Heal shoulder naturally?

katypie73

Hi - New here. I have a high-grade rotator cuff tear. Had surgery last year on a different tear, and I really don’t want to have another surgery. Over the last decade, I have spent a lot of my time and energy learning about health and wellness. I had a recent epiphany, though, that despite all that research, I had not studied the importance of protein. I think low protein might by my problem. I typically consume an average of maybe 30g of protein a day, which is crazy low. I never really thought about it - I was all about the fruits and veggies (not that I’m a vegetarian). So now I’m trying desperately to up my protein in an attempt to heal and to prevent more tears (that just “happen”; they are not a result of injury). Anyone else have experience with healing a shoulder naturally? I know it is a difficult, long process, so I’m not blind to that. Also, any tips for upping protein would be appreciated. I have a hard time eating enough during the day to get as much protein as some recommendations suggest. (I’m 5’5” and 120-125lbs) Thanks for any shared experiences or suggestions!

AnnPT77

I'm your height, maintaining at a slightly higher weight than you are now (134 this morning), and I've been vegetarian for over 50 years.

Yes, 30g daily is way too little protein. It's even less than the USDA's recommendation that's pretty much only adequate to avoid serious undernutrition, not optimize. For myself, I shoot for around 100g protein minimum daily.

One help in getting more protein may be this thread, which links to a spreadsheet that lists many foods in order of most protein for fewest calories:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

Find foods you enjoy on that list, and work more of them into your routine eating habits.

If you're logging your food, review your diary, and notice foods that are bringing relatively many calories but not delivering help for your nutrition goals, nor important for your satiety or general happiness. Reduce frequency or portions of those to free up calories to devote to protein, or other important nutrition goals.

Of course plan to get one big protein food per meal, ideally 25-30g per serving. Try to make that a very bioavailable source, plus one that's complete/balanced in essential amino acids (EAAs). Meat, fish, and dairy are ideal in those ways. But some soy foods and a few other plant foods are also very good.

In addition to the "one big protein", also look for side dishes, snacks, beverages, and even condiments that have at least a little protein. Those small amounts through the day will add up. There are breads with more protein (read/compare labels), pastas/grains with more protein, veggies with protein, and even a few fruits with protein. Those sources will generally be less EAA complete and less bioavailable, but having a wide variety tends to mitigate the EAA incompleteness somewhat (though not the bioavailability). Work these into your routine habits, too.

Based on my own experience, I'd bet that working on those strategies over a period of time, focusing on remodeling routine habits, will help you get to reasonable protein from daily foods without micromanaging every day.

If you need something to tide you over in the short run while figuring that out, that's a reasonable role for highly-processed protein supplements (protein powder, shakes, bars, etc.). Even there, look for versions that are EAA complete and bioavailable. If you tolerate dairy, whey is a good quality option, and reasonably neutral tasting.

To help with healing your shoulder:

- Get good overall nutrition, including protein but also healthy fats and plenty of micronutrients/fiber . . . ideally as much of that as possible from whole foods rather than supplements.
- If you're trying to lose weight, eat maintenance calories during the acute stage of healing, or at least don't try to lose weight fast (unless heavy enough that weight itself is an acute health threat - in those circumstances, talk with your doctor and maybe get a referral to a registered dietitian).
- Long run, try to get a physical therapy referral as soon as your doctor thinks it's OK. Those people are great at helping us figure out where we may have weakness, tightness, imbalances, and that sort of thing that are triggering recurrent problems, and giving us ways to improve those problems.

I hope when you say you're wanting to heal naturally, you're not staying away from medical advice. I know that many orthopedists can be surgery-happy, but that doesn't mean you need to agree to surgery. However, realistically, some things can improve without surgery, but others can't, and in some cases delaying surgery burns some bridges so that long term possibilities worsen. It's important to know the difference. If your doctor is on board with your healing naturally, that's great.

Please understand, full honesty: I'm not a medical professional. I'm an active senior woman very concerned about nutrition for my own sake, with some experience managing a variety of physical compromises along the way. From me, you're not getting professional advice, just experiential information. The things I suggested are from a combination of things I did right in some cases (and was glad later that I had), or things I did wrong (and learned my lesson the hard way). That's all, and I don't want you thinking I'm offering professional expertise.

Best wishes for good healing!

nossmf

Welcome, Katy!

There are some great threads created by our members, bookmarked to the top of each category that may be helpful. Just look for "Most Helpful Posts - whatever the category name is”.

For example:

• Most Helpful Posts - Getting Started (Must Reads)
• Most Helpful Posts - Health and Weight Loss (Must Reads)
  
• Most Helpful Posts - Success Stories (Must Reads)
  

You can also ask your questions in any category that interests you, read posts or questions made by other members, join a group, or add some friends.

Here are some frequently asked questions that may also be helpful: FAQ's

Now, to address your questions in your post, Ann has already covered the dietary aspect, so let me second her suggestion for physical therapy. I'm an avid weightlifter, and a few years back pushed my shoulders beyond the breaking point and partially tore ligaments in both shoulders at the same time. Based on x-rays, my doctor wanted me to try physical therapy with surgery as a fall-back option. I can attest that the PT was successful for me, and I have been lifting again with almost no limitations. (My range of motion is slightly less than before, but my strength is greater.)

Note that PT does not have to include lifting weights, and in fact during my PT I was not allowed to even touch the weights for a while. Work was done with a combination of rubber bands, tennis balls, and lots of stretching. You can find videos for this work online to get an idea of what to expect, but I suggest negotiating with your doctor or physical therapist to determine what will work best in your case rather than simply self-prescribing exercises.

Retroguy2000

Welcome, Katy. When you had surgery last year, didn't you also get physio recommendations to rehab it? Maybe doing those would help?

My very limited understanding of rotator cuff issues is:

1. You can rehab minor issues (I think, don't quote me) but major issues require surgery. So while increasing your protein is a great goal which should happen irrespective of this, you may still need surgery.
2. You do not want to mess around with shoulder health. As a YT's former bodybuilder I follow said in a recent video when someone asked him something like this, he said he had messed his shoulder up 20 years ago, tried to work through it, and it still bothers him now. Don't be like him he said.

In general for shoulder health, I'm a fan of dead hangs. I credit those with solving a minor impingement I had a while back. That is absolutely not advice to you for your issue though. I don't know how good or bad hangs are for that.

You could also try Bob & Brad on YT, a channel with two physios. They give good exercise advice. But again, that's not a substitute for seeing a professional about your specific issue.

Don't take chances with your shoulder.

csplatt

That’s tough. I have a tear in my hip that according to orthos is “probably not” causing some of my chronic pain. So we are leaving it alone. I had to learn with both PT and ortho input regarding what was strengthening vs worsening. In the end my ortho wanted PT to stop certain standard exercises and pivot to others. I also learned that I can walk but not run, bike but not elliptical. It took a long time to be able to be active without being in terrible pain or without deep fear. Now I am active with small amounts of pain.

LoganBennett715

Hi Katy, increasing your protein intake is important for recovery, aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Lean meats, eggs, dairy, and protein shakes can help. Physical therapy is also key to recovery, consult your doctor or physical therapist for a tailored exercise plan. I wish you the best on your recovery journey!