Shoulder Sports Injury Physiotherapy
SLAP Tear
- Deep pain inside the shoulder
- Clicking, catching or a locking sensation
- Pain with overhead throwing or lifting
- A feeling that the shoulder is not secure
Quick answer
A SLAP tear is a tear of the labrum at the top of the shoulder socket, where the biceps tendon attaches. It causes deep shoulder pain, clicking and difficulty with overhead activity. Many are managed without surgery through rotator cuff and shoulder blade strengthening over three to four months.
Typical recovery
3–4 months conservatively; 4–6 months after surgery
A typical range, not a promise — how long it takes depends on how long it has been going on, and on what you do between appointments.
The labrum is a rim of cartilage deepening the shoulder socket. A SLAP tear — superior labrum, anterior to posterior — is a tear at the top of that rim, at the point where the biceps tendon anchors into it.
What it feels like
Deep pain inside the shoulder rather than on the surface, often difficult to point to. Clicking, catching or a sense of the shoulder slipping. Overhead throwing, bench pressing and reaching behind the body are typically provocative. Many people describe the shoulder as feeling unreliable rather than simply painful.
How it happens
Either a single event — a fall on an outstretched arm, a sudden traction force — or repeatedly, through overhead throwing. It also appears as an age-related change in people with no injury at all, and is frequently found on scans of shoulders that do not hurt.
How physiotherapy helps
A great many SLAP tears are managed without surgery, particularly the degenerative ones:
- Strengthening the rotator cuff so the joint is dynamically stabilised
- Restoring shoulder blade control and posture
- Rebuilding the whole kinetic chain in throwing athletes — hips and trunk generate most of the force
- Graded return to overhead loading
How long it takes
Conservative rehabilitation runs three to four months. Where surgical repair is needed, rehabilitation is four to six months, with the early phase restricted by the surgeon's protocol.
Medically reviewed by Nasir Mughees, BPT, MPT, Orthopaedic Physiotherapy · Last reviewed September 2026