Special Needs Kids Lose Their Rights

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Shoulder injuries like Impingement Syndrome are unbelievably common.  Also known as throwers shoulder or swimmers shoulder it can be very painful and is no joking matter.  I know because  a few months ago I damaged by left shoulder.  It was easily done, I was trying to lift something that was too heavy and felt something give in my shoulder, gave it a rub and carried on.  The following day I was in a agony.  Lifting my arm above shoulder height was impossible as was trying to reach behind me for anything.  Over the next few days the pain got worse and my shoulder got weaker so it was off to the doctors for me.

I had damaged one of the muscles in my rotator cuff.  The rotator cuff is the group of four muscles which move and hold together the shoulder.  These four muscles surround the shoulder, running under and over the bones of the shoulder and that is the problem.  If you pull a muscle in your leg, it might swell slightly but it gets better in time.  When you damage a muscle in your rotator cuff it swells up and starts to impinge or get pinched by the bone or other muscles that it rests against or runs over or under.  The muscle rubs and tendons get damaged and start to fray like old rope as they get rubbed.  That is what caused my severe pain and why it seems that nothing will get rid of it.  That is shoulder impingement syndrome, not something I recommend getting but unfortunately about thirty percent of us are likely to suffer it as we get older.

The normal treatment for shoulder impingement syndrome is a course ofanti inflammatory drugs over about an eight week period with cold compresses and sometimes steroid injections to reduce the inflammation and give the injured muscle an opportunity to heal properly.  In some cases surgery is needed to repair the damaged muscle.

I was recommended for surgery, I knew it was bad.  Being based in the UK I had a date for surgery that was about three months off so I took the time to start finding out more on the subject on the internet.  There is a lot of information out there but in amongst everything else I came across a site by an American Physio who specialises in shoulder injuries and impingement syndrome.  he had put together a series of exercises for shoulder injuries so with nothing to lose I signed up and started his programme.  Along with the exercises came lots of information on the shoulder joint and how it works which helped me to understand the injury.

Starting off with some gentle exercises I gradually built up the exercises over a six week period.  It was important not to experience any pain, which suited me just fine.  Six weeks in I was pain free and had regained about 95% of my shoulder movement.  Ten weeks in I was willing to risk a round of golf although I did approach it with a some caution.  I have now put off the surgery.

My belief is that as we get older our posture changes, we don’t hold ourselvess so well, perhaps the few extra pounds that we tend to carry add a few stresses to our joints.  The programme helped me not only with my shoulder but also with my general posture and I think it was this younger posture which helped me to recover.  So maybe the answer to shoulder impingement syndrome problems is to think and act younger, get some exercise and start to wake your joints up a bit.  I’m probably in better shape now than for anytime in the last ten years.

Technorati Tags: Agony, Bones, Cold Compresses, Few Days, Inflammation, Inