The question arises: do you have to fix a torn labrum?
I’m a surgeon. I make my living doing surgeries. And what I’m about to tell you may cause me to lose potential surgeries. But I think it’s important to tell you anyway.
When I was 18 and playing college football, I injured my shoulder. I tore my labrum: a SLAP tear. My shoulder has never been the same. Since then it has bothered me while doing certain exercises – incline bench presses and dips to name two. However, I have never had surgery on that shoulder. I played four years of college football and made All Ivy League with that shoulder.
Do I wish I had gotten surgery on it? Sometimes. It does prevent me from doing certain things and flares up from time to time. But I haven’t. I live with it.
My point is not to tell you how you should treat your labrum tear in this little piece. That’s an individual decision based on factors unique to you and is best made after further exploring the options in a clinical setting.
My point is to say that some people do live with these injuries. Only you know how bad your torn labrum is hurting you and if it’s preventing you from doing the things you love like picking up your baby, throwing a baseball or sleeping at night.
What I can tell you is that these injuries usually don’t go away completely. I always know that I had the shoulder injury. Heck I still might get it fixed at some point (if I could get someone to take over my practice for a while that is). And there are safe, effective, precise, minimally invasive techniques to fix labrum tears.
The decision of whether to have surgery for a labrum tear however is a subjective one. It depends on what you can live with and each labrum tear may affect someone differently.
If you have had a torn labrum or think you may have had a torn labrum and would like to restore more pain free shoulder motion and strength in your shoulder, please contact us for more information or for a personal consultation.
