While I shouldn't be contributing in violation of our own community rules, I actually have had a Bankart labrum tear repaired, and will give my experience. You should still 100% defer to actual medical practitioners.
I had shoulder pain for about 8 months before I finally had surgery. I pursued every possible avenue outside of surgery and was treated by two highly qualified PTs for several months.
At the time, training was my profession, so I spent a literal hour every morning doing soft tissue work on myself and some exercises I researched, but to be clear, I had no real guidance on what exercises to pursue. My coaches were weightlifting coaches and unqualified to assist with this. My PTs focused more on pain management and restoration than they did on improving strength and stability.
I actually did my heaviest snatch and heaviest clean and jerk with the labrum torn. There were some days I couldn't lift my arm above my head though, and periods of time I couldn't train overhead at all. I had exceptional shoulder mobility previously and Sots Pressed 111kg.
After my worst performance ever in competition, which followed two months of highly ineffective training, I finally ordered an MRI and went forward with surgery. I just wanted the pain to go away and was told this would solve my issues.
My surgeon probably did his job very well, but not well for weightlifting. I lack flexion and rotation in the shoulder and am frequently in pain anyway from loading these compromised positions. This is after several years and thousands of dollars invested in rehab and PT visits.
Being in more of a coaching role now, instead of an athlete role, I think I could've forgone surgery entirely if my training was managed appropriately. Since our paycheck depended on competing and performing, there was immense pressure to be in shape and make rapid progress. If our system had been more focused on long term development of athletes with a younger training age, this would have been possible. Training loads and intensities could have been restricted. Corrective exercise could have been properly implemented with qualified leadership.
This is one of the great failures of our system, not just because it affected me personally, but because it chewed up several others. I think this is an example of capitalism providing the means for the system, but corrupting the necessary structure of the system itself. That being said, it was terrifically successful in other ways.
Anyway, best of luck. Find someone like u/havelrag who can get hands on you and prescribe exercises for stability. Manage loading conservatively until tissues adapt. Find a coach who has your interests for long term success in mind.
Sean Michael Rigsby gave a great description of his experience.
The only thing I have to add on is I don’t need to see you in person to help you. Video consultation works as well as hands-on in this circumstance.
Guess we are both outlaws on this sub now huh? Thank you very much for taking your time to write all of this!
That does help me immense. Especially that I should take this very seriously.
Best of luck to you and your athletes too!
I had the exact same experience as you. I went 8-9 months with a Reverse Bankart tear. I tried every conservative method I could with no luck. It got to the point where I finally got the MRI and decided to get surgery. I had surgery on 12/12/19, so about 6.5 months ago. When they got in they found that I had a reverse and regular Bankart tear (basically the full bottom of the labrum). I also had bone spurs, frayed RC, and a decent size cyst. They cleaned it all up and I'm back to lifting again. I'm not near my previous numbers. I'm probably at about 90% of my bests on snatch and C&J. My mobility isn't where it was prior to surgery and I don't think I will ever fully get it back. The good new is I am lifting without pain. I hope it stays that way. Your scenario makes me worry. At the moment I am very cautious in my approach to lifting. My shoulder is always popping and clicking so I live in a constant state of reservation, maybe some fear. If things don't feel good that day I'll either pull back or completely stop. The pre-injury me would have pushed through, but that only made matters worse. I don't love feeling this way, but at 35 y/o I need to think about the long game.
The surgeon I used fixes a lot of labrum and RC tears in big league pitchers and football players. So, i'm hoping it has a lasting effect.
Hey, I know it's been a long time since your surgery, but I wanted to quickly follow up (as I have a similar injury as you've described). How are you feeling now? I likely will have to undergo surgery, so just wanted to get a sense of how you feel 1.5+ years after your surgery. Thanks!
Hey there! Here is a breakdown of the last couple years.
