My shoulders – ART Treatment & Rehab Log

Slizzardman wrote:

It feels good to become something of a functional human being again, eh?

So Good! Thanks, I'm pleased to hear you're making good progress too. I've been testing out a few of the FBEs lately and am getting excited by the possibility of having a go at the WODs sometime (relatively) soon.

RandomHavoc wrote:

Yorkie, please continue to share your experiences with rehab. It's great to read

Thanks. I've got a lot out of reading this forum so far so its nice to be able to make a contribution, albeit a small one.

Since my last post I've had a second Hyaluronic Acid shot in my left shoulder and 2 more ART sessions.

The HA shot has reduced the pain a little more, not as dramatically as the first one. The most noticable improvement though, is that I can now hold my arm out to my side, upper-arm horizontal, forearm pointing down to the floor and externally rotate up so that my forearm is pointing up to the ceiling. There's a little pain in the top part of this movement, but before the first injection I could only get up to 90 degrees and before the second I got maybe 10 degrees further.

Apparently at my first appointment I rated the pain in my left shoulder as ranging from 2-7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Now I'd say it's 0-3. Most of the time there's no pain. If I put pressure on the left side, for example by lying on it, for an extended period of time or if I make certain movements the pain will be 2-3 out of 10. The Dr's done some more work on improving flexibility. There are a couple of issues that I asked Dr. Abe to focus on during the session I had today. Lifting my arms up straight out and up from my sides I get some pain both sides. I also had some aching in my neck on the right for last few days.

I have 1 more ART appointment during August (30th) then hopefully I can reduce the frequency. On Sept. 28th I have another hospital appointment and will have an MRI on my right shoulder. I don't yet know if I will have a third injection in my left.

Hi,

Its been a while since my last post, partly due to a frustrating couple of weeks.

Experimenting with FBEs did not go well. I tried doing a few XR Push-ups, XR Rows and SLS one day a week (horizontal & leg day) and then XR Dips, Pull ups with a tucked L-Sit and V-Up Straddle on another (vertical & core). I thought this was a relatively safe starting point and was planning to build up steadily from here.

Both of these were no problem on the day itself apart from my shoulders feeling awkward :? on the way down from the pull-ups. About two thirds of the way down I had to go very slowly and be very careful to ensure my shoulders were positioned OK to continue through to the bottom. It’s not something I can remember experiencing before. Anyway, I got through the sets I had planned to do (it was only about 3 sets of 3 reps!) and had no pain as such during or immediately after, but the next day was a different story. My mid to upper right back pretty much seized up! There was pretty bad stiffness and pain going down my right arm and up into my neck and I could barely tilt my neck to the right. This was seriously frustrating. I had an ART session booked a few days later so I rested completely until then.

17th Session – August 30th:

At this session Dr. Abe worked on freeing up my back and found I needed a Neck Adjustment (the kind of spine cracking procedure many people associate with chiropractors). This was not at all painful, the cracking is just like when you crack your knuckles. It instantly made a lot of difference to how stiff my neck and back felt. Fortunately my right shoulder had not been set back at all in terms of the flexibility gains made previously.

I was encouraged to start doing some push-ups with a rotation into side plank, like in this video:

However, while I was trying these a day or two later they caused me to have a small back spasm in my lower left back!

I iced my back straight afterwards and after a few more days of complete rest felt better.

18th Session – Sept. 8th:

I told Dr. Abe about the problem I had with the exercise and she advised to not do it for now. I am still doing a basic side plank regularly and have had no problems with that. During this session she worked a lot on my triceps and advised me to make sure to stretch them regularly. Her plan for me to have treatment less frequently through September and be finished by some point in October still applies apparently, which is encouraging.

So for now I`ll stick with focussing on my rehab exercises & developing the warm-up holds plus L-Sit & XR Support (which seem to be no problem). Apart from this I may do SLS, some XR Rows and some XR Push-ups once a week each. Also my flexibility needs a lot of work. I`ve started going to weekly "Stretch" and "Superstretch" classes at a place nearby which teaches some adult gymnastics, trampolining, stage combat and even pole dancing! It`s two 1 hour classes, one leading on from the other, as the names suggest. There are very knowledgeable seeming instructors (Japan Stretching Association accredited!) who measure you in the basic stretches each week so you can monitor your progress. They give one-on-one advice and even some physio to work on weak points. This is my 5th week attending. Eventually, when I`m fully functioning and have built up some strength, I`ll give their adult gymnastic classes a look but I think they are really geared towards aspiring Japanese actors who need to be able to do stuff like back-flips for low budget Samurai dramas!

Anyway, I really have plenty to work on for now, especially as Rugby World Cup viewing is going to put a serious dent in my free time for the next few weeks!

My next ART appointment is on the 15th. My next hospital appointment, when I will get an MRI done on my right shoulder & a progress check and possibly a third HA shot in my left, is on the 28th.

I went to the hospital for the MRI on my right shoulder on the 28th September and I was fully expecting it to confirm that I had impingement in this side, similar to my left. However it showed a small rotator cuff tear and the Dr recommended surgery. He gave me an HA shot in my left again and also one in my right shoulder which he said might give me some pain relief but it hasn't made a noticeable difference.

I spoke to Dr Abe, the ART therapist, about it at my next appointment and was kind of expecting her to say that the surgery wasn’t necessary and she could treat it. Unfortunately not, she said that surgery was probably my best option. Her father, Fujii-sensei, disagreed. His opinion is that surgery should always be a last resort. Dr Abe agrees with this as a general rule but in this case, she thinks that for the rotator cuff to have a chance to start healing my arm would need to be immobilised for several weeks. This would mean muscle loss and other potential problems. I’ve left the CD of my MRI for them to look at and they’ll discuss it before I go back for my next appointment on the 13th, but it now looks like I’m going to have to get surgery after all. :cry:

If it's just supraspinatus repair it won't be bad dude!