also that elevation was only at the scapula, the shrugging motion.