Following up to my post #6 above. I went back to the sports doc and got sent to get an MRI. Looking at the results he said he would need to fix it surgically. I asked again how long to need to hold my arm in a sling fixed in front of my stomach. 3 months! No thanks. So he gave me a cortizone shot, directed with a long needle right where it needed to go in my shoulder. Immediate relief. I continued to train paddling single blade. The CZ lasted fully for about 3 months, but even after that I could deal with it. Just before another Yukon River race I got another CZ shot the same way with the same long lasting positive results. Several races and thousands of miles of training later, I am still going strong. If I think about how it feels after a few hours of paddling I can still feel that something is not quite right, but it is easily ignored.
It seems I have a number of friends who have had torn rotator cuffs. Here’s what they all did. They put it off, complained when it didn’t get better and finally got surgery. Then they complained some more about not being able to paddle, but not about the actual surgery. When they healed after several months, they enjoyed paddling again and the complaining stopped. These were all high angle paddlers, in kayaks, on whitewater. I have one friend who claims that shoulder surgery helped his roll. It tightened his shoulder way up (lost some flexibility but gained strength and stabilization).
I found that my shoulder injury forced me to paddle correctly. “By God you WILL use your torso or I’ll make you PAY.”
It’s been several years since you posted this, so I hope you’re back in the paddle again. If not, several of Angle Oar’s customers have had major shoulder surgeries and have returned back to kayaking. Here is a blog about one of them, which includes a link to the adaptive Versa Paddle. Best of luck.
When I had rotator cuff problems, paddling was not much of a problem, but getting the boat off my van was excruciating. Any time I had to put my arm over my head was painful, so I bought a trailer.
If you have good form and technique paddling can help build up your shoulder. If you do not try too hard, get in places that stress your shoulder, or try to step into too technical of a boat, it should help.
As stated, sometimes the injury can be due to loading and unloading a heavy boat.
Be sensible and I don’t see a problem.
I’ll repeat again that it has been 4 years since I slid off a roof and tore my rotator cuff while holding a 5 gallon bucket of paint on the way down. I couldn’t raise my hand above my nose without extreme pain. The sports doc said after seeing my X-rays and MRI that I definitely needed the surgery and he could fix it only in that way. Instead, after he gave me a cortizone shot I continued to paddle train and race, focusing on my best form with every stroke. XC skiing also. Dozens of canoe races and thousands of paddling miles later, my shoulder and arm feel completely normal today in all activities. Maybe I am just lucky.
There are certain moves you are going to want to avoid like cross draws, Dufeks, etc. Keep your paddle at waist level and keep it in front of you. Paddling may help with your recovery.
I used to have shoulder problems and considered surgery. Finally I started doing rehab exercises with small weights. I started with 1-2 pounds to try to get range of motion back. After awhile I went to 5 pounds max doing throwing motions, circles in all directions at low speed. The issues were resolved. Your situation sounds different, but you still may be able to make some improvement. Good luck.
I did go to a PT near home for a while. He gave me a series of exercises to do and wanted me to visit his clinic 3 times a week. After a short time I realized that I knew all the exercises he was going to give me and I could save the daily co-pay by just doing them myself at home. I only missed out on one of his machines, but I figured that my actual paddling replicated what his machine did close enough.
I have a bum shoulder but can paddle quite a bit by not getting crazy. No sprints , fighting current or waves or serious wind. Those are crazy for me. My new normal.
I strongly suggest a narrow paddle blade, like a GP or a Wind Swift.
There are some adaptive products out there for paddlers with bad shoulders, arthritis. Angle Oar makes a paddle holder that mounts to the kayak to relieve stress on the shoulders and joints.
Since my torn RC in 2015, when I refused the recommendation of the sports surgeon’s knife, I have successfully paddled the 440 mile Yukon River Quest race twice, fnishing in the top 10%. Also raced the Adirondack 90 Miler each year since, plus the all at once unofficial Cannonball-90 each year. Getting ready now for another 90 next week. I won’t say I am 100% healed, but I have no pain or distress or loss of function when paddling or during extensive training sessions… By the way, I turned 70 thus year. I believe that initial PT exercises, then taking good care during ever enhanced paddle training gave me the desired results without surgery.
I have a SLAP tear and really bad AC joint arthritis in my right shoulder, now most of my day to day pain is reaching above shoulder height and lack of strength in my bicep. But I’ve never had pain paddling from it and I’ve paddled for hours already, I think with proper technique torquing your hips and using your feet properly really helps wear and tear on your shoulder, now if you arm paddle I think you may have some problems. All you can do is try it maybe get a rental for a day, see how your shoulder handles it.