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Learning to survive on the course with a torn rotator cuff

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lbolt19

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I have three partial tendon tears in my left rotator cuff, none of the three are detached from the bone so surgery is not required. Still, I'm golfing in quite some pain and am looking to find a stance and swing that would be more 'shoulder friendly'.

Open or closed, wide or narrow golf stance, I'm open to suggestions for a set up that is easier on the left shoulder from someone in a similar situation.

Thanks in advance!
 
lbolt19 said:
I have three partial tendon tears in my left rotator cuff, none of the three are detached from the bone so surgery is not required. Still, I'm golfing in quite some pain and am looking to find a stance and swing that would be more 'shoulder friendly'.

Open or closed, wide or narrow golf stance, I'm open to suggestions for a set up that is easier on the left shoulder from someone in a similar situation.

Thanks in advance!
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Not dealing with a cuff injury on my left side but, I have a torn left pectoral, 3 tears in my bicep, 2 tears in my tricep, a pinched ulnar nerve and, a issue with my median nerve all on my left side. The only thing I have found to help swing wise was to shorten my backswing and swing easier. Good luck and hope it heals fast.
 
Funny this just happened to me about 2 months ago. I tore my left rotator cuff while lifting weights doing flies in my basement. Had an MRI done ... major tear in my tendon connecting the bicep & rotator cuff. Was referred to another surgeon .... "Oh yeah you need surgery to get that repaired." I thought about it & it turns out I heard that this Dr. likes to put people under the knife for really no reason. :eek: So I went to get a 2nd opinion & another Dr. said that it's possible that it's repairing itself with the help of some meds. I took 2 months off of golf, not really lifting anything too heavy upwards. Finally starting hitting balls about 2 weeks ago in my backyard driving range. Took the swing to the course and zero pain with the golf swing. (y) So no longer am I lifting weights to injure myself further, as it slowly gets better. As long as I don't lift a lot of weight straight up, I am good to go. I don't like taking that long away from golf, especially while also missing a golf trip :eek:
 
Dang what the hell did you do? Winter is almost here.... Take a rest. Regroup come out next spring renewed.
 
If it's your left and you're right handed it's tough. Hands more high than deep might help, but it really depends on what's most comfortable for you, and how you swing. Do you have a healthy back?, because I see a lot of torso in your future swing if you try to maintain distance. I'd likely save myself the shoulder pain and shorten the swing, tighten the tummy, and turn and burn through the ball. Whatever kept me from strapping across my left shoulder hard. I'm lucky that it's my right shoulder that's hanging on by a thread.
 
Not sure if I have the same issue but it is certainly a possibility. Been dealing with upper arm and shoulder pain on the left side all year. Until I got a hitting net about 3 or 4 months ago, making a proper golf swing on the first 3 or 4 holes was difficult and painful. Starting hitting about 20 balls into the net before heading to the course and it helped my range of motion and pain from the start a good bit. The issue in my left arm starting flaring up about a month after I started Super Speed overspeed training so a tear or two is certainly not out of the question.
 
3-4 years ago was diagnosed similar, 3 tears in left shoulder rotator cuff (right-handed golfer), surgeon said 99% of the time cortisone shot is prescribed to eliminate inflammation and avoids surgery. I was in constant pain, could barely sleep more than 2 hours per night as pain was worse at night. Golf was only partially doable by multiple doses of pain meds. I took his word and got and went ahead.

Ended getting cortisone shot and within days pain was gone and was back golfing. Only bad thing was and I am not sure related but approx 8 weeks after shot, one of my left bicep tendons tore right off my shoulder…now my left bicep looks like Popeye 😜. I wasn’t told to wait 7-10 days after shot but since then I have heard that cortisone injections are hard (weaken temporarily) on tendons and should wait a period of time before doing anything physical. Can’t say the shot was the cause but if you do get shot, be careful.

My first shot lasted 2 years and I had to get a second this spring but unfortunately only relieved approx 50% of the pain. A neighbor on my street is a physiotherapist and I had previously had treatment for tennis elbow using shockwave therapy. I was sceptical but he said it can actually heal shoulder tears. 4 treatments later, one per week and pain was completely gone. Have played approx 90-100 rounds so far since the therapy and no reoccurrence.
 
So there are 4 muscles that are part of your RC and each has a slightly different movement that it is responsible for.

The first question I would ask is if there are 3 separate partial tears in one muscle or 3 of the muscles have partial thickness tears. That answer shapes the modifications you would to make to your swing. I’m playing the percentages and assuming you are right handed, which means your left shoulder is your lead shoulder.

The most commonly torn rotator cuff is the supraspinatus muscle, which is responsible for raising your arm to the side (laterally) and overhead. The other muscles aren’t as commonly torn in the general population, and they have opposite functions, which will dictate what you would need to change. In pitchers, it’s fairly common to have issues with the subscapularis muscle because of the repetitive internal rotation that occurs during a throwing motion. The other two rotator cuff muscles are responsible for external rotation and would cause problems with finishing your follow through if you’re a right handed golfer.

