Injured Shoulder, Advice?

[cicion]

My shoulder’s been jacked up since before Thanksgiving. I went to urgent care a month or two ago but it was kind of getting better when I finally went. They took some X-Rays and didn’t see anything unusual, recommended I see a doctor if it gets worse. I’m going into my doctor this morning but I’m pretty concerned about how it’s going to affect me over the next few months, whether I just need to rest it and do some PT or if surgery may be involved.

I know grooming is hard on our bodies, but mainly come across groomers with bad hands and backs.

Does anyone have any experience with shoulder injuries and grooming? TIA

UPDATE/EDIT: Can’t confirm without an MRI but doctor thinks I have a basic Labrum tear, not SLAP, or rotator cuff issue. Does anyone have any experience with a Labrum tear and success in getting it to heal w/o surgery?

 

[jkohlmeier]

@cicion I really suffered from pain in my right shoulder from grooming. The pain was mostly under the shoulder blade if that makes sense. Definitely an overuse injury-I had been slammed for weeks. Rest wasn't helping, ibuprofen temporarily helped. Targeted therapeutic massage provided amazing relief after the massage but hurt a little during-as expected. But the pain slowly crept back because I was still slammed. What actually resolved the issue; cured me if that's an appropriate word to use, sounds weird but hear me out....martial arts. I started going twice a week after work and the range of motion required of me plus the strength I gained in my shoulders/arms/wrists/etc I believe resolved it. And provided lasting relief. Maybe that won't work for everyone, maybe stretching and a more varied workout routine will do the trick but that worked for me.

 

[cicion]

@jkohlmeier I have been wondering if some sort of exercise might help by building up the muscle. I just didn’t want to make things worse.

That’s good to hear you were able to get it to feel better with martial arts!

 

[kriscritical]

@jkohlmeier This is good to hear! I was having shoulder/chest pains and once the cardiologist confirmed it wasn't heart related, I started exercising again and I do feel some relief after a night of kickboxing-esque without. I've been doing yoga and feeling next to no relief but I think the movement from the harder workout is better.

 

[realityy]

@cicion I have a tear in my right shoulder. I found that strengthening my neck and upper back helped a lot. My PT actually pointed out that I was overcompensating with my neck which was leading to further pain, so working on upper body strength really helped- weirdly playing tug with my Belgian Malinois as he grew up was how I strengthened it haha

 

[bejoyful1980]

@cicion I have an inoperable ac dislocation in my right shoulder. I eventually stopped hurting and I've gotten a lot of milage out of it but it's starting to be a dick toward the end of the day. I've started training myself to do things with my left. I started with brushing and combing then clippers, I still use shears with my right but I'll probably start to do that too. I know a couple groomers that scissor with their right hand even though they are left handed so I'm going to try. That's my situation though which like I said it's inoperable (stem cells maybe) so I'm just doing this.

 

[shefa]

@cicion I tore mine in two places almost 3 years ago. I had a couple of weeks with no work.
It still hurts, but it's manageable and I have learned new ways to manipulate dogs that keeps my arm/shoulder down as much as possible.

On bad days I can't raise my arm more then chest level. Thank heavens for Tiger Balm patches, they do wonders!