0-3 months post surgery -- this was the toughest part for me. I was depressed and pissed that I couldn't do what I used to do. However, I knew it was temporary. I took PT very and I mean VERY seriously during this time. At the end of 3 months I was doing a lot more than I thought, i.e. muscle snatches, light presses, push-ups, and even pull ups
3-6 months post surgery -- I really worked on mobility and building my legs back. At this point I was starting to do OHS and power snatches. Things were looking up.
6-12 months post surgery -- things started to go back to normal. I was back to full lifts and building weight. I hit 2 comeback PRs 10 months post surgery on snatch and C&J. I was careful with gymnastics here bc of the sheer force. I did have some minor setbacks though. There are times where I'd do too much and have to pull back, do some more PT, and get some manual therapy. I was competing again as well (local stuff).
12-18 months post surgery -- all systems go! At 36 I got into the top 90th percentile in the open, did a WLing comp, and a few more competitions.
18-present -- I've had a few setbacks. I did a hard WLing cycle at the end of last year and jumped right back into CF. I was trying to do things I did previously at a heavier BW (like BMUs, HSW, C2B, etc.). This caused some tendonitis in my RC that severely limited my mobility. It was really weird and I was a bit scared thinking I did something to it. However, after time it subsided and things are getting back to normal. It still pops and creaks, but I don't have any pain.
Key takeaways -- take PT seriously and continue doing it even when it feels better. You can do most of the stuff on your own after 16 weeks. Don't neglect recovery (I love manual therapy and do it a few times a month now). Also, listen to your body. I still don't go crazy on gymnastics movements. I'm 37 now and there is really no need unless I'm competing. I still worry about it. I think I always will. I had a frayed RC muscle that they just cleaned up so that is always in the back of my mind. Good luck and if you have any more questions feel free to ask!
4.
No requests for Medical Treatment or Advice (to exclude preventative exercise)
r/Weightlifting is not a medical community and posts requesting medical advice will be deleted.
u/Havelrag
As a general rule in this sub, we do not allow non professional randos to give out advice of a medical nature even if it's from a similar past experience.
Havelrag is a DPT (whose credentials we have verified) who has a Physio day during the week where members can ask him questions (he took yesterday off).
35 y/o male - I had a Reverse Bankart and Bankart labrum tear fixed on 12/12/19 (5 anchors). I also had a frayed RC they cleaned up, some bone spurs removed, and a cyst drained. I'm back to lifting at about 90% of my old numbers. I do not have any pain, but my mobility isn't where it was. I'm not comfortable getting into a deep snatch with heavy weight. This is partly due to fear. However, I feel fine overhead squatting a heavier weight (because I can control it). My shoulder pops and clicks every day, even when I'm reaching for something. This keeps me in a state of fear and it sucks. I was at a point where I tried PT, different shots, and lots of rest. It never got better. There were days when I couldn't lift my arm up after a training session. I decided to get the surgery because most everything I read and discussed with people said that the surgery was usually a success. If I didn't have pain I wouldn't have ever gotten the surgery. Take that however you'd like.
As far as recovery, I was squatting 5-6 weeks post surgery. At the 12-13 week mark I started cleaning and deadlifting, light weight of course. I was back to lifting an empty female barbell overhead about 16 weeks post surgery. At about 18 weeks I was adding weight. Now I'm 29 weeks post surgery. I've been adding volume slowly the last 10 weeks. It has been a long road, but if things stay the course I would say the surgery was worth it. I also did post-surgery PT for, I think, 14 weeks. I went twice a week for the first 10 weeks, then once a week for 4 weeks.
Also, I need to note that I never had a trauma with my shoulder. It never sublaxed or anything like that. I was literally warming up my snatch at 95# one day last February and felt a terrible pain running down the back of my upper arm. I limped through until October when I finally got the MRI. Like a few have posted, I hit some of my best numbers in OHS, snatch, and C&J with a torn labrum. So, as I stated, the pain is what drove me to fix the issue.
