canuck wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:04 am
What were your shoulder issues Adam?
Got me supraspinatus tears in both shoulders myself - 70% in left, 50% right.
Decided to live with it rather than surgery but not sure it was the right choice.
Well, Canuck, you asked - here is the damage data! MRI immediately following my accidental fall with the 4 items that were torn and reattached in bold print. Copied from my saved files. I am not concerned about piracy of any of this!
First off, my left shoulder injury last May. Ended up having the surgery for THIS shoulder late June. Little did I know I was due for the same event for my dominant side shoulder in December!!!
FINDINGS:
Rotator cuff:
Full-thickness, full width tear of the supraspinatus
tendon is present with differential retraction to the acromioclavicular
joint and glenoid rim. There is a
full-thickness, full width or near
full width tear of the infraspinatus tendon with differential retraction
to the acromioclavicular joint and glenoid rim. Teres minor tendon is
intact. There is a low-grade
partial insertional tear of the
subscapularis tendon with mild
medial subluxation of the long head of
biceps tendon. There is mildly reduced muscle bulk without
evidence of fatty infiltration.
Labrum: The labrum has a diffusely small appearance with blunted
morphology in keeping with degeneration. A degenerative superior labral
tear cannot be excluded.
Biceps Tendon: The intra-articular segment is somewhat attenuated and a
partial tear cannot be excluded. The extra articular segment is intact.
Bone/cartilage: No acute fracture is present. There is mild cartilage
thinning along the superior aspect of the humeral head.
Ligaments/capsule: Inferior glenohumeral ligament and axillary pouch
intact.
AC joint: Moderate acromioclavicular arthropathy. There is a prominent
inferior osteophyte and a lateral downward sloping acromion with
subacromial spur which narrows the supraspinatus outlet.
Misc: Moderate glenohumeral effusion communicating with moderate volume
subacromial/subdeltoid and subcoracoid bursal fluid accumulation.
Nice, huh? And this came about during a once-in-a-lifetime event, running canine agility trials with my awesome buddy Wolfgang. I was pre-running an advanced course with him, my first practice of the evening, and it was MY mistake that caused me to take a big bad smack into concrete floor when I stumbled running BACKWARDS avoiding a barrier!
OK, the second (yes, 2nd!) traumatic shoulder injury was even DUMBER.
October 31. Halloween. Just got full recovery on that injury, right? 3-1/2 months after my surgery, what happens? Almost too embarrassed to say. I moved too quickly and tripped down 3 steps, tried catching myself with one outstretched arm (here it comes, dominant right arm - get ready for it) and snapped it back the wrong direction falling down. Can you say, ouch?
Yes, thank goodness I had already experienced traumatic shoulder injury in my recent past so I knew what that snapping sensation combined with extreme pain was exactly all about. There was an immediate urge to make an inappropriate outburst, which I promptly made as required.
MRI data for this arm: Less stuff messed up, however - ironically - much more difficult recovery. My doctor explained that no two rotator cuff post-op experiences are the same, regardless of tearing involved.
CONCLUSION:
1. There is a
1 cm wide U-shaped tear of the middle fibers of the
supraspinatus tendon at the tendon insertion.
2. There is mild to moderate atrophy supraspinatus muscle.
3. There is subacromial spurring. There is moderate increased fluid within
the subacromial - subdeltoid bursa. There is mild to moderate
acromioclavicular arthropathy and hypertrophy.
Only after opening things up, so to speak (mostly laproscopic surgery except for the biceps tenodesis, which provided a nice 2" scar) would my super doctor find out the true extent of damage. In my case, I had 3 full-width/complete tears in my first injury, the supraspinatus; infraspinatus, subscapularis tendons with my biceps long head tendon nearly through, so he cut that clean and reattached it which is what you call "biceps tenodesis" and is truly a joy! 4 reattached parts in that shoulder.
My right arm "only" had the supraspinatus half-torn across, regardless of what the MRI interpreter said, so it was repaired as if it were a full tear. At the same time, there was some sort of cleanout procedure done in there. Want pictures? of the MRI screen shots? I have those. Well, no I won't share them because they look like prenatal sonograms!!!
Hope everyone's shoulders are feeling as well as possible, and don't fall if you can avoid it! Hope you guys had fun reading this tome, I was sort of chuckling as I wrote it all out. Maybe it made me feel better about things - I'm still not 100% and as some of you guys clearly know, it takes a good year for these to settle down, even with routine PT.
Oh, did I mention that I had a pre-existing rod in my humerus in my right arm to make things more interesting for everyone? Since I had a nearly foot-long titanium rod in there from ANOTHER accidental fall 20 years ago (much more dramatic injury) my MRI procedure had to be slow as molasses, on reduced power, because of all that metal. I was in total agony trying to stay still in that freaking MRI tube for an hour man! Was worse than the accident itself!!!!
Take care of yourselves, y'all!!!!
Adam
I am a regular joe, consisting of 78% coffee, 12% hot air, 9% organizational abilities, and 1% luck.
