When the scan comes back worse than expected
When the scan comes back worse than expected
In February, I slipped a foot on a route while doing a weird shoulder movement and loaded my right shoulder in a way it wasn’t ready for. Several weeks later, I had an MRI arthrogram. The report came back a few days ago with a list of findings that meant nothing to me on first read; SLAP tear, rotator cuff tendinopathy, subacromial impingement, AC joint degeneration, and everything to me on the second.
Since the accident, I kept climbing. Not out of denial, but because stopping entirely felt like a different kind of damage. I stayed on 6b+, avoided the moves that hurt, and tried to understand what I was actually dealing with.
Four months on, I’m climbing 6c, the shoulder stiffens in the morning and loosens by mid-session, and two specific movement patterns still produce sharp pain: straight-arm catches and overhead extension. No full tendon tears. Muscle bulk preserved. The SLAP extends to the biceps anchor.
The honest summary: a repairable picture, managed inconsistently, with a clear window to do it properly before the surgical conversation becomes necessary.
So I built a structured plan. Eighteen weeks, three phases, dual-tracked against both programme weeks and calendar weeks so there’s no ambiguity about where I am in the year.
Phase A runs through June; building the rotator cuff base that should have been in place since February.
Phase B through July and into August; reintroducing load, testing the overhead restriction, a surgeon review at week ten.
Phase C from mid-August through early October; pull-up progression, hangboard back, a four-step dyno reintroduction protocol, 7a redpoint as the week-fourteen target.
The exercise guide is below. Every exercise links to a YouTube search query written to surface physio-quality demonstrations rather than gym content. The weekly objectives carry both the plan week number and the calendar week, with actual dates, because vague timelines don’t survive contact with a busy life.
A few things worth saying clearly for anyone reading this with a similar scan result.
The absence of full tendon tears matters. It means you have a foundation to rebuild from rather than a structure to reconstruct. The SLAP is the decision point, not the tendinopathy, not the AC joint wear, not the bursa. Everything else responds to load management and structured strengthening. The SLAP is what the surgeon will assess at week ten.
Inconsistent physio is the main variable I got wrong in the first four months. The shoulder adapted enough to keep climbing but not enough to recover. That gap between functional and healed is where re-injury lives.
The pre-climb warm-up ritual at the end of Phase C isn’t a phase; it’s a permanent practice. Ten minutes before every session, for the rest of the time I climb. The injury changed that.
I’m not a clinician. This plan was built from my own scan report, structured conversations with AI tools, and cross-referenced against physio literature. It is not medical advice. If you have a similar diagnosis, the first step is a physio who can assess your scapular control and provocation patterns in person — no plan survives without that.