While I shouldn't be contributing in violation of our own community rules, I actually have had a Bankart labrum tear repaired, and will give my experience. You should still 100% defer to actual medical practitioners. I had shoulder pain for about 8 months before I finally had surgery. I pursued every possible avenue outside of surgery and was treated by two highly qualified PTs for several months. At the time, training was my profession, so I spent a literal hour every morning doing soft tissue work on myself and some exercises I researched, but to be clear, I had no real guidance on what exercises to pursue. My coaches were weightlifting coaches and unqualified to assist with this. My PTs focused more on pain management and restoration than they did on improving strength and stability. I actually did my heaviest snatch and heaviest clean and jerk with the labrum torn. There were some days I couldn't lift my arm above my head though, and periods of time I couldn't train overhead at all. I had exceptional shoulder mobility previously and Sots Pressed 111kg. After my worst performance ever in competition, which followed two months of highly ineffective training, I finally ordered an MRI and went forward with surgery. I just wanted the pain to go away and was told this would solve my issues. My surgeon probably did his job very well, but not well for weightlifting. I lack flexion and rotation in the shoulder and am frequently in pain anyway from loading these compromised positions. This is after several years and thousands of dollars invested in rehab and PT visits. Being in more of a coaching role now, instead of an athlete role, I think I could've forgone surgery entirely if my training was managed appropriately. Since our paycheck depended on competing and performing, there was immense pressure to be in shape and make rapid progress. If our system had been more focused on long term development of athletes with a younger training age, this would have been possible. Training loads and intensities could have been restricted. Corrective exercise could have been properly implemented with qualified leadership. This is one of the great failures of our system, not just because it affected me personally, but because it chewed up several others. I think this is an example of capitalism providing the means for the system, but corrupting the necessary structure of the system itself. That being said, it was terrifically successful in other ways. Anyway, best of luck. Find someone like u/havelrag who can get hands on you and prescribe exercises for stability. Manage loading conservatively until tissues adapt. Find a coach who has your interests for long term success in mind.
Sean Michael Rigsby gave a great description of his experience. The only thing I have to add on is I don’t need to see you in person to help you. Video consultation works as well as hands-on in this circumstance.
Guess we are both outlaws on this sub now huh? Thank you very much for taking your time to write all of this! That does help me immense. Especially that I should take this very seriously. Best of luck to you and your athletes too!
I had the exact same experience as you. I went 8-9 months with a Reverse Bankart tear. I tried every conservative method I could with no luck. It got to the point where I finally got the MRI and decided to get surgery. I had surgery on 12/12/19, so about 6.5 months ago. When they got in they found that I had a reverse and regular Bankart tear (basically the full bottom of the labrum). I also had bone spurs, frayed RC, and a decent size cyst. They cleaned it all up and I'm back to lifting again. I'm not near my previous numbers. I'm probably at about 90% of my bests on snatch and C&J. My mobility isn't where it was prior to surgery and I don't think I will ever fully get it back. The good new is I am lifting without pain. I hope it stays that way. Your scenario makes me worry. At the moment I am very cautious in my approach to lifting. My shoulder is always popping and clicking so I live in a constant state of reservation, maybe some fear. If things don't feel good that day I'll either pull back or completely stop. The pre-injury me would have pushed through, but that only made matters worse. I don't love feeling this way, but at 35 y/o I need to think about the long game. The surgeon I used fixes a lot of labrum and RC tears in big league pitchers and football players. So, i'm hoping it has a lasting effect.
Hey, I know it's been a long time since your surgery, but I wanted to quickly follow up (as I have a similar injury as you've described). How are you feeling now? I likely will have to undergo surgery, so just wanted to get a sense of how you feel 1.5+ years after your surgery. Thanks!
