So, after suffering with a painful left shoulder since October I decided, at long last, to go to the doctor. Yeah, I know... but, I thought I could treat this myself! To begin with I did away with the heavy handbag swinging off that shoulder; I used moist heat, I used ice packs, I used a sling, I strapped it up, I wore a compression sleeve, I took ibuprofen... nothing worked. Finally, on Tuesday, I cried "uncle". After a quick trip to my PCP's office yesterday morning and an even faster referral to an Orthopedic Specialist I was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder yesterday afternoon. Well, all things considered, (it was 2 degrees outside our back door when I got up today) what
isn't frozen? I received a cortisone shot in the shoulder which immediately freed up the movements within; that, in itself, was next to miraculous. I had my first PT session this morning; all went well, the therapist is great and I have a printout of exercises to do at home as a supplement to my workouts there. This is going to take time... but it
will get better. The Ortho doc prescribed some high-powered pain meds and suggested taking those prior to each session with the physical therapist; I did that, the session went just fine... but, it didn't sit very well with my stomach and I was sick as a dog (sorry, Hannes!) after returning back home. I believe I'll cut that dose in half for next time. It's onward and upward from here. The best news?
If it doesn't hurt, keep on doing it, that includes longarm quilting! The puzzled look on the therapist's face when I explained what a longarm machine is, and asked if it would do any harm, was priceless... he hadn't a clue.
Life is Good!
11 comments:
Yep I have been there. Took a cortisone shot and some PT but it will get better! The hardest part for me was remembering to not use it too much once it started feeling better, and risk re injury if you need me to do heavy lifting for you (bags of fabric/patterns) I'm there for you
Cute cartoon. : )
I went through this last year, but didn't get the shot or have the pain pills (like you, I am very sensitive to meds, so opted not to go that route).
Happy to report that I am so much more flexible now and pain is so minimal, I go days without remembering how much it used to hurt. I wish the same for you!
Trust me, I understand....been there, done that. Only mine happened after breaking the head of my humorous. Mine was so frozen that it took a lot of very painful deep tissue massage along with pt. DO YOUR EXERCISES! Make sure you have food in your stomach when you take the pain meds.....
Had one of those -- caused by too much cradling of the corded telephone receiver at one of my old jobs. The shot was SO helpful, and so was PT.
Take care - it WILL improve!
One more who's "been there, done that, got the T-shirt". Mine was from doing too much serious pool exercise trying to get rid of flabby arms. The shot was miraculous. Hope the person who gave it to you used the numbing spray first - that's another miracle product! If you sleep on your side, try to get your pillows to make a ditch for you shoulder to lie in and prop another one under your head.
Both shoulders have been frozen....fortunately not at the same time. Very painful and you sure do miss the range of motion in your arm while you're working the kinks out.
Oh, sweetie, I am SO sorry you have had this problem! I have never had frozen shoulder, but have never heard anything good about it. I really liked your graphic. Oh, and stay away from Elsa!!!!
Do you know what caused your shoulder pain? Mine began mid-October right after my flu shot. When a month later the pain was worse and my range of motion limited I finally went to the doctor. PT was ordered suspecting a rotator cuff problem and with hopes of preventing a frozen shoulder. I just completed 16 weeks of PT and I'm almost back to normal. Now I've learned there's a term for what happened to me: SIRVA = shoulder injury related to vaccine administration. Due to administering the vaccine too high on the shoulder, the deltoid muscle is missed and the vaccine is delivered where it shouldn't be causing bursitis, tendonitis, damage to ligaments, and/or frozen shoulder. Unfortunately this also means the flu shot didn't give me the immunity it was meant to, because it wasn't delivered into muscle. The problem may never completely resolve so it looks like I'll be doing the exercises to maintain mobility for the rest of my life.
Oh my! It sounds like your shoulder situation has been quite the ordeal. Happy to hear the shot helped and your on the way to healing.
This must be a common problem amongst quilters. I, too, had frozen shoulder a couple of years ago. Got to skip the shot. Once in awhile, my shoulder feels like its starting to lock up again. I use the shower massage to beat right onto the sorest spot and start up my exercises again. That has worked so far. Hope your shoulder heals quickly!
never heard of that. I hope you get to feeling better soon.
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