Rotator Cuff Injury

Hi All

Well I’ve been diagnosed with a Rotator Cuff Injury in my left arm  🙁 – basically I can only lift my arm to about shoulder height and no further. I have no pain and very little stiffness or swelling. Waiting for a Physio appointment – just wondering if the hive mind has had any experiences of this, how did recovery go and what was riding a bike like?

Thanks

*** Following*** My wife had a nasty off on the bike just last week and has partially torn her rotator cuff, so following for any advice.  Good luck with the recovery Farm Track.

You’re lucky there’s no pain, mine was excruciating for months. And that’s the bad news, rotator cuff injuries can take months or even years to heal.

My physio advised a resistance band for rehab. Worked, slowly mind but it worked.

Took a month of doing nothing ( i also chipped a bone in my shoulder and did the scaphoid in the wrist) then gradually building strength back up and movement doing a few simple exercises with the band. Still got the band now and use it every day

Having broken my humerus at the rotator cuff, the experience was not pleasant and took 2 years. Hopefully yours is a tear and could be back to full working order a lot sooner.

muscle loss for me was a problem. Getting back on the bike was weird, as I didn’t realise how much we use our upper body and arms.

My injury atm is recovering from a dislocation and shoulder break last January, it’s not been the best year.

you’ll be having a lot of physio exercises. Good luck.

You are me, but 1 year ago. Been undergoing physio since. Nearly signed off but I’m not at full strength yet. I am strong for bouldering/climbing now, but not quite full strength for sucking up big impacts through the bars on a bike as speed and dynamic strength is the last to come back. Fine for general riding though.

Yeah, lots of exercises, theraband work, plank-type movements, bouncy press-ups, ball throws – all sorts at various stages of recovery. Unfortunately it’s a slow one, but you’ll be back to gentle riding within months, but not taking impacts for a bit longer.

no good news here.  flip-flop malfunction on holiday a couple of years ago walking down a slope to the beach and i went down like a sack of sh1t.

ultrasound, MRI, all had the doctors whistling through their teeth, “oooh theres a lot going on in there”.  rotator cuff, tendon tear, bicep….

fast forward to the op, seemingly successful at first, healing nicely, few months of physio exercises then back in the gym but lost muscle and chucking baby weights around.  im pretty sure its torn again now as its painful to raise my arm, put t-shirts on etc.  back waiting for another ultrasound to confirm.

frustratingly the other one seems to have come out in sympathy for no particular reason, but just not quite as painful.

its sh1t feeling old and knackered.

Yeah I have had two (both my left arm) – one falling off a bike, the other crashing a snowboard. Both were ‘fixed’ with prescription anti-inflammatories (I forget what they were called). They were both 20+ years ago, but I still suffer with issues now and I have to carefully manage movement to stop it from flaring up.

21 yrs ago done two also, one surfing (left) and the other skiing (right)! Given up both now!! 😀

Still give me problems now if I’m not careful.

Was there a crash or obvious start point?

I’ve had similar recently, left shoulder, with no crash or obvious injury point – possibly digging/lifting related or desk work. Dr suggested rotator cuff. Physio says it may be tendonitis/Bursitis or a frozen shoulder. No bony protrusions or spurs on x-ray. Limited range of movement after a twinge at end of reach range that got worse and then settled, some reduction in pain after 2 rounds of physio, 3rd will be this week. I’ve kept it moving recently – I’ve found keeping it active with a low resistance band better than restricting/protecting it. Been off the MTB for a few months but running and road / easy gravel is ok as long as I’m not hauling on the bars.

I had rotator cuff issues on and off for years, probably mini tears said the health professionals. However I managed to do complete ‘massive full width tears’ on both infraspinatus and supraspinatus tendons in March ’24, and the tendons had retracted away from the attachment point.     Interestingly I had no pain, and still had full range of motion, but my arm was very weak if trying to do anything above shoulder height, i.e. I couldn’t lift a water bottle above my head.

In August I had a repair job done to stitch the tendons back on to the top of  the humerus, followed by 7 weeks constantly wearing a sling to allow the tendons to biologically grow back onto the bone. I’m still doing physio every day to regain strength lost during the 7 weeks in a sling and I’m a long way away from where I was before the surgery in terms of pain & range of motion but I knew what to expect.

The big take-away for me was that I should have got proper diagnosis and hence the repair surgery done straight away rather than 5 months after the injury- it would have made the surgey and subsequent recovery easier.

Good Luck OP!

You’re lucky there’s no pain, mine was excruciating for months

Very much this. Mine was absolute agony. I was on a big prescription dose of Codeine for the pain. As others have pointed out, you’ll be off the bike for months I’m afraid.

on a positive note, I did all the physio and got 100%
movement back in it with no lasting effects. Good luck with the boredom. I have been reliably informed by my darling wife that while I couldn’t go out on my bike for months I was insufferable ?