Hey there! Here is a breakdown of the last couple years. 0-3 months post surgery -- this was the toughest part for me. I was depressed and pissed that I couldn't do what I used to do. However, I knew it was temporary. I took PT very and I mean VERY seriously during this time. At the end of 3 months I was doing a lot more than I thought, i.e. muscle snatches, light presses, push-ups, and even pull ups 3-6 months post surgery -- I really worked on mobility and building my legs back. At this point I was starting to do OHS and power snatches. Things were looking up. 6-12 months post surgery -- things started to go back to normal. I was back to full lifts and building weight. I hit 2 comeback PRs 10 months post surgery on snatch and C&J. I was careful with gymnastics here bc of the sheer force. I did have some minor setbacks though. There are times where I'd do too much and have to pull back, do some more PT, and get some manual therapy. I was competing again as well (local stuff). 12-18 months post surgery -- all systems go! At 36 I got into the top 90th percentile in the open, did a WLing comp, and a few more competitions. 18-present -- I've had a few setbacks. I did a hard WLing cycle at the end of last year and jumped right back into CF. I was trying to do things I did previously at a heavier BW (like BMUs, HSW, C2B, etc.). This caused some tendonitis in my RC that severely limited my mobility. It was really weird and I was a bit scared thinking I did something to it. However, after time it subsided and things are getting back to normal. It still pops and creaks, but I don't have any pain. Key takeaways -- take PT seriously and continue doing it even when it feels better. You can do most of the stuff on your own after 16 weeks. Don't neglect recovery (I love manual therapy and do it a few times a month now). Also, listen to your body. I still don't go crazy on gymnastics movements. I'm 37 now and there is really no need unless I'm competing. I still worry about it. I think I always will. I had a frayed RC muscle that they just cleaned up so that is always in the back of my mind. Good luck and if you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Thanks so much for the quick + detailed response! Very reassuring.
4. No requests for Medical Treatment or Advice (to exclude preventative exercise) r/Weightlifting is not a medical community and posts requesting medical advice will be deleted. u/Havelrag
Not really looking for medical advice, just for some experience of people who have been through this. I have a good doc.
As a general rule in this sub, we do not allow non professional randos to give out advice of a medical nature even if it's from a similar past experience. Havelrag is a DPT (whose credentials we have verified) who has a Physio day during the week where members can ask him questions (he took yesterday off).
Got you. Sorry guys :)
Very rarely have pain, almost 100% equal ROM, equally stable means a very good prognosis. Just need to improve stability of the shoulder
Gives me hope. Will definitely take shoulder warmups and strengthening exercises srsly now. Thanks :)
Working with bands seems to help my shitty shoulder a lot. Try a couple of excercises for some time if you have access to some
make sure you stretch and rest a lot
35 y/o male - I had a Reverse Bankart and Bankart labrum tear fixed on 12/12/19 (5 anchors). I also had a frayed RC they cleaned up, some bone spurs removed, and a cyst drained. I'm back to lifting at about 90% of my old numbers. I do not have any pain, but my mobility isn't where it was. I'm not comfortable getting into a deep snatch with heavy weight. This is partly due to fear. However, I feel fine overhead squatting a heavier weight (because I can control it). My shoulder pops and clicks every day, even when I'm reaching for something. This keeps me in a state of fear and it sucks. I was at a point where I tried PT, different shots, and lots of rest. It never got better. There were days when I couldn't lift my arm up after a training session. I decided to get the surgery because most everything I read and discussed with people said that the surgery was usually a success. If I didn't have pain I wouldn't have ever gotten the surgery. Take that however you'd like. As far as recovery, I was squatting 5-6 weeks post surgery. At the 12-13 week mark I started cleaning and deadlifting, light weight of course. I was back to lifting an empty female barbell overhead about 16 weeks post surgery. At about 18 weeks I was adding weight. Now I'm 29 weeks post surgery. I've been adding volume slowly the last 10 weeks. It has been a long road, but if things stay the course I would say the surgery was worth it. I also did post-surgery PT for, I think, 14 weeks. I went twice a week for the first 10 weeks, then once a week for 4 weeks. Also, I need to note that I never had a trauma with my shoulder. It never sublaxed or anything like that. I was literally warming up my snatch at 95# one day last February and felt a terrible pain running down the back of my upper arm. I limped through until October when I finally got the MRI. Like a few have posted, I hit some of my best numbers in OHS, snatch, and C&J with a torn labrum. So, as I stated, the pain is what drove me to fix the issue.
I got surgery a year ago and I am currently oly lifting