Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel

March 29, 2012

I did my best to shoulder all that needed to be done but now I'm left with a useless limb and regret for pushing it to that point.

My right shoulder has been bothering me for about 3 weeks now but this week (after mixing 3 batches of jam, cleaning out the garage, moving some furniture around and doing yard work) I have lost nearly all use of my right arm. It was pretty stable at the annoying pain level with the majority of the pain focused only on the top of my shoulder and only when I raised it to chest height or was lifting/pushing something. Now it has graduated to full muscle weakness with very limited range of motion, tingling and stabbing pain down my bicep, and shooting pain heading into my neck and down the back of my shoulder. I decided I better quit ignoring the increasing pain and have it looked at.

Dr. Diagnosis: a “Grade II Strain” or in other words “a partial tear in the muscle or tendon of the supraspinatus" (one of the rotator cuff muscles). I have 1-2 weeks of physical therapy and then gradual recovery and increased range of motion.

My conclusion: physical therapy is PAINFUL!

Day 1 of PT: I wish I could say it feels better but I just want to strap this tingly, throbbing, heavy limb to my torso and perfect my left hand skills. I still need to use it on a “very limited” level to prevent my muscles from becoming stiff so it's taped up for a little support but no sling or brace is involved. There is no visual sign of an injury except for the constant cringing when I try to do anything. My 32 oz. water bottle weighs too much, raising my forearm above 90 degrees is too far and changing shirts is probably going to be impossible. Doing my hair is out of the question unless I figure out how to do it all left handed/one handed. I wonder if the PT will notice if I wear the same shirt or don't do my hair for the next two weeks.

At this point any movement leaves me fighting back tears. I've tried reading but I keep falling asleep. Now I have my arm rested on my laptop and have found that using only my fingers is pretty close to pain free and I have to admit that I'm not all that bad at running the mouse pad with my left hand. I’m not good for much else today.

I'm really, really, really hoping tomorrow is a little (or dare I hope for a lot) better.