Frozen shoulder discovered during labral repair (40M, with surgery pics)
(Note: Pics are from arthroscopic surgery, so are a bit graphic)
Last November my shoulder started to feel pretty increasingly sore, and then painful (especially when reaching overhead). I had just recently built a new fence in my backyard so wondered if maybe I had injured it somehow.
In December I went to an orthopedic surgeon and after an exam he suspected I had potentially a rotator cuff tear, so scheduled in MRI. The MRI ended up showing a labral tear toward the back of the shoulder as well as a SLAP tear up top (which would explain the heightened pain in the front of my shoulder). The labral tear we theorized was from a dislocation over a decade ago.
Insurance was a pain to work with, but eventually I got approval for surgery, which took place in late February. By this point the pain was pretty significant, especially when trying to sleep. I wasn't noticing any stiffness, but I certainly wasn't moving my arm much because of the pain.
During surgery, my surgeon discovered he couldn't position my arm how he wanted to for the procedure. Once inside with the scope, he saw evidence of frozen shoulder (and interestingly, my SLAP tendon was completely fine). He repaired the labral tear (three anchors), and then did some "extensive debridement" of the frozen shoulder tissue. He couldn't do a full release as that could have put the labral repair at risk.
Recovery from the surgery was a bit rough, but I started PT fairly soon after, and have better range of motion now than I did at the time of surgery. Though it is still quite limited range of motion—I can lift my arm up to about 95 degrees in front of me. I don't have any more pain, other than if I am pushing to stretch too far. Almost feels like the surgery sort of transitioned me from "freezing" to "frozen".
The surgeon wants to give me a steroid injection in a few weeks (4.5 months post-surgery).
A couple of questions for this group:
- For those of you who had a capsular release or surgery, did you notice the same effect where it seemed to skip you past the painful phase and into stiffness? Or did the pain come back?
- I'm planning a multi-week canoeing trip next summer. For those of you who've had a similar experience (anyone?), what did your overall timeline look like?
Thanks