Shoulder MRI - Possible SLAP Tear

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TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
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Probably going to need surgery for my right shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN3sMU30pKo

1) Started having shoulder stiffness and muscle spasms
2) Shoulder felt increasingly unstable. No matter how I let it rest, it always felt 'off'
3) If I relax my shoulder, my arm will slide out of socket about 1/2 inch. Doesn't hurt.
4) Doesn't hurt to push it back in socket.
5) If I try and throw a ball, my arm feels like it will fall off and the only thing keeping attached is skin and muscle..
6) constant popping, grinding, and cracking in the joint
7) Both my shoulders are hyper-mobile and my range of motion would make swimmers jealous.

When I first talked to my doctor, he requested an MRI, but the insurance company I have refused and insisted I see a physical therapist first. Physical therapist immediately thought something was wrong and asked for an MRI (former PT for an MLB team), but physical therapy was my only choice at the time, so we agreed to try strength training, etc. He had noticed that certain part of my range of motion were incredibly weak, especially compared to my left arm/shoulder which isn't my dominant arm. Some exercises really made this evident. I could do 15-20 pounds with my left arm for 20 reps, where as 3 pounds with my right arm would cause total fatigue after 5 reps.

The therapist thought that it was possible I had simply started favoring some muscles and wasn't using everything, and those neglected muscles got really weak over time.

He was in same boat as doctor though, very frustrated they wouldn't allow an MRI. After nearly a year of therapy, things got worse, and I started have very acute, sharp pain in the shoulder joint/socket, especially if I tried lifting my arm above my head.

At one point, I was doing an exercise, and my shoulder 'popped' really loud, and he came over and started feeling on the joint as I did the exercise. He felt grinding, etc. and immediately asked me to stop. He then went and got me a business card for an orthopedic surgeon and said 'i can't fix this'.

I went to see an orthopedic shoulder surgeon, and initial xrays came back negative for anything major, but he said he didn't think it would show anything. After showing him how easily I can dislocate my shoulder (without pain), he said it will definitely require surgery because it should hurt like hell to dislocate it, and it should hurt even worse to put it back in place.. but mine just slides in and out. He suspected that I have a labral tear, which is common in pitchers and is most evident when trying to throw something. This made sense to me because the idea of having to throw a baseball really hard makes me cringe because I feel like it might ruin my arm.

At this point, both my doctor, the PT, and the surgeon all requested that I get an MRI, and the insurance company obliged. I just got my MRI results back (not the study, just the images). I'm waiting for my follow up with the surgeon, but after watching a few youtube videos on how to interpret a shoulder MRI, their initial diagnosis seems to be evident one of the slides.

I exported the slideshow to an AVI and posted it to youtube, which is what the link above is. Apparently all the white stuff is fluid and its bad news. My chiropractor (who is also a physical therapist) saw my vid on youtube and said 'Yes there is fluid there. I don't read shoulders well but it appears to be a tear of the glenoid labrum.'

I'm posting this because I'm curious if anybody else has dealt with this and/or is seeing the same thing in the video.
 
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SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
142
106
Yep, if one side is fatiguing a lot faster then something is going on in the rotator cuff. I have a frayed labrum and my right side will fatigue twice as fast as my left. However, I think it just healed/strengthened on its own because now it fatigues at the same rate. What kind of exercises have you been doing? Heavy bench? Overhead?
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,430
8,713
136
Sounds to me like your insurer sucks. Good luck.

FYI, my story concerning my shoulder with SLAP labrum tear and now uncertain condition:

I developed serious shoulder issues in 1995 or so, which caused me to suddenly give up my practice of swimming 2 miles/day, 7 days/week. The pain suddenly became unbearable. A year later I tried swimming again and after one or two sessions, I had to stop and have never swam since. I was going in the weight room for 1.5 hours daily before those swims, and still hit the weight room every other day.

2002 I finally saw a shoulder surgeon on advice from my doctor. Xrays and MRI did not reveal my problem (I have been told here that MRI machines are a lot better now, I don't know if this is true...) but the surgeon (guy with a top notch reputation, Dr. Robert Eppley, Berkeley) told me that an arthroscopy might reveal a problem and he would clean things up in the joint in any case, my call. I opted for the surgery and he found a labrum tear (Type 4 SLAP lesion) and repaired it on the spot, in 2002. During the procedure (he gave me a video tape later taken during the procedure made with an arthroscopic camera and including audio) he said that the rotator cuff was perfect. The doctor told me in followup appointment that he thought I'd be 100% after a year. Not sure I ever got there, but it was much improved.

Last year or two I have symptoms again and they've gotten a lot worse the last few months. They remind me of what I was experiencing in 2002. In fact I can't tell the difference, so I suspect I have a labrum tear again. My current insurance is Kaiser, so I can't see my old doctor with that. I had Xrays a month or so ago, and the radiology report said my pain was consistent with arthritic degeneration, to be expected (I'm 72). My doctor said he'd authorize an MRI if the problem was persistent and I requested that a couple days ago and had an MRI last night, am awaiting the results. I don't know if they will provide a link where I can actually see the results of the scan, they may only provide me with the radiologist's report and my doctor's comments.

I called my old doctor around 6 weeks ago and they said he'd see me as a former patient but it would be out of pocket (i.e. appointment, Xrays or MRI). I can change insurers until Dec. 7 (when Medicare open enrollment ends) and get coverage for my former doctor. I'll be contemplating that if Kaiser doesn't seem to be up to dealing with my condition appropriately.
 
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tjtech94

Member
Dec 2, 2015
25
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www.iphonescreenrepairmn.com
Sorry this happened OP, I had developed some rotator cuff issues a while back as well, but luckily not in my throwing shoulder. Still don't know how it developed, but some mobility work and general strengthening of my thoracic area seemed to help things. Best of luck on your recovery...
 
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