Riding with torn rotator cuff...???

Oh man it’s a struggle. I had a high impact crash. Some tears but no complete tears and ended up with frozen shoulder. Ligaments were so inflamed that they wouldn’t pass under the shoulder blade. No surgery but I do wonder if that would have been a better option. It’s been 18 months. Could not do one push up and I’m back to 5x20 and proper bench press etc at the gym. t’s a struggle. good luck!

BTW I raced 6 months after the injury. Probably not a great decision given that I still couldn't raise my arm very high but there was a plastic trophy on the line.

Hi! I had problems with the shoulder for past few years. So I tore off so called "front lip" (english is not my native tongue) and I had the stabilization surgery last year (anchored back to the bones). Managed to tear it off again this year, and I am now just exercising the shoulder, going to gym etc., do not really feel discomfort. But I have new surgery scheduled which is called - latarjet method, where they will take of some small part of the bone, and put it in front of the ligament, so I cannot physically dislocate it and hopefully its gonna be fine. Otherwise Im easily riding bike now, no problems, just be cautious of crashing - you could dislocate it, but it does not change anything as everything is tornf off anyway. Only thing - be careful about cartilage, because after many dislocations the cartilage will be worn and it may have consequences later when Im gonna get old

And also - try to get off some inflamation if You have any - your GP should help with the prescription etc. I made a mistake after first complete dislocation as I did not move the arm enough and I had some rough time with rehab. Try to do some limited mobility exercises to the shoulder, make the shoulder muscles stronger and dont limit movements on daily basis.

About 10 years ago (I was 53), I tore my rotator cuff and labrum in a high speed get off. I was able to keep riding for a while but it got to bothering me more and more over time. Finally the doctor told me if I didn't get it fixed soon they wouldn't be able to get it back to normal.

The surgery sucks. You'll sleep in a chair for a week or 2. Do the rehab 100% and all the exercises they give you to do at home. I busted my ass with it and 3 months from the day of my surgery I was released completely. I now have no pain and 100% range of motion.
My advice would be, bite the bullet and get it fixed.


Good luck.

Tough injury and surgery. Give some healing time and do rehab as much as possible. I have had this surgery. Riding came somewhat easier than other things. Orthopedic doctor said it was because I was not raising my arm above shoulder. Anything over my head took a lot longer to accomplish.

Get surgery, do all your rehab BUT don’t forget the injury too much, as you might just do something minor like throw a ball or similar some day without thinking and hurt it all over again. I’ve been there.

When I had this it was full thickness tear (massive) of the 4 tendons and repair was required within 30 days or the percentage of success dropped greatly. Surgery was done asap and I have about 80% ROM however it is very difficult to strengthen it. Based upon early looks at the MRI I'm lucky.

You're young and strong now but that will not always be so. I'd get it repaired by the best shoulder cracker you can find.

Damn Washougal whoop de doos.

I tried racing on a partial tear (didn't know what was wrong). I had a moment during a moto the next week. Because my shoulder was much weaker than I realized I couldn't save it and really augured in that time. After that I couldn't raise my arm at all. Got hooked up with a sports medicine clinic and they diagnosed the partial tear. Arm was totally useless for around a month. Then they got me on some really light work, walking my arm up the wall with my fingertips, pretty pathetic. Progressed to resistance work with surgical tubing and finally on machines. After three months total down time I was back racing. I was fortunate my tear was small and able to close up by itself.

Back in 2011 I did my right in, and 2013 did my left. I failed to rehab my right, and re injured it multiple times within a few years. My range of motion in my right is significantly lower today due to this. I only notice this when working out in the gym as my right shoulder is both slightly larger and slightly stronger.

I did rehab on my left and it's been perfect.

I fell off my bicycle a couple years ago, went over the bars and seperated my shoulder with partial tears. Didn't require surgery but it was optional. I could ride but lifting weights was out of the question for over a year until I could start doing heavy shoulder presses. I think now over two years post incident, I'm back to a new 100%. I took up light boxing and yoga while doing rehab. Gained an insane ammount of mobility, just had to baby my shoulder for ahwile. Bonus of hurting it in college was I took advantage of the cute sports medicine chicks to help with my rehab.

Do your PT every day

PT is key after the surgery. I had 3 of the 4 completely tore and they were able to fix with only portal holes, but if i would have waited any longer the severed ligaments would have retracted too far to grab and then you need the big cut which is longer rehab obviously. Even with 3 of the 4 torn i was able to ride and even do pushups!

1. Surgery is your only way forward with complete tears. My middle brother is in the same boat as you, has 3 complete tears and hopes to have surgery in the next month. He's been prioritized, but it's Canadian healthcare in the middle of a pandemic and he's in one of the worst locations statistically.

2. I've never had to have surgical reconstruction, but I have had partial tears in both shoulders. Last one was courtesy an off-leash dog cleaning me out while riding my gravel bike on a trail. 2 fractures in scapula, AC separation and a lot of damage to infraspinatus including partial tear and a tremendous amount of scar tissue built up from the scapula fractures. I'm at month 7 and the shoulder is about 90% with continuous PT and strengthening. My point here is that your joint is probably a lot more weak than you might realize, and it would suck to get back on the bike and eat shit because of your shoulder and potentially injure yourself more. And also, be prepared for a long rehab as everyone else has mentioned here. RC injuries generally suck. Worse than AC separations and probably equal to dislocations and labral tears.

Good luck and heal up well.

Back on August 29th I completely tore all 4 heads of the rotator cuff, torn labrum, and completely torn bicep tendon. Arm was hanging on by only skin and nerves. September 10th I had surgery to repair it all. I think the night after surgery was just as painful as the initial injury if not more painful. I woke up at 2am after the surgical numbing wore off and could barely talk due to the amount of pain I was in.

Doc prescribed 3 months of mobility work followed by 3 months of strengthening work. Just got clearance to start working on strength last week.

There's absolutely no way I'd be able to ride a motocross bike right now, 3 months post operation.

I’ve dislocated my left shoulder, damaged/tore the labrum (called a “SLAP” injury), tore the supraspinatus tendon (one of the rot cuffs), distabilized the biceps tendon (it constantly dislocated out of the bicipital groove of the humerus), and basically diveted the humoral head (a Hill-Sachs deformity). I actually rode for a while with all of these injuries until it got so bad I couldn’t lift my hand to scratch my nose. I didn’t think I would ever be able to ride again, but a good surgeon performed miracles and I’ve been riding/racing just fine for the 15 years since!
I will say this though... shoulder injuries seldom get better on their own and once compromised, they are very easy to completely destroy with a simple mistake...but as long a you never make simple mistakes while riding MX, you should be good!

As a sports medicine medical professional, I would go ahead and have the surgery now. You'll feel better once it has been fixed and you can continue to ride at a later date once you have regained full strength.

Hopefully you're seeing a pattern here. Get it fixed, bust your ass doing rehab (the most important part) and you'll be fine.
Put it off and it only gets worse.

Good luck!!