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SLAP Shoulder surgery recovery

Joliver

Joliver

MuscleHead
Jan 19, 2014
303
169
Late to the party here, but a acquaintance of mine ended up with a moderate SLAP lesion that caused him mild to moderate pain. He told me on average it was a 3 out of 10 on a pain scale...but if he did anything it went acute for an entire day and was a 6 out of 10 until he took NSAIDs.

He opted for arthroscopic debridement and PRP (platelet rich plasma injects). The process took 3 months, but he progressively got better with every treatment after the first month. It isn't mentioned by physicians often because cutters want to cut. I'd ask about it. It's less invasive...you can always up the ante afterwards. Although insurance was an issue...they rarely like paying for PRP--if ever.

I can speak to PRP being effective. It pulled my ass out of the eternal fire pit after an elbow injury.
 
scotchindn

scotchindn

VIP Member
May 10, 2012
92
4
I hope the surgery went well, Admin. Heal up, hair over and get back to it when the time is right! I gotta echo comments already made about giving it adequate time to heal properly. My dad, at age 72, had a similar injury. It was a solid 12 month recovery, he was religious about his PT. Now he is back in his kayak and paddling stronger and longer than ever!
 
Casca

Casca

Member
Mar 30, 2014
68
9
Had 3 tears at once, to which included slap, labrum and acl. If memory serves me correct 4 months pt, surgery JULY, training carefully starting NOV. Then by FEB, I ran my very 1st cycle which was a PH. That is over 2 years ago tho.

Only thing that I was advise against was overhead pressing, everything else---i'm good.

Hope surgery went well, now lets recover.
 
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mugzy

mugzy

TID Board Of Directors
Aug 11, 2010
4,876
1,799
I didn't get around to updating this thread however the bottom line is I didn't pass the per-op physical. Specifically my hematocrit reading was 54.8 and they were concerned about the potential for blood clots. So I have come off my cycle and will try again in a few weeks.
 
Nitro

Nitro

Senior Member
Nov 19, 2014
123
0
Damn brother sorry to hear that. Hope the surgery goes well. Never had surgery for shoulder or rotator cuff issues I've had in the past but even with PT it took over a year for me to be back lifting heavier weights again. I would just say take your time in recovery and don't rush getting back into training with heavier weights. Either way with surgery or just PT you could be looking at at least 6 months to a year before your back to where you were.

Good luck bro!
 
kjetil1234

kjetil1234

Senior Member
Jul 6, 2014
114
9
SLAP tears usually happen when the humerus (arm bone) travel superiorly in the socket. The bicep tendon is attached on the top of humerus w labrum and sub acromion impingement may break the labrum and the bicep tendon.
WHY? Usually due to a combination of poor rotator cuff strength/activation and/or improper scapular control.

You'll likely need surgery, but remember that the MRI scans show SYMPTOMS. The cause is almost always the abovementioned, and it'll need to be adressed after surgery.

pic: humerus isn't properly held in the glenoid socket during movement. Thus travels up (in this case) and eventually may rupture albrum and cause SLAP aswell
6a00d8341bf90553ef0162fe2977de970d-pi
 
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nychris

nychris

MuscleHead
Oct 12, 2012
306
42
I didn't get around to updating this thread however the bottom line is I didn't pass the per-op physical. Specifically my hematocrit reading was 54 and they were concerned about the potential for blood clots. So I have come off my cycle and will try again in a few weeks.

Donating blood will lower this value immediately. Testosterone usage increases your hematocrit levels. I had rotator cuff surgery two years ago and was on TRT at the time so I donated blood right before they tested me and everything was fine. I think the recovery from RC tears is longer than SLAP tears. My cousin had a SLAP tear repaired and was 100% after about 6 months. He's not a lifter but he's a high level BJJ competitor and is better than ever now. As for my RC tear, I was in a sling for 6 weeks and then did PT twice per week for the next 5 months. It took 6 months from the time of the surgery before I could go back to the gym and start lifting light. Two years later I'm only 80% but my other shoulder still needs surgery so I can't push things anyway. If all goes well, I'd say you could be lifting heavy again in a year. Don't push things, take it slow and really stay on top of your PT. Talk to your physical therapist about why this may have happened to begin with so you can prevent it in the future. I believe my RC tears occurred because of lifting heavy all the time without breaks for years, not doing direct RC work, and not stretching to the point where I had gotten really tight.

Good luck!
 
Project

Project

Senior Member
Jun 22, 2011
114
13
i had a slap repair back in college. to be honest it wasn't bad at all. didn't even finish my pain pills. in fairness though, i was young and not lifting heavy at that age
 
Project

Project

Senior Member
Jun 22, 2011
114
13
nychris is right. donating blood or just drawing and discarding your own will correct your hct
 
mugzy

mugzy

TID Board Of Directors
Aug 11, 2010
4,876
1,799
nychris is right. donating blood or just drawing and discarding your own will correct your hct

I donated blood last week and had my blood tested this week however HCT only dropped 1.1% ... that's enough though to get the operation.
 
5.0

5.0

VIP Member
Nov 3, 2012
5,246
1,696
Admin, have you had thenough procedure yet? I had mine done 2 days ago and am looking for feedback on recovery. My tear was minor and only trimmed.
 
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