So you finally bit the bullet and went to the ortho for the shoulder pain.
She sent you for an MRI and lo and behold, you have a torn rotator cuff tendon. Guess that means no baseball, football, tennis, or anything else fun, right?
NO!
Not right!
Just because it’s torn doesn’t mean the shoulder is done. In fact, it may not mean anything at all.
Studies of athletes and non-athletes alike with NO shoulder pain show a high level of structural damage to the rotator cuff yet they have full function. In one study of 20 elite overhead athletes with NO shoulder pain, 40% of the athletes had partial or full thickness rotator cuff tears and 25% of the athletes had Bennett’s lesions.1 At the 5 year follow-up, NONE of the athletes had any subjective symptoms or had required evaluation or treatment for shoulder-related problems during the study period.
What does that mean?
You can be an elite athlete, have a full thickness rotator cuff tear, and have no problems with shoulder pain or decreased function. So don’t let your rotator cuff tear get in the way of doing what you love. Let one of the docs at Active Life Project evaluate the shoulder and get you back in the game – your flag football team needs you.
Reference:
- Connor PM, Banks DM, Tyson AB, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of the asymptomatic shoulder of overhead athletes: a 5 year follow-up study. Am J Sports Med 2003;31(5):724-7.