Shoulder injury. Physical Therapy fixable or need arthroscopic surgery?
Hey guys, I'm a 23-year-old male and my MRI showed the following issues: • Partial-thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon • Long head biceps tendinopathy • Bone marrow edema of the AC joint • Subcoracoid bursitis I usually have about 3-4/10 shoulder pain, and it gets a lot worse on push days at the gym. Here are my main questions: 1. Based on these MRI findings, can this be fixed with PT or will I likely need arthroscopic surgery in the future? 2. If I do end up getting surgery, will I still be able to lift heavy again long-term? 3. How can a partial tear even heal with PT - won't it just tear again once I start lifting heavy? 4. For anyone who's had shoulder surgery young, is it a big deal long-term? Like, if I get it now at 23, could it cause problems 10-20 years later? Has anyone dealt with something similar, and what did you end up doing?
Posted Oct 5, 2025, 3:46 PM UTC