Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Rotatur cuff damage

I developed this yesterday. I cannot remember ever being in so much pain before.

What's the prognosis?

Oh my! My identical twin is now suffering through this. The weird thing is, it is something that appears to have suddenly occurred. They say it goes the way it comes-suddenly and without explanation. I hope you get better soon.

Get well soon, Philip!! Have you seen a doctor yet? ❤️

Hope you get over it soon, Philip! Lisa is right, do see a doctor - or a physiotherapist perhaps.

I’ve done both rotator cuffs over the years. Doesn’t stop me playing piano just can’t lift weights or use throwing action.

I had 2 doses of that; right shoulder both times. And both times it was down to the gym machine I was using, and I hardly got any warning. A tiny twinge, then next day . . .ooooh!
It does last a long time; surgery is possible if needed but only upto a certain age since after that time ther's not enough tissue to effect a decent repair. I was too old years ago!
I was sent to physio, and one of the exercises was that which caused it in the first place. It got better on its own and I did chin ups to keep things sweet after that. otherwise it aches. That worked, and helps the arthritis I have, also in that shoulder.
I'm ok now, but straight arm (side) lifts are down to 5kg on that arm. I rather feel those are not helping.
You'll be fine, but you need to know what caused it.

Left you a PM. Suffice for public knowledge that I suffered a fairly serious rotator cuff injury to my right side near the time I celebrated my 60th birthday and injured the left side about 2 years later.

Wish I knew then what I know now about Tai Chi stretching and strengthening exercises. I might have delayed or even completely forestalled injury.

You absolutely MUST see a doctor experienced with sports medicine injuries.
Meanwhile STOP what you are doing, wear a brace or something to support your arm.
If it's in the first day after the injury "ice is nice", after that it's heat.

Caveat - I am not a physician so this is not medical advice, just what I was taught to do.

I am typing this left handed. I have no idea how or why it started. I am no wimp but this id as painful as anything I have ever known.

I went to hospital yesterday. They have it in hand.

Did PT for mine, helped regain a bit of range of motion, but still acts up all the time. Never had it imaged, as I'm not willing to go under the knife for it, so no point. Slows down my work in the gym, I have a hard time benching heavy unless it's in a really healthy state, right now it's in a 'F U' state so things are limited, usually takes a month or two to simmer down.

PT told me to keep using it, holding it close to your body and not moving your shoulder is the exact wrong thing to do (according to him).

It is extremely painful, and very common.

The reason why they want you to move the shoulder is so you don’t get a frozen shoulder. There’s a fibrous capsule around your shoulder joint that hold the synovial fluid that lubricates the ball and socket joint. The ball of the head of the humerus is supposed to both roll and glide in the socket so when you lift your arm out to the side a term in biomechanics called abduction the ball is supposed to roll upwards but slide downwards at the same time. When you get a frozen shoulder the joint capsule adheres to itself or pinches at the bottom and the head of the numerous can no longer fully roll or glide so you get a “frozen shoulder” or adhesive capsulitis as it’s known in medicine. There’s movement in the glenohumeral joint called arthrokinematics that describes the roll and glide of the humerus at the glenohumeral joint and osteokinematics that describes the motion of the humerus on the scapula.

Your doctor should have shown you codmans exercises or pendulum exercises to avoid a frozen shoulder. In worse case scenarios they will forcefully manipulate the shoulder joint to break the adhesions from a frozen shoulder while you are sedated. Not fun when you wake up. They might even release the capsule surgically.

As for rotator cuff injuries don’t mess with them. They come in all levels of severity that only an MRI or exploratory arthroscopic surgery can determine. There are partial tears and full thickness tears. Full thickness tears usually require surgery unless you want to live the rest of your life not able to lift your arm above your shoulder height. Partials can sometimes be rehabbed. It’s a very tight space under the point of your shoulder called the acromion. Many things go wrong there- bursitis, tendinitis, impingement, rotator cuff tears. The area is also less vascularized as we get older so it’s more prone to injury also adapting a rounded shoulder posture as many pianists do puts extra pressure at the subacromial space so every pianist professional or not should always pay attention to their posture to avoid shoulder and neck injuries. BTW if you can’t lift your arm out to your side at all that could be serious and imply a full tear of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff are 4 small but important muscles that synergistically work with your larger shoulder muscles to allow pure “rotation” at the shoulder joint. You lose these and you will be shrugging at the shoulder rather than lifting your arm up. It’s an important muscle group to take care of.

Yeah if you have severe shoulder pain accompanied by what’s called referred pain down the outside of your upper arm make sure you see your doctor sooner than later. This is not medical advise just common sense.

Ow.

Glad you’re getting treatment! Sending you lots of healing vibes! ❤️

I had also right rotator cuff problems back in September 2020. The cause is not fully clear. It was extremely painful and could not sleep well for more than a week and always on an armchair which could be set close to horizontal but with an angle which adapted well to my aching arm. I could barely move my arm more than 5cm from the body. I had never before felt more vulnerable. I work for myself and need both arms. It was an extreme situation.

It was a very hard time, and I thought I should stop playing the piano perhaps forever. And for me nowadays the piano is one of the most important things which helps me to go on with all the life struggles. So depression was hinted on the horizon.

Still under extreme pain, I went (of course, driven by my daughter, I could not drive) to a physiotherapist and he imaged the shoulder and showed me what happened. He then used some electrodes to apply currents at different frequencies and intensities. First days were worse than after treatment but, after a week, I was lots better. I went again next week, then driving by myself, for another session. And then, two weeks later, I had my so far last electrotherapy session. Since then, it has been OK. But I know it can happen again.

All in all, my point is that there is hope on getting through this.

I wish you heal soon!

Don’t worry, even with a torn rotator cuff it shouldn’t affect your playing in the long run as your arms are always lower than shoulder height when we play. You will be fine. Make sure the P T does some manual work on your shoulder as well not just e-stim.

Still plenty of pain, but much less sharp than it was.

Managed a day with no pain relief, so I am getting there!

Great!. You are on the fast path to recovery.

I still recall the day I could do that and it was really a celebration one

You’ll get there, just take it easy on yourself and be patient. ❤️😊

I am doing very little. It's a slow process!

Philippe, You might find this useful:
https://www.facebook.com/156965174329021/posts/6223059264386218/
Ian