I would greatly appreciate some help from the Docs and Derek Miles! I had biceps tenodesis surgery back in late February and did 28 weeks of PT. My ortho didn’t like my range of ext/int rotation, so he recommended Some more aggressive stretching. As a result, I injured the shoulder in June and my ortho release me in July thinking it would heal in time. The pain actually became worse over time and my shoulder strength and functioned regressed some.
So after the runaround, I started the Shoulder rehab template in late October to address my shoulder pain and some elbow tendinopathy. I have just completed 8 weeks (did a longer phase 1) and the template has dramatically helped my elbow tendinopathy (thank you Jordan Feigenbaum for the advice) as well as my shoulder strength. Although, I have continued to experience pain in the shoulder and weakness in lateral raising and ext rotation. Thus, I had an MRI today and IMPRESSION: 1. Small low-grade partial thickness tear (0.8cm) involving the infraspinatus tendon. 2. Trace subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis.
***Thus, how should I proceed? I surely don’t want another surgery! I think the bursitis seems to be were the most pain is coming from. Do I just repeat phase 1 of the rehab template or do I continue on to phase 2? I assume I would be focusing more on cross-body cable work and prone Y/Ts for the infraspinatus??? I really appreciate your advice!!! Thank you!
Hey Paul,
Sorry to hear about this. I’m sure it’s frustrating to go through it! In any case, I think with the recent history of surgery, prolonged PT, and recent changes, this is a more complicated situation that would be best handled by a consultation with our rehab team. If pressed, I think doing phase I is a reasonable place to start for activity right now, but I’d be looking for further assessment to make sure you’re on the right track and not just turning your wheels for a few months.
-Jordan
Thank you Dr. Feigenbaum for the reply! Yes, it has been pretty frustrating to say the least, but I am so glad I purchased the Shoulder Rehab template. As I mentioned, I have completed phase 1 last week on 12/22 (and actually stretched it to 8 weeks). My shoulder and elbow have improved significantly since I started!
***So to clarify, you are suggesting that I continue to extend phase 1 of the template? I played with Day 1 of Phase 2 last night, but my shoulder did not like the return to benching—even with the light 15kg bar. I have been doing neutral-grip DB chest press for the last 8 weeks. Benching with the bar seemed to really irritate the bursitis in the shoulder. BTW, I have been able to also shoulder press with DBs with a neutral-grip as well. I feel that the bursitis is the thing that has been holding me back.
I am very appreciative that both you and Dr. Miles have been very helpful during this whole injury process in answering questions and offering advice in the forum and FB group. I would really like to do a consultation, but even purchasing the rehab template was a stretch. Again, thank you for your help!