Fractured my humerus and collar bone, dislocated my shoulder and ripped my rotator cuff to pieces (pulling a piece off the top of my humerus with it) when I went otb at Cwmbran in February 2023.

Major op to put it all back together again and a year until I could get on a bike again, and then only for short spells. I still only have about 85-90% movement in my right arm and it’s unlikely to get any better.

The best advice I can give is take it easy, don’t rush it and do the physiotherapy. It’s horrible and it hurts but it has to be done.

Good luck with your recovery.

^^^ much the same here, did it 5 years ago. I still do regular resistance band and physio work, and a lot of front crawl swim, which keeps it manageable pain wise. I had a full shoulder reconstruction with plates in the humerus, and the rotator cuff sewn together and reattached. The surgeon referred to it as a salvage job…

Depends how bad it is. I didn’t have anything too spectacular,  but had the same symptoms in July from climbing. No tear, but definite damage

Lots of exercise later , I’m generally pain free and climbing ok, but will need to keep on top of this

I’ve had two one left and one right. Left at martial arts and right at skiing. The right was 98% torn and required surgery. The recovery was long and shit. Basically 6 months of work to get back to full movement. And Im still not really back to where I was, although that’s more to do with the mental aspect of largely having to stop my hobbies. My physio recommended a pulley thing that goes over an internal door and you can pull the injured arm up. It worked for me to get the movement back.

Like this https://a.co/d/gRLR5UV

Funnily enough, I woke up one day about two weeks ago, with horrendous pain at the top of my left arm in what used to be normal ranges of movement.

No idea how it happened, not been to GP about it, fortunately I can take it easy as I’m not working at the moment.

In my 20s playing rugby I wasn’t able to lift my right arm even to shoulder height without pain. Kind of didn’t realise until someone pointed it out. Physio said felt like I’d had multiple dislocations but got me working on bands, posture and then progressing to press ups. Did a brilliant job of repairing and improving the shoulder.

No idea how it happened, not been to GP about it, fortunately I can take it easy as I’m not working at the moment.

Unfortunately, that’s what GPs always seem to say about these things. I’d get to a physio and see what they can do.

Hi All

Thankyou for sharing your experiences and the good luck messages, I hope wherever you are with your recovery that it goes well and you get better soon.

Thanks

Both sides rc joint issues,left worse.Started about 8 months ago,not sure why but possibly bench press at gym I think as I don’t think riding would have done it.Seen physio, doing some stretching but no improvement so will be making another appointment.I was in agony in morzine with it,as wasn’t sure what it was then so tried battling through and probably made it worse.

not sure why but possibly bench press at gym I think as I don’t think riding would have done it

My doctor told me that if you’re … ahem… the wrong side of 40 they can just go. General cumulative wearand tear. Mine went when I was pootling innocuously down the Pennine bridleway on the hardtail on my way home from work. No impact, no drama, just sudden agonising pain

Positivity. I damaged my left one working for a less than the most popular grocery delivery companies.  Compensated with other shoulder whilst lifting crates.  6 months later and back to being a desk jockey, full recovery with no ptsd.  52 year old.

I’ve been rehabbing a sore shoulder since July. Of all the things, I think I did it sanding the campervan…

After lots of googling, I started on the rotator cuff work but after a while made an appointment with a Physio to make sure I was doing the right movements. I was.

Still not fixed now so late Nov I went to the GP who sorted some Naproxen (and something to protect my stomach) and an appointment with the NHS physio for later December. The NHS physio will be able to open the door to whatever comes next.

Long story short, go straight to the GP, even if you go see a private physio. You can always cancel your appointment if you are lucky enough to see a swift improvment.

Luckily for me I can still ride a bike and do my job.

I hurt some of the tendons in mine 6 months ago whilst doing heavy rows at the gym.

I went to see a private physio who explained that there is a little hole in it where a couple of tendons and a nerve go through.

The tendons have swollen slightly because of the strain and they are putting pressure on the nerve.

It is getting better, but the pace of change is glacial.

I was unable to go to the gym for the first month, but I have been going since and luckily it did not impact my cycling.

Had terrible rotator cuff issues for ages when i got into lifting weights.  Considering my daughter is a climber i should have had a long list of preventative exercises i should have included in my warms up.  Unfortunately i didnt and i got issues similar to those on here where it hurt incredibly when bench pressing or even worse anything shoulder press.  I also struggled to lift the arm above shoulder height.

