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Rotator cuff tear

Posted , 4 users are following.

stephen54528
stephen54528

I am a 60 year old male who has sustained a rotator cuff tear in one tendon from a fall.  Can anyone medical or a patient who has had such an injury clarify a few points. 

1.  Is it possible that i had a healthy tendon and the fall tore the tendon?

2.  Can you have a tear or damaged tendon without pain?

3. Could I have made an unknown existing small tear bigger with the fall?

 

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • sparkery
    sparkery stephen54528

    Posted

    Hi stephen54528,

    1. I am a 67 year old ex-paramedic and I can assure you that a fall can damage an intact tendon. Any action that "shocks" a muscle/bone can it including, for example, punching a punching bag.

    2. I doubt you could have a torn tendon without pain. Shoulder tendon damage is quite painful due to the complicated and crowded nature of the joint.

    3. miniscule tears of tendons (that repair themselves) probably happen all the time so I guess it is possible to exacerbate an existing unknown fault.

    I am awaiting supraspinatus tendon surgery myself and dreading it.

    • oldguy128
      oldguy128 sparkery

      Posted

      So I assume stephen54528 you can't do a belly press riht now?

    • richella_40978
      richella_40978 sparkery

      Posted

      I believe one can have a tendon that can be torn or damaged to some degree, "through wear and tear" (pardon the pun) and due to an incident, accident, fall etc., discover they have injured themselves more extensively. Which is exactly what happened to me. I had shoulder surgery and the supraspinatis tendon needed one anchor to repair the tear. However, an acromioplasty and spurs were also done. Who knew?! I am still getting therapy. I do still have pain with some range of motion and exercise. Am I getting better? Yes. I may never recover my ROM 100%, but am I glad I had this done? Absolutely! Best of luck to you! (Research post op surgery tips online, well worth the prep!) I am 5 months post op. Patience and constant exercising and therapy are key.

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