mri results in. didn't show anything obvious. Consultant suggested doing keyhole exploratory and likely opening up the gap that the tendon slides through. 3-6 months recovery time so probably leave it until Easter and try and get some tournaments in this year.
Good to hear no particular tendon pathology. Meanwhile you can increase the sub acromial space yourself doing the exercises that I mentioned in a previous post.
Make sure the object is heavy enough that it won't budge. It doesn't matter if it doesn't click the first few times, eventually it will... just make sure your upper arm and shoulder muscles are relaxed when doing this. And even if it doesn't click, stretching this sub acromial joint is beneficial for relieving any supraspinatus tendon irritation.
work desk - I think it's screwed down; it certainly aint budging! I will do it a few more times. I did concentrate to ensure only forearm muscles used to maintain grip on desk.
Had the surgery April 22. I've been playing 'properly' for 6 weeks or so. Initially with a bit of pain or stiffness afterwards. Now I'm just trying to build up fitness and consistency. Today was the first session where I felt I played pretty well compared to pre-op. And first time I beat my main playing partner over a session in a very long time. So my experience has been pretty bang on what the specialist said: ~6 months recovery time.
yeah, chopped the end off two bones as I understand. Apparently I have, sorry had, a very long clavical. sub acromial joint decompression, I think were words bandied around at some point.
So I've had to revisit this thread, sadly. Chin-ups actually seem to use pectorals so I've actually stopped doing them. The two exercises I'm currently doing are the 'W', which is slightly uncomfortable on the shoulder, and one we used in swimming. Tether a bungee in front and then pull it past your hips - first go after doing this and I got maybe 80 degrees movement on the hold-other-shoulder test. Up from no movement at all. Needless to say I'll be using my most flexible racquet for my match this week. And then more rest!
Yeah, flexier less head heavy rackets are less demanding on the shoulder. Interestingly, one thing I've been doing over the past year is to intentionally practice more backhand clears baseline to baseline in order to strengthen my posterior shoulder, scapular, back, and core muscles. And this seems to have helped not only in achieving a powerful backhand to surprise my opponents, but also relieving me of any impingement symptoms. Of course, I'm still doing my usual stretches etc.
I'm pretty much pain free now and expecting I'll be able to put 100% into my MD match next week. I still can't move my arm AT ALL when doing the shoulder test so I think my shoulder must have been immobilised for a while. When doing the door stretch, do you drop your shoulder or hold it back? Forward probably stretching the troublesome imbalanced muscle but backward is where it should be from what I've seen on a video about shoulder exercises. It was like top 5 worst free weight exercises, and at one point I was doing them all. Great.
Just wanted to share my story here, guys. I've had shoulder pain (mild, nothing severe) for about 3-4 months and went to the doctor. He diagnosed me with impingement, despite being negative on all the shoulder tests - no pain whatsoever. He prescribed me physiotherapy and NSAIDs; also said I should rest. I did not rest - yes, I'm stubborn - and while I had to wait for a physiotherapy appointment I did continue playing. The reason why I did not rest was because before that appointment, I did rest for a month without noticing any improvement. So I thought to myself, "might as well play, if it's not getting better, at all...". And it did get better. Without physiotherapy, which means to me that it probably wasn't impingement. Because - correct me if I'm wrong - it's completely atypical for impingement to get better without doing physio/strengthening your muscles and/or resting. Lesson: Always get a second opinion; doctors are no gods and can/will make mistakes from time to time. Just listen to your body and do what feels right.
To be honest, all the doctors I consulted were incompetent or showed lack of interest - yes, they didn't even listen properly! I've lost the little faith I had in doctors in the last few months, sorry to say.
no doctors would show any intersted except chinese doctors! they are very good at treating sports injury and pain management!
@visor Hi Visor, I just stumbled onto this thread; I'm sorry to hear about your injury and many thanks for sharing the valuable info! Question: Are you currently able to do Chin Ups or Pull Ups? Do you think these exercises involve said joints / tendons /rotator cuff? My warmup routine involves doing these and I believe that they aid in promoting bloodflow to the arm though I don't know if this is an appropriate pre session warmup routine or not. I've also recently developed some pain in my deltoid region but am trying to figure out whether its just a muscle tear or a joint / ligament. Adding further to my bafflement is the fact that I now have mild tendonitis on my non-racquet arm so I am trying to suss out the source of strain.
By the way, you probably are aware of this but no harm in caution: Backhand strokes do place a fair amount of strain on your elbow even under perfect conditions. The simple fact that I busted my elbow joints up with a joke of a 22 lbs flexy racquet had me unable to play for 4 months. Although logic dictates that flexible racquets and low tensions might decrease the risk of an injury, I would suggest otherwise from my own personal experience. I vividly remember digging a spoon into a bowl hurt real bad, basic pushups had me collapsing on the affected elbow. Thankfully, I've bounced back from said injury since, but the intense rehab and recovery process was not fun. I'd say I've forfeited about a year of my playing life at my peak due to that injury.