Assuming most of your pain does not occur during the backswing, the best place to start would be to abbreviate your follow through like you’re hitting a punch shot to prevent any excess stress on the supraspinatus and teres minor/infraspinatus that are responsible for external rotation. There’s a few assumptions made in these suggestions, but hopefully it helps!

also need to note that what you do for it off the course is as important. Make sure you are taking care of it once you get home too. There are lots of good RC exercises that can be done at home to help it as well.
 
I fell while shoveling snow a few years ago. Damaged RC(right shoulder- play right handed), took a few cortisone shots to find ‘the spot’ and that was that. But during the time that we were getting it ironed out, I could barely move my arm without some pain or discomfort. EXCEPT when I swung a golf club. As long as I swung on the right plane, no pain at all. Afterwards, yes, a bit sore and lingering aches. But while swinging on course or at range, nothing. Steering the cart, writing the score, drinking a beer would have twinges. Strangest thing.
And now, I think some of that lingering scar tissue is causing similar issues, tweaks of shooting pain, tingling, general soreness, etc… But golf swing is not an issue. I would guess you would have to find “that slot” like I did to avoid issues.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I probably should have mentioned that I'm left-handed but golf right-handed, so overuse is as much to blame for the tears as my golf swing. Also, I have a torn upper bicep from lifting weights giving my bicep that goofy 'popeye' look.

Here are my 3 tears:

1) There is a fluid-filled tear along the humeral surface of the anterior leading edge of the supraspinatus tendon measuring 1.5 cm in length by 1.7 mm in thickness.

2) Thickened infraspinatus tendon insertion with increased intrasubstance intermediate signal. There is a partial tear of its posterior bursal surface measuring 5.2 mm. There is an oblong interstitial tear at its myotendinous junction measuring 3.2 mm in diameter.

3) There is a tear involving the posterior superior portion of the labrum with a small detached fragment.

I also have severe spinal stenosis but, after a failed laminectomy, a cortisone shot has helped.

Basically, I'm a mess, but I still want to golf! :)
 
Just read online that doing dumbbell bicep curls of just 10lbs, and bringing the curl up to shoulder level, helps strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Sounds a bit strange to me and, quite frankly, I'm hesitant to lift weights of any weight at the moment, but was just wondering if anyone else has tried this and, if so, had any success.

Thanks!
 
lbolt19 said:
Just read online that doing dumbbell bicep curls of just 10lbs, and bringing the curl up to shoulder level, helps strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Sounds a bit strange to me and, quite frankly, I'm hesitant to lift weights of any weight at the moment, but was just wondering if anyone else has tried this and, if so, had any success.

Thanks!
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Might I suggest starting small...

12oz curls...
 
I have pain and some crunching going on in both shoulders. So far, it hasn't impacted my golf game one bit. Lots of guys I play with have the same condition and I hope to be able to keep on playing without the shoulders causing any problems...
 
I had both a partial tear to the rotator cuff and 2 slap tears to the labrum in my left shoulder. This was diagnosed after playing for 3 years in pain.
I tried therapy, meds, cortisone injections, ice treatments, heat treatments, massage, traction, slings, etc..etc... I kept playing by taking ibuprofen 1 hour before the round and then again at the turn. I finally saw a shoulder specialist and he fixed me during the winter. I made my first HIO that next summer.
I guess you could say that I shortened up my swing a little and really turned more through the ball while I was injured, but that's about it.
 
lbolt19 said:
Just read online that doing dumbbell bicep curls of just 10lbs, and bringing the curl up to shoulder level, helps strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Sounds a bit strange to me and, quite frankly, I'm hesitant to lift weights of any weight at the moment, but was just wondering if anyone else has tried this and, if so, had any success.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Light weight resistance bands are also a really good option. In terms of the tears you mention, the one that sticks out to me is the labral tear and loose fragment. If you’re having a feeling you’re shoulder occasionally locks or gets stuck, that might be something more limiting than the tears in the supraspinatus or infraspinatus. PT and anti inflammatory meds/injections can help with that pain, but there’s less that can be done about a labral tear if there is impingement.
 
Drumdog said:
I had both a partial tear to the rotator cuff and 2 slap tears to the labrum in my left shoulder. This was diagnosed after playing for 3 years in pain.
I tried therapy, meds, cortisone injections, ice treatments, heat treatments, massage, traction, slings, etc..etc... I kept playing by taking ibuprofen 1 hour before the round and then again at the turn. I finally saw a shoulder specialist and he fixed me during the winter. I made my first HIO that next summer.
I guess you could say that I shortened up my swing a little and really turned more through the ball while I was injured, but that's about it.
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By "fixed me", do you mean had surgery? Either way, the bottom line for me is if you will need surgery eventually, then do it now. Don't wait. I've had 2 shoulder surgeries. Once I got my shoulders fixed with surgery I haven't looked back. Now that being said, I'm not pro surgery or anything, but I am ok with it when needed. I put it off, put it off, did physical therapy, cortisone shots, the whole 9 yards and the pain and motion restriction never went away. I finally went and had surgery and my right shoulder has been without pain for years now. Best decision I made was to have the surgery and get it fixed once and for all. I think a shoulder/orthopedic specialist can help with the best decision of surgery or not for you, but I don't think avoiding surgery is always the best.
 
