labrum tear question

[MMAfighter516]

My surgeon told me that I have a rare shoulder problem. He said that i had a labral tear and that my shoulder dislocated backwards. I believe the term he used was "subluxing posteriorly." He said that it happens in a rare 5% of shoulder tears.
I had surgery in April and have been going consistantly to pt twice a week since the sling came off in May. After about 2 and a half months of pt i regained full motion and started strengthening. In August I began to grapple again, nothing intense just light rolling around. My question is: How easily or hard is it to re-tear the labrum. I'm always paranoid about it and I just want to get into the cage already and NOT sit on the sidelines any longer than i have to.

I want to know how hard it is to re-tear the labrum and also the estimated recovery time. It would help put my mind at ease. thank you

[Tuckamore]

Hello MMA,

Welcome to the Pain Management Forum. I am glad that you found us but sorry to hear about your injury. You are very young.

I m sure that your surgeon told you that the labrum is a type of cartilage found in the shoulder joint.  It deepens the socket so that the ball stays in place within the socket. Along with other supportive structures it helps assure you will not dislocate your shoulder as it goes all around the socket. I assume the surgery repaired the tear.

Your concern that you have re-injured or "tore" this cartilage again is understandable. It's my understanding that a surgical repair requires about 12 weeks before it is solid. You've met that time requirement. How strong it will be after recovery depends on the location and severity of the tear...and of course how well the repair was done. I wish I had a better answer for you. I am not a surgeon and can only guess. I encourage you to make an appointment with a good sports physician. He/she will have the best information. An MRI could tell much.

I hope you will let us know how you are doing. I will look forward to your updates.

Best of Luck,
~Tuck

[MMAfighter516]

well i've only had surgery a few months ago. And my surgeon had my in the sling for 6 weeks before i started therapy. And now a few months later I'm having slight pain and i hear liitle cracks in my shoulder. Kind of like when u stretch your arms and you hear the crack or pop or whatever you want to say to describe the sound. I'm just paranoid of me maybe re-tearing it. I just want to know if its hard to re-tear and basically any signs that would point to a re-tear..

[jdt163]

Goodd day to you.       I had a fall last yead and severed the labrum from the bicep tendon as well as severed the rotar cuff in the right arm .   I had surgury to repair the cuff and the bicep last Nov.  Pt started and after maybe 4-6 sessions I to had mild pain in the bicep and cuff area.      The cuff and bicep re-tore and in Aug  I had the revision.  So far so good but this time they waited until now to start PT. I still wear the sling and we are going to go real slow.  So I guess my piont here is that yes the tendons can re-tear and they ussually can be re-attached but if the tendons come aprt again they say their is nothing they can do to repair them again.   I would ask your doc for another MRI and get to the bottom of this as the longer you wait the harder it is to pull it all together again.   The tendons retract and become frayed making it difficult to pull back and anchor.        Ask your doc for sure because I waited to long and ended right back were I started.      Good luck.   Oh and in between I had the other should re-paired in April so it's been a busy year.