I'm so glad you're feeling rotten, makes me feel better! lol. May I make a suggestion? I'm no expert, nor have I seen an ortho doc yet, but I wouldn't do PT until you have an MRI. IMO, you can further damage your shoulder if you don't know what the heck you're dealing with. I'm saying this from experience when my DS hurt his shoulder. The doc sent him to PT before an MRI, and the kid walked out after 15 min. telling me (and angry too) that his shoulder is hurt! We went to a new ortho doc who prescribed an MRI first thing. My son had a torn labrum. Imagine if he kept up with the PT? More damage.

He lived with it for a couple of months until he could have surgery in the summer since it required months of PT.

Get an MRI first. And take two aspirin. ;) Let me know what you end up doing. No improvement with my shoulder.

Frigid air here too, & snow tonight and tomorrow. Yay!

Hey Oak! LOL on feeling rotten!!!

I literally did think of your posts during my exam! I'm no Dr., but I don't think it's Labrum-related.

I think I'm coming down to OK for an MRI/Therapy. We won't be above 0 until into Sunday.....brrrr. It's -5 now, on our way down to -12 or so Fri am, when I'm off to some therapy. With a lingering cold too. Grrrr. ;-) We were -17 when I called into work today.......

Ummmm.... some say that shoulder PT "hurts".

Waaaaah!

Faron

DH is currently seeing a chiropractor for a shoulder injury. The rotator cuff isn't "torn" but it is stretched and causing a lot of pain and limited mobility. I asked about exercise. He said no, not yet. So apparently exercising the shoulder too early can be detrimental.

Thanks Monica!

I'll be asking a lot of ?'s at PT tomorrow!

It's the same place I did my "new knee" regimen in 9/2014.

Faron

Not fun! Yes, rotator cuff tears can plague us as we age because it's sort of like a plush pile carpet that's been walked on for many years.

It gets thinner and thread bare in spots.

PT can really help as can avoiding heavy lifting.

Snow is no help!

Tears eventually heal; ruptures require surgery. It's important to know which you have. See an orthopedist.

Tears do not heal, sorry. That goes for full or partial thickness tears.

Shoulder with smaller tears can respond to therapy and the patient can restore function and decrease pain. Of course, surgery might wind up being necessary, but you've got to do the work and try if you want a chance of avoiding it.

I didn't copy the Ortho website address, but did read this which is what I've read many times:

"Many rotator cuff tears can be treated nonsurgically. Anti-inflammatory medication, steroid injections, and physical therapy may all be of benefit in treating symptoms of a cuff tear. The goals of treatment are to relieve pain and restore strength to the involved shoulder.

Even though most tears cannot heal on their own, satisfactory function can often be achieved without surgery.

If, however, you are active and use your arm for overhead work or sports, then surgery is most often recommended because many tears will not heal without surgery."

IF they do heal, the tissue will still be bad and you're prone to another tear in the same spot. Same if you have surgery. We're doomed, Faron!

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Faron, don't bother coming to OK, our temps will be below freezing for a couple of days. Snow moving in tonight. But you can come sit by the fire with me!

This "shoulder-healing" debate is fascinating!

My knee surgeon told me bluntly that tears don't heal well, IF AT ALL, because the blood-supply is so poor to the cuff area. He often drills a small hole(s)? into the bone so blood can come up to the area. That seems like a weird thing to do, but makes sense!

Oak...I'll take your temps! Still -13 now here. I'm laying by our gas fireplace on the sectional. Hard to stay warm with this damn cold! Watching NDSU Men play BB against IUPUI. 11 sec left!!

Faron

Yes, injury (or surgically-induced trauma) begets healing! Why not use the body's natural response to injury and power to heal?

Pretty fascinating, isn't it?

Technically the tears don't heal but may appear to feel that way. The tissue will still be weak and prone to tearing again. I think that's what happened to my shoulder, what was a minor tear that got a lot better ended up being a bigger tear.

Faron, we're covered in snow! It's a beaut outside, but cold as the dickens! It's a fine powdery snow which means all I have to do is sweep the sidewalk instead of shovel. Much easier!

Lol Mimi!!!

So I'm getting "threadbare" in the old shoulder!? Sadly, it sounds appropo!

Spent an hour with the PT guy. Did lots of rom tests, resisting tests at different angles, etc. I have very good rom it turns out. Getting thru the "sticking points" was a little tough tho'. The fascinating thing to ME was when PT told me to just relax the arm/shoulder, as HE moved my arm in various directions, it moved real well! When activating the muscles ourselves, that's when the weaknesses become apparent!!!

I did have a couple directions of noticeable weakness/pain during resistance tests.

So, he's pretty sure the band exercises can strengthen the shoulder-blade portion of the RC muscles. These help hold the shoulder "down" during lifting motions, enabling more clearance during that rotation, & rotations out to the side. I learned a little bit today!

Oh, and Oakley....don't even talk to me about cold! You're gonna be 55 on Monday!!! ;-)

Faron

Thanks Mimi! Very gracious of you!

He also did some spinal/vertebra pushing when I was on my stomach. A couple spots were pretty stiff he said. He asked if I wanted him to do any "cracking" to relieve some of it, but I'll wait til next time!

Faron

Ooh, sounds like fun!

Faron, it's 3 degrees right now. The cold water tap in the kitchen froze because someone forgot to let it drip overnight!

Glad your session was successful. I may look on line and see if there are exercises I can do at home.

Last night's night pain was baaad. Do you get that?