ToddJ027b said:
By "fixed me", do you mean had surgery? Either way, the bottom line for me is if you will need surgery eventually, then do it now. Don't wait. I've had 2 shoulder surgeries. Once I got my shoulders fixed with surgery I haven't looked back. Now that being said, I'm not pro surgery or anything, but I am ok with it when needed. I put it off, put it off, did physical therapy, cortisone shots, the whole 9 yards and the pain and motion restriction never went away. I finally went and had surgery and my right shoulder has been without pain for years now. Best decision I made was to have the surgery and get it fixed once and for all. I think a shoulder/orthopedic specialist can help with the best decision of surgery or not for you, but I don't think avoiding surgery is always the best.
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Yes, I had surgery. When I saw the specialist, he said nothing else would "fix" it. I was really happy with the results. So much so that 3 years later I went back to him for almost the exact same issue with my right shoulder. (rotator cuff and slap tears to the labrum) I have had no pain at all in either shoulder since the surgeries. I have recommended him to several friends and all of them have been very happy with their results. Unfortunately I shared his name with another friend last week and he found out that the doctor had retired a month previous.
 
ToddJ027b said:
I think a shoulder/orthopedic specialist can help with the best decision of surgery or not for you, but I don't think avoiding surgery is always the best.
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100% agree. Just based on my experience with orthopedic surgeons and the recent studies I’ve read, partial thickness tears haven’t shown a huge improvement when repaired surgically compared to conservative measures (corticosteroid injections, PT, etc). If it was full thickness with displacement, that would be different, but this does not apply based on that MRI read.

I’m less confident about the data with the labral tear. It’s never ideal to have a piece of cartilage floating around in a joint capsule and can see the benefit of a surgical debridement/clean out because it could reduce the risk of impingement.

When in doubt, trust your orthopedic surgeon or go to multiple surgeons and see what they say.
 
cm24 said:
100% agree. Just based on my experience with orthopedic surgeons and the recent studies I’ve read, partial thickness tears haven’t shown a huge improvement when repaired surgically compared to conservative measures (corticosteroid injections, PT, etc). If it was full thickness with displacement, that would be different, but this does not apply based on that MRI read.

I’m less confident about the data with the labral tear. It’s never ideal to have a piece of cartilage floating around in a joint capsule and can see the benefit of a surgical debridement/clean out because it could reduce the risk of impingement.

When in doubt, trust your orthopedic surgeon or go to multiple surgeons and see what they say.
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I, also, have a tear involving the posterior superior portion of the labrum with a small detached fragment. Does that qualify for a surgical debridement/clean out?
 
lbolt19 said:
I, also, have a tear involving the posterior superior portion of the labrum with a small detached fragment. Does that qualify for a surgical debridement/clean out?
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I’m not an orthopedic surgeon, so I can’t say definitely yes or no. It depends on your symptoms. Specifically, the fragment needs to be causing problems like impingement or limiting your range of motion with your shoulder. Shoulder surgery is usually avoided unless it is clearly necessary.
Discuss this with your surgeon. I don’t think the muscle tears need surgery personally (medical student interpretation), but I am not as certain about the best course of action is for this.
 
cm24 said:
I’m not an orthopedic surgeon, so I can’t say definitely yes or no. It depends on your symptoms. Specifically, the fragment needs to be causing problems like impingement or limiting your range of motion with your shoulder. Shoulder surgery is usually avoided unless it is clearly necessary.
Discuss this with your surgeon. I don’t think the muscle tears need surgery personally (medical student interpretation), but I am not as certain about the best course of action is for this.
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Thanks, I'm getting a second opinion next week. The first surgeon I saw neither wants to do surgery or give me a cortisone shot because he's concerned about weakening my tendons. I happen to be a big fan of cortisone shots because I had one in my back for spinal stenosis that got me back on the course to begin with. Consequently, I'm willing to take a chance on getting another shot this time in my shoulder with, hopefully, the same successful results.
 
FYI

Here is the video of my left shoulder surgery for partial tear of the rotator cuff, labral tears and a bone spur removal (subacromial decompression)
It was done in October and the next June I got my first HIO. Thanks Doc !

If you want to see the right shoulder surgery that was done 3 years later, go into the channel and you'll see it.
Both videos have the doctor narration if you want to hear what he is doing and describing.

 
Folks, good luck with those injuries. I fell last winter and landed on my right shoulder. I lucked out, no tears. Just the swelling expected from the fall. By day two, I couldn't raise my arm, The PT told me, I f I do the excercises I give you, you will have full mobility and be able to golf by April.

Its almost a year. I still have minor pain, which is subsiding, have golfed 70 rounds and have stuck with the routine she gave me. Have only missed three or four days. I can even do planks again. Previously the shoulder wouldn't handle the weight of a plank.
 
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