Skydiving with a SLAP tear

Hey all. I’m pretty sure I’m developing a SLAP tear in my shoulder joint (seeing my doc for a referral on monday). I’m curious how those of you who have this injury deal with it in your skydiving life. How helpful is PT in slowing progression and managing pain?

thanks!

Can't really comment on a tear, but I've had 'rotator cuff issues' for a while. No tearing, but some minor impingement. 
The doc who I saw took my arm, yanked & twisted it in various ways while asking 'how does this feel?" She decided there was no tearing, and gave me PT. 
I've been doing it daily (mostly) for about seven years. 

Huge improvements (almost no pain), no progression since.

I have had a SLAP tear and chose to have it repaired. Cortisone shots helped some but the PT just hurt. The Doc who did mine did it via arthroscopy. Only had three very small incisions. The healing process was painful, but they did basically explode my entire shoulder to get to the glenoid labrum and fix the tear. If I needed it, I definitely would do it again. 

After suffering through pain the last 5 months I finally went to the doc thinking I might have a tear. I was prescribed (at home) PT and Etodolac for the period of one month. If no progress, go in for MRI.

The first month is coming to an end and the PT has worked amazingly. I did ask for a cortisone shot while I was in and that provided immediate relief however I feel the PT is working for a long term solution. Time will tell.

On 2/25/2019 at 12:21 PM, cjwilt said:

After suffering through pain the last 5 months I finally went to the doc thinking I might have a tear. I was prescribed (at home) PT and Etodolac for the period of one month. If no progress, go in for MRI.

 

The first month is coming to an end and the PT has worked amazingly. I did ask for a cortisone shot while I was in and that provided immediate relief however I feel the PT is working for a long term solution. Time will tell.

This is great to hear (read, lol). I've ignored intermittent pain for a few years, but after some tunnel time over the last month, it's really been aggravated (yesterday is the first day in a week and a half where I didn't have more or less constant pain. Today I'm pain free, which is welcome!), and I'm concerned about:

1. range of motion, especially since it's my right shoulder, and, you know, it's great to be able to reach back for my hackey ;), and

2. if these these things don't heal themselves, does that mean I'm marching toward a minimally effective surgery, no matter what?

It sounds like maybe with PT, I can gain back my full ROM, and avoid surgery. And if I do end up needing surgery (which is probably a long way off), it might actually work. So y'all have given me hope! Seeing an ortho on Tuesday to get started planning a plan

The tunnel is what caused my issue. I fly a couple times a week and being hard headed wouldn't consider giving it up. Part of my diagnosis was bicep tendonitis which is brought on by repetitively moving your hands over your head. (Uh tunnel)

Good luck and keep us posted. Hopefully you don't need surgery.

On 3/4/2019 at 2:10 PM, cjwilt said:

Good luck and keep us posted. Hopefully you don't need surgery.

Thanks all!

I saw the Dr. yesterday. The shoulder itself is super stable, with no signs of arthritis or anything else particularly nasty, and really only decreased ROM and a very minor weakness to one direction (BOC direction, of course, lol). They're confident that some PT will improve all of that, and now that I'm not worried a dislocation is imminent, I suspect that even if tunnel and jumping make me a little sore afterwards, the pain won't bother me nearly as much now. All in all, about as good an outcome as I could have hoped for! So I'll have 12 PT sessions, then go have a follow up in June. Woot!

@betzilla any update on how yours progressed? I was diagnosed with a SLAP tear and the doctor just recommended PT. I   haven't been to PT yet, but am about to start. I'm not optimistic though as I've still been working out in the gym doing shoulder exercises and it hasn't gotten much better (it's been about 4-5 months). I haven't skydived since, but have a big skydive trip in February. It feels pretty stable but I'm worried about a dislocation.

1 hour ago, glennryan13 said:

@betzilla any update on how yours progressed? I was diagnosed with a SLAP tear and the doctor just recommended PT. I   haven't been to PT yet, but am about to start. I'm not optimistic though as I've still been working out in the gym doing shoulder exercises and it hasn't gotten much better (it's been about 4-5 months). I haven't skydived since, but have a big skydive trip in February. It feels pretty stable but I'm worried about a dislocation.

 

 

I didn't jump much this season, but what jumping I did wasn't problematic. That said, my shoulder WAS sore after a long weekend with 15 jumps or so, all belly jumps. For the same reason I didn't jump much - I am just really busy and kind of crappy at managing my time unless it's an emergency - I haven't found time for PT. I'm inspired to make it happen before too long, though, because a couple personal training sessions this fall revealed some very minor popping and clicking that wasn't there before, and mild discomfort (not quite pain - just a sort of awareness of one spot in my shoulder). So as one might expect, it definitely hasn't gotten better on its own, but it's not getting worse very quickly in my case. Seems likely that it will be manageable with just PT, if I can find the time to do it!

Good luck with your tear. I hope PT can manage it for you (they may be able to give you some very focused strengthening exercises), and that your February trip is fun and safe! Keep us posted!