Update for Faron, it wasn't 3 last night, it was -13. Whoa! What are your temps?

Hey Oak! -11 right now in Fargo.

Coughing like a nut last night...no sleep at all. Called into work again. HAVE to be there Sun for inventory tho'. I THINK this damn cold is about over, but still get some coughing fits from a throat tickle.

The night shoulder pain? Yeah, it comes & goes. Last wknd in Mpls it was "noticeable". During the day, it seems ok. But laying in bed brought on the aches!! Since I've done so little this week because of my cold, the shoulder is getting better. Did some of my shoulder-band exs today. I hope they'll help.

Faron

Faron, Robitussin DM is great for those tickles in the throat. It doesn't have antihistimine in it either. If you get some, get the DM. :)

I didn't understand the night pain symptom for a long time. I thought it was just the pain from laying on the shoulder or whatever, but I can lay on my bad shoulder for the most part. No pain. But when I wake up to roll over, OMG, my shoulder is frozen and the pain is unbearable. Can't move the arm an inch in either direction. Then it magically goes away after a minute or so. My doctor said that's the night pain they're talking about.

I remember my son doing the shoulder band exercises at home after his surgery! Keep up the good work!

For the night pain- It can help to elevate your upper body with some pillows, or use a pillow under the affected arm to support it.

If you do wake up with pain, try some pendulum exercises.

* I gotta look in the medicine-cab...we may have some RDM!

* Mimi, I'll gather some more pillows! Pain is better this week....again, probably because I've done so little this week!

* Oak- did you say you've had any type of scan on your shoulder?!

Faron

Thanks Mimi. The pain only last a minute or two until I can move my arm. I can't prop the arm because it hurts, so I lay on my good side and let my arm hang across my tummy.

No scan yet Faron. I'm putting it off as long as possible. When push comes to shove, I'll have it done. :) The doctor is pretty certain the cuff is torn. Her DH has two torn cuffs and refuses to get either fixed. lol

I had to find this thread and read up on what y'all have been discussing! I injured my shoulder on Jan 9 and finally got to see an ortho doctor today (dang HMO). He suspects a rotator cuff injury so I have an MRI scheduled next Friday, and we'll talk about treatment after that.

Donna

Dang this shoulder recovery stuff is sloooooowww!

Had the 3rd PT visit on Thu. Lifting small weights out to front, with back against wall, keeping shoulder DOWN in sockets. Not straight-ahead, but at about a 30deg angle.

Still have to continue with all the band exercise's too! Getting much better at keeping shoulder's down, & rotating them thru to squeeze together at the spine. The "squeeze the egg on your spine" with the lower shoulder-blades technique.

He demo'd a proper snow-pushing technique, using the LEGS to propel things....NOT jabbing forward with the shoulders!!!! Keeping back straight, shoulders DOWN too. Feels so awkward....but it's obviously mechanically correct.

So, the glacial pace forward continues!

Faron

Faron you might want to consider a steroid injection in your shoulder. In most cases, they work to clear up any inflammation and, in my case, it never came back.

Oh no, Msmeow! What did you do to injure it? I'm putting a lot of thought into the surgery if I need it, mostly on what to wear. I don't want to be dependent on anyone.

So far I'm wearing loose fit (at the shoulder and arms) long sleeve tee shirts, but if the arm in is a sling, how does one get dressed?

Let us know what the MRI says.

Faron, are you saying you have to keep the shoulder down at all times, or just during exercise?

Oakley, it was just a simple, normal movement. I was helping set up for handbell rehearsal and was holding a small folding table (like a card table, no more than a couple of pounds). Went to turn it 90 degrees to get the handle on top and pop-pop! The doctor showed me a bone spur on the x ray. He said that with my description and what movements cause pain he thinks the tendon caught on the bone spur.

I find I can pull shirts on and off okay if I bend over. My arm will hang down fine but hurts like h*#)Q@ to raise it up.

Donna

Hi Guys!

* Yaya- I see the P.A. I saw on Jan 3 on Feb 2 I think. I'll ask about that shot(s)! What types of shots are there for shoulders? B4 my new knee in Sept. '14, I had that $1,000 Synvisc shot that Feb. Didn't really do much, but we knew going in that it was a crapshoot.

* Msmeow- OH NO!! Yikes....that sounds painful! I mentioned when my injury happened, I was throwing my arms out to the side to keep from falling. That's when I got shot.........in my shoulder.... ;-) Sure felt like it anyway!

My PT guy says he'd like for me to avoid injections, since they'll just mask what's really going on. I know that makes sense, but......

I'll keep doing my shoulder/back exercises, since they'll strengthen/support the whole shoulder mechanism, & its operation. Along those lines, it'll help keep an upright posture. I don't wanna turn into the letter "C" like SO many people do, just cuz they never learned how to (or cared??) do simple exercises!!!!!

* Oakley- Yes, keeping the shoulders DOWN AND BACK when moving thru an exercise motion keeps the vulnerable "Cuff" muscles & tendons from hitting the Acromio-Clavicular (AC) Joint just above it. That causes SO many issues/problems.

>>> The stronger your back & shoulder-blade muscles are, the better your shoulder can handle a load. So many of us have such weak back muscles, because they're never used!! Ever hear the word "Atrophy"?!

SQUEEZE THAT EGG ON YOUR SPINE!! ;-)

Faron

Btw....

Listening/watching the cool "Wig-wam bam" by the Sweet helps doing all those light exercise reps!! Stomp-stomp...... gotta get a Headress like that!

Just watch it!

Faron