i'm sorry to hear you're going through this. it is indeed very painful. in plain english a superior labral tear is a torn tendon at the top of your shoulder joint where the head of your arm bone meets the "socket" of your shoulder. it is not an uncommon problem. eventually the tendon probably will heal on its own. tendons and ligaments tend to heal very slowly because they have poor blood supplies. the bad news is it literally can take months for these tears to heal. in the meantime you want to make sure you don't lose range of motion in your shoulder. you should consult your doctor for specific advice on whether or not you should be doing range-of-motion exercises or not. if possible avoid moving your shoulder in a way that causes pain. basically that movement is aggravating the tear which will make it heal more slowly. ice won't help because the soothing comfort of cold can't reach deeply enough into the shoulder joint. if you're not allergic to ibuprofen you can take that for pain. again sorry you're going through this. wishing you well!
what is a superior labral tear? . an mri showed a tear in my superior labral. located in my shoulder. along with that tendonitis was diagnosed. what can i do? ice really doesn't help. the pain threshold can be very bad when my arm is lifted a certain way but otherwise it feels perfectly normal. will the tear become worse? will it "mend" on its own? i have had two bad bouts with it. maybe overuse? thank you boni