Sheila Barden Set to Have Shoulder Surgery

Sheila Barden was one of the favorites heading into the CrossFit Central Regional two weeks ago. She was in contention all week long, but was unable to break into the top 5 and fell short on Event 6 finishing the weekend in 8th place overall.

Barden, however, has been dealing with shoulder pain for the past few months and is the likely culprit for why she was unable to qualify for the CrossFit Games this year.

On an Instagram post this afternoon, Barden said that on the Sunday after the competition she was unable to lift her shoulder without extreme pain. No, it wasn’t a pec tear. Instead, after an MRI, it was found that Barden has torn both her rotator cuff and labrum.

Surgery is scheduled for this Friday, June 9. The doctor is saying that it is a six month recovery. That would mean she would be *hopefully* fully recovered by early December, just a little less than three months before the start of the 2018 CrossFit Open.

Part of being an athlete is knowing your body well enough to know the difference between pain caused by training, and pain caused by injury. For the past few months I’ve been quietly fighting through shoulder pain, adjusting my training on days it felt inflamed, and going hard on days it felt good. I used my @sidekicktool religiously everyday, I was seeing both a chiropractor and a massage therapist twice a week. I was in pain, but not so much that I felt injured, or the need to take further action. Fast forward to the weeks leading up to Regionals, when the pain from the unilateral shoulder work, paired with the instability of the ring work, started to keep me up at night. The pain became sharp and stabbing whenever I moved my left shoulder too quickly, or tried to hold a front rack position. Sunday evening of Regional week, after all the dust had settled, and the adrenaline finally released my body from its hold, I broke down and cried because of the pain. I couldn’t lift my arm even an inch without stabbing pain. That was when I finally knew I wasn’t in pain because of the work I had just done, I was in pain because something was going on inside my body that I couldn’t control. In the span of seven days, I saw an orthopedic specialist, had an MRI and surgery is in two short days. Shoulders are complicated, but I’m told the procedure is “routine,” and if I follow the rules, full recovery will take about six months. I’m ok with that, because I know the mental challenge I’m about to go through will be just as challenging as any of the CrossFit training I’ve done in the past. Right now I’m just Sheila, but soon I’ll be Super Sheila. — #RealLife #NemoFin #OneShot #Reload #ItsGonnaBeAlright #CrossFit #OneDayAtATime — 📷 – @ginniecolemanphotography

A post shared by Sheila Barden (@sheila_sue) on Jun 7, 2017 at 1:05pm PDT