multiple tears of rotator cuff

How common is it to tear multiple rotator cuff tendons? I fell in February during the nasty winter. Not only did I fracture my wrist but I have three partial thickness tears. I am currently in physical therapy doing my best to avoid surgery. I haven't seen much mentioned concerning multiple tears. I was hoping someone here might know.
Also, has anyone figured out a comfortable position for sleep?
Thanks,
Daesin

Hello and welcome Daesin to the CP forum at HW. Rotator cuff tears are extremely common and easily repaired with arthroscopic surgery and that's the main reason you do not see too many posts. Although they can be very painful and surgery may work to repair them most folks are left with some residual arthritic issues.

Have you had any kind of repair? Has your Dr mentioned having any? PT is great as a tool to aide in recovery of many issues but personally I have not seen a great deal of success in getting relief with PT alone for rotator cuff tears.

Many of us have had rotator tears and surgery to repair them but post procedure we just don't have major issues. You cam use the forum search at the top of this page and enter your search criteria and read every post ever written here at HW and that may give you some better understanding.

Glad to have you joined us and looking forward to following your progress.

Hello & welcome to the forum. Sorry to read what you are dealing with. You have been given some great info by the others here. Shoulder injuries can be quite painful.

I too would encourage you to seek out a specialist that handles shoulder injuries only. There is a huge difference when you get with a dr that handles specific problems only.

Take care.

Daesin,
I will speak in reference to my experience only. Everyone has their own opinion, and that is fine and good.

I have seen a total of six orthopedic surgeons, five of whom are shoulder specialists and two nationally recognized experts and teachers. If there is one certainty, it is that there is no certainty. Mris and arthrograms can give a good picture but they are not absolute. Plus there are many kinds of tears, full thickness, partial thickness, interstitial, complete or incomplete, long standing or new, retracted or not, l shaped, U shaped, bucket handled, small medium or large. The only way to tell for sure is to go in and look. Then, the reparability depends on the health of the corresponding muscle. Other factors are critical as well. Your age, your general health, even gender.

Most people over 40 have tears to some degree. It comes with aging, overuse, repetitive use, or injury. Small tears can be quite painful while large tears can be fine. What matters is the amount of pain and function loss.

If a tear is complete from the bone, it will not heal back without surgery. Is surgery necessary? Only if you can't stand the pain and disability. Therapy can help strengthen the surrounding muscle to compensate. If the tear is due to spurs, they gotta go! They will keep rubbing away at the tendon tissue.

If you elect surgery, it WILL be a lengthy recovery. It can take at least 6-12 months to return to "normal." Or the new normal which is a bit different. I do know postL workers who came through fine and returned to their job.

Most ortho docs do not like prescribing narcotics, which is why they will send one to pain management. Most PM docs deal with long term chronic pain patients. There are other pain meds that are not narcotic that might help, though. Cortisone shots help inflammation, but might not be a good idea for a torn cuff that needs repair.

Good luck!!

Thank you for the info. This fall has really shaken my world. Between trying to live my life (everything has to be modified) and heal (so slow), I am also enduring a battle with the insurance and juggling Drs. Its amazing how much of your life can change from just one moment. I struggle to focus on any bit of happiness I can find, and that's getting harder. I guess this group can understand.

Thank you for the encouragement and explanation of PM Drs. I can hope that they will be able to help. At least explain what is happening. I only found out a few weeks ago that my wrist was broken and now PT has expressed concerned of a Brachial plexus injury. The Drs initially told me it was a bad sprain in my wrist and tendonitis in my shoulder. Its tough when your body tells you one thing and 'experts" tell you something else. The shoulder guy tried to get me on narcotics and sleeping pills. Going from "its just tendonitis go back to work" to "you need surgery here is a pile of pills to take"....well its a shock to the system.

I am frightened of medications. I don't respond to meds well (oral prednisone gave me an infection, the steroid injection didn't take and baclofen swelled me up in a matter of hours). when you add in that addiction runs in my family,,, well it just scares me. So I guess the PM Dr is a good call. I just don't know how much more my body/mind can take. This just never ends.

Its bittersweet to know that I am not alone.
I wish everyone a good nights sleep and thanks again.
Daesin

Hello again Daesin. I remember you. Sorry to hear things are not good. I hope you don't need surgery. It's not easy to go through. I had arthroscopic and then open decompression with acromioplasty in both shoulders. The left had a much better result and that was the side with the largest tear and a tear of the biceps tendon to boot! Easy does it!

As for sleep, I was told to roll towels and tape them with duct tape. Different sized towels make different sized rolls. I would place one behind the upper arm and lay the forearm over my belly. I think I used about 3 pillows behind my upper back and head. This put me in almost the same position as using the sling during the daytime. I usually would go to sleep on my side and wake on my back, so finding a way to simulate side sleep was more complicated. When the shoulder will tolerate it, start nearly on your belly, with a body pillow keeping you from being "on" the shoulder, so that you're practically on the front of the shoulder and not having it between you and the mattress on the side. I knew I was getting better by how long I could stay in this position!

I used Benadryl to help me get 'drowsy' with the added benefit that it helped reduce the swelling! Ibuprophen worked best for my shoulders. Naproxen sodioum works best for my hips. Try each for a couple of days (unless contra indicated) and see which works best for you. Even though they are both ball and socket joints, one works better upper than lower for me! Ice, ice and more ice if you are having swelling. My surgeon ordered a 'cryo cuff' post op. It's a sleeve that you keep on that covers the whole joint area. You fill it with ice water and then drain it. It's form fitting, so you get better all over coverage of the joint. Ask your doc about it if you need the surgical repair.

I had additional injuries to my right shoulder since. A torn labrum and 2/3 degree separation. I chose NOT to have surgery, did physical therapy and have regained very good function, total use of the arm with a lifting restriction that I work around. Since you do lifting in your job, I assume, your shoulder was probably pretty strong to begin with and even without surgery may recover sufficiently to get back to work without too much trouble. Take your time, don't rush!

Working with a pain management doctor is a really good thing! They are the specialists of their field! One of the biggest problems I had was the pain waking me up in the middle of the night. There are extended release meds now that were not available for me back then. R.E.M. sleep is not only the time we dream, it is also the time we HEAL! Getting good sleep is SO important! My present PM doc totally understands that I have a history of alcoholism and is working with me to find as much alternatives as possible to reduce my use of prescription pain meds. Be honest with your PM doc. If they are good, they "get it".