My best advice is DO NOT WAIT TO BE REFERRED to a physio.  They will be a general physio who gives you some print outs off a NHS website geared towards getting rid of the pain and get you back to work.  It will take ages and be rather pointless the moment you start to do anything strenuous.  Go to a well respected/recommended sports physio in your area who will be able to determine the strength you had before this issue by looking at the good arm.  They will go into what you want to achieve and even concentrate on the good arm as well to ensure you come out with both shoulders stronger than before.  Its not just about fixing the damage, its about ensuring it doesnt happen again and improving both shoulders imo.

For the record i got only 2 exercises to do.  It cleared up the issue in a matter of weeks and i still do them to this day.  One of which was to be done in the shower so its simple to do without forgetting.  The other i do as part of my warm up and is just the basic stretch band rotator cuff exercise they all give.  I have added further strengthening exercises over the last 12 months to back this up which has meant i never get any issues anymore.  I just now cant use the rotator cuff for failed lifts anymore.

I spannered my shoulder sliding on some ice on the cargo bike yesterday. Thankfully the kids not hurt, but the nice lady at A&E gave me some rotator cuff exercises to do in a few days ince the pain has settled down. Reading this thread has made me resolve to sticking to them!

I had similar in my right arm after a mtb and then a ski fall.

Went to physio and a PT and was doing all the exercises but to no real effect.

Went on my first holiday to the Maldives and took a gym ball and straps with me thinking that some intensive training might help.

After a week nothing was much better so I tried swimming around the island using a long breaststoke with my arms only and no legs – easier than the pool as I had a snorkle on and fish/coral to look at. Really pulled down with my arms at the end of the stroke. The arm wasn’t painful to raise up when in the water as it is supported somewhat.

Only managed about 50 minutes before it was time to come in for dinner but the next morning I woke up with my arm raised up in a position it had not been able to assume pain free for months. And that was it, it was fixed. So maybe it was scar tissue that was causing me pain?

Anyway I did do the complete swim a couple of days later (1.5 hours) and then every other day, and have also done that on repeated trips to the Maldives, to great effect as it has straightened up my posture each time, which regressed afterwards with my software engineering job and poor seated posture. Helkped with my skiing as well as it sorted out my excessive pelvic tilt.

Forgot to mention that I keep my shoulders in decent shape now by doing 360s with a macebell, which is an excellent piece of kit.

I had part of my rotator cuff reattached (I think also the top of the bicep, it was a long time ago!).  I had a posterior dislocation from a big skiing crash and it only got properly diagnosed after 4 years of physio until eventually all the other muscles around could no longer compensate.

Anyway..  it’s basically a good news story.  Surgery was a success and after 10+ years I rarely think about it unless I neglect keeping my shoulder strong.  Only then, when it’s fatigued,  I struggle to lift a bike onto a roof mounted rack.

Bearing in mind you aren’t hurting, but lifting your arm is not happening I’d consider it a close miss rather than the calamities listed above.  .  What do you think did it? Obviously after some rest I’d be looking at rehab and strengthening routines on youtube , see what a physio says and build them into your warm, daily routine or whatever you do..

I was talking to an NHS physio the other day. His role is the guy who you end up at when others have failed, the last stop before surgery and he gave me a new exercise to do.

It means getting an exercise band at a height above you so that you have tension on at 40-45 degrees, then pulling down to 90. Start with elbow in front of your chest if that feels ok but aiming to be able to perfom the move with the arm pulling down behind your shoulder if you can.

He also said to face my exercise cables and put my arms down, hands facing backwards and make a short movement engaging my scapular properly (at least I think thats what I’m doing).

Anyways, after months of pain, I believe since doing this I am finally turning a corner.

I started doing my exercises last night and some terrifying noises came out of my shoulder. Soem definite improvements in mobility going on so will stick at it!

Reading this with interest. I had an off on the bike in May, trying to keep up with the youngsters, in which I fell onto my left shoulder. It was sore all the time for a while but gradually improved, except in certain fields of movement. I still get a lot of pain and discomfort when reaching back to put my arm through a sleeve, or when reaching straight up.

I had the horror of a frozen shoulder three years ago, where I was suddenly unable to lift my arm from my side, initially with no pain, then a couple of weeks of agony, and subsequent 12 months of very gradual improvement. I went to a few physio appointments where they had no idea the cause/what was wrong but gave me a series of physio band exercises.

This shoulder issue has a clear cause but is similarly frustrating in recovery. I did eventually go and see my GP but he felt there since there was no significant loss of strength, just discomfort in my range of movement, that it would improve with time and similar physio to the frozen shoulder. I have noticed it ‘popping’ more and more recently  which I’m not convinced is a good thing? On the plus side it doesn’t affect my riding at all, just the occasional lift of a bike through a gate or (ahem) stile.