Rotator Cuff full tear and retraction of supraspinatus tendon

@mrsflutterby
Thank you for your post. My MRI on my left shoulder is scheduled next week, but of course, I'm speculating on what type of injury I actually have while trying to cope with not being able to sleep comfortably, pillows all around me, a 45 degree angle to the bed and a weighted stuffed leopard holding my shoulder in place. I wake up at least twice every night in severe pain. The incident occurred about 4 plus weeks ago while I was sitting and playing tug of war with my 90 pound dog and her rope. She jumped to the side and hyperextended my left arm and shoulder against the door frame of the bathroom. The severe pain at the Deltoid was excruciating. I thought at first it was just a pulled muscle and tried all the self help at home stuff, but it didn't get better. I can't reach out or down for things or turn my arm laterally, or reach over my head. I also have pain near the distal end of my clavicle. I'm sending pictures, but am most interested in knowing if other people who have had my symptoms ended up with a diagnosis of Rotator Cuff Tear or something else. Any answers, suggestions or advice appreciated.
Thank you.

@ladyaceintx1
Good luck on your MRI. I found Extra Strength Tylenol Nighttime the best for getting some sleep through the night. Surprisingly the Tylenol really helped, I tripped on an extension cord and stretched my arms out to break my fall but my shoulder landed squarely on our solid wooden television console. It was also something I felt would go away but alas, it didn't. I went to my PT (who is awesome) and he just shook his head and said, "You need a MRI. I think the Rotator is torn." He was right. But it went a bit further than just the rotator. Two other ligaments were torn but the supraspinatus was completely town and detached. He left the bicep detached and didn't repair it. The third tendon was deep inside and had to have clamps placed to hold the tendon. So you may have a Rotator tear but don't write the scripts until you have the MRI and then work with the doctor to determine your best course of treatment. You never know!
Good Luck!

@mrsflutterby
Thank you for the advice and for sharing your story which sounds horribly painful. I'm sorry you injured yourself so badly. I've read through other accounts of stories from people who say they have a rotator cuff injury but haven't read any accounts that actually describe symptoms, (other than lack of sleep) or actions that cannot be performed due to the injury. I'm so tired but almost dred going to bed because of the constant pain and waking up at least twice every night in severe pain.

I had rotator cuff tear surgery. Recovery is long and YOU MUST GO TO PT! I went 64 times and now have better range of motion than my other shoulder. It will get worse if you don't deal with it. And, I am not gonna lie, it is painful but you will get through it like I did. Good luck!

@ladyaceintx1 - it has been about a week since you posted. How are you doing? Has the pain got any better/worse? You also mentioned you were scheduled for an MRI to hopefully find out exactly what is going on with your shoulder.

Hi all,
Had a follow-up MRI after some pain in my shoulder that a shot of cortisone really helped. (If you read my posts above I had 3 tendons repaired in Nov 22, am still in PT but without pain and have total ROM) I'm so sad and shocked to say that my supraspinatus tendon has come completely apart since being repaired. I've been so careful and dedicated to PT but the doc said I did nothing wrong, that sometimes the tendons just shred. So now I have a total rotator and long head bicep tears that will stay that way unless I have pain or can't sleep. The doc is having me focus on the deltoid muscle group and to strengthen it as much as possible for best ROM. This really knocked the wind out of my sails. I was so sure I was doing everything correctly but sometimes, life just happens. The doc mentioned that if and when the pain comes back or I can't sleep with it, I may need to have a reverse shoulder procedure. Does anyone know what that involves? Have had it? Good/bad recovery? Thanks in advance.

@JustinMcClanahan
Hello,
Thanks for checking on me. I did have the MRI w/o contrast, but it wasn't able to detect any abnormalities of an acute injury which completely confused me because of the severe pain. It only detected mild age related AC Joint Arthrosis and a small amount of fluid in the subdeltoid bursa. So, my Ortho said I have "adhesive capsulitis" aka frozen shoulder, as a result of whatever caused the acute injury, and ordered a
fluoroguided Xray steroid injection to the Glenohumeral joint, which I had done last Friday. They said by the weekend that I would be feeling significantly better. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and today, 5 days out, the pain which was at the deltoid has now shifted slightly to the bicep. It hurts severely with an offending position, doing nothing at all and trying to sleep. It wakes me up multiple times at night. The Ortho wants to see me in 2 weeks but I feel like she is just wasting my time as shouldn't I be working on a plan to heal? PT or a surgery or do I just need to give the steroid more time to be effective? I messaged the Ortho thru the patient portal but she hasn't provided any answers to my questions, educated me in any way or prescribed anything other than 12 tablets of Tramadol.
I'm feeling really frustrated and am getting worn down by the constant pain. OTCs are not effective and only Tramadol barely touches the pain. Any suggestions or advice appreciated.
I hope you are feeling ok and once again, thank you for listening.

Hi @mrsflutterby, Dr. Loren Fishman has a chapter on Rotator Cuff in his book Healing Yoga. He found a method that does not heal the supraspinatus, but recruits the subscapularis to do its work. You can read up on it at http://www.sciataca.org. Go to Other Diagnosis and click on Rotator Cuff Syndrome. You can also find more information by googling Dr. Fishman, Rotator Cuff, but Chapter Nine of Healing Yoga gives a full and very detailed explanation of his discovery and work on this, through his own injury. It may be worth checking out to see if it would be helpful in your case.

Ruptured, retracted, and inoperable right-side supraspinatus tendon. Orthopedists put me off for three months without any evaluation despite some pain. Then one tried to reconnect with a surgical clip. That failed and he tried again with another clip. Again failure attributed to failure of blood supply to the tendon and conclusion that the rupture was inoperable short of a shoulder replacement. Can't touch my left shoulder blade with fingers of my right hand and cannot lift my right arm above horizontal direct to the side although I can do so passively using a pole. My advice to anyone with a shoulder injury is to get immediate evaluation by an orthopedist even if you must travel elsewhere. Once the blood supply is compromised there is little that can be done. PT is almost useless until you have an uncompromised supraspinatus tendon.

I am sorry to hear of the difficulty you are having, and that you were put off by the surgeon at the time of injury.

I had an acute supraspinatus and biceps tendon injury in September after several partial tears and months of PT. I am so glad I was "that patient" who demanded an MRI at the time of injury, and had surgery 4 weeks later. At 5 months I am still healing and not lifting much with the arm, but getting good range of motion and very little pain.

After a number of health concerns over the past 20 years, I have learned to be my own advocate.

At this point, have you considered consulting an ortho who specializes in shoulders? My surgeon does mainly shoulders, and has worked on many of our local pro and college athletes. I was surprised at how conservative his approach is to rehab, but his failure rate is very low.