[John Cooke]

I'm currently suffering from a painful internal rotator cuff strain in my left shoulder, inflicted about 8 weeks ago and getting worse as the weeks roll on. It hurts when holding my arm out in front of me and turning it anti-clockwise, similarly stretching my arm accross my chest causes pain also.

Has anyone any experience of such an injury? If so what was the treatment?

[fatdoc]

there are some physios on here that i'm sure will chip in.

there are various theraband routinues that you can use to strengthen up musuclar imbalances etccc

you need a diagnosis first though; either by a physio or a shoulder expert surgeon.not a GP or bog standard orthopod

you will need an MRI to get the Dx.

do you have private health insurance?

if not you'll be waiting a frustrating period of time.

if yr in sheff i know the best shoulder surgeon in the region, he's not at the sheffield hospitals, but under patient choice you have the right to be referred to him by your GP to Chesterfield. his wait is some months, no different to sheffield.

sooooooo-

Go see yr GP, get referral......this may take a few visits to the GP mind......
Get a diagnosis, personally i would pay to get one from either a sports massage therapist or a physio... the definative damage can only be seen on MRI mind. (e.g; most common climbing injury in the shoulder is a combo of supraspinatus bursitis, caused by a small tear in the cuff that on rotation cuases impingement- it's a bit complex!)

[monkey boy]

I hurt my left shoulder about 5 weeks. It wasnt the rotatar cuff so not as badly damaged as yours will be. I had about 2 weeks fully off and then went to see a physio, she gave me exercises to develop the deep muscles under the ones all us climbers use. She told me to start climbing gently again and now i am pretty fine. it aches a little after a hard session.

I am sure you have been to a physio but if not then definately do go (i know there expensive) as they can give you good exercisies and put you on the road to recovery.

There is also an excellent osteopath in Hathersage called Kim (very good climber) and general nice guy. He may be able to help you, if he still working there? Someone on the website will be able to give you his number as i have lost it.

Hope this helps a bit

[John Cooke]

Not been to the physio yet as i thought i'd wait a few weeks to see if it got any better. Tried a few theraband routines too for about 4 weeks and where the problem didn't appear to get any worse at that time it didn't get any better either. Since i stopped doing them 2 weeks ago it's gotten significantly worse, the other issue was that i wasn't sure if what i was doing was specific enough to help cure the problem.

Think i do need to cough up and see a physio/doctor. FatDoc, what you've described there does sound pretty similar to what i'm experiencing. The past couple of weeks i've been experiencing sharp shooting pains down my left arm stemming from the shoulder and i'm waking up in the night with pins and needles down the outside of my arm    ...probably nerve impingement

[cofe]

There is also an excellent osteopath in Hathersage called Kim (very good climber) and general nice guy. He may be able to help you, if he still working there? Someone on the website will be able to give you his number as i have lost it.

i experienced something mild last winter. those bits and bobs that make up the rotator cuff are so complicated, and if it is verty painful i'd advise a professional having a look - kim being the best i've come across. incidentally he's an osteopath i think.
his work number is: 07980 755937

[jimbo]

I know a very good shoulder surgeon who works out of Thornbury and on the NHS. If you would like more details PM me.

[John Cooke]

Cheers for the shoulder specialist recommendations, unfortunately i live in Manchester so it makes seeing anyone outside of Manc pretty difficult, unless it's at the weekend. Jeez despite living here for 5 years i'm not even registered at a doctors, need to sort it out.

Anyone any experience with Sport-Med in Stockport?

[andy popp]

Ewan McCallum has just had a to have surgery for just such an injury. Early days in terms of telling what extent of recovery he has. His was done in Liverpool. The surgeon might even be a climber (but that might be another one someone else used for a different injury), will try and find out.

[John Cooke]

Yeah spoke to Ewan just before he had his op can't remember the details though like which part of his shoulder it was and how long he'd had it for before they decided to operate. How is he? Is he back climbing yet?

[fatdoc]

I know a very good shoulder surgeon who works out of Thornbury and on the NHS. If you would like more details PM me.

if he doesnt have an NHS practice in Chesterfield it's not the surgeon  I was on about.

basically, you need someone specialist in the field, physio, osteo or Dr to give you a Dx. if it's 4 weeks old and still giving you aggro the time has  come to get it seen, sorry mate

[erm, sam]

I used to drive to Sheffield from MCR to see a physio. She was really good and I just couldn't be bothered chugging around MCR trying to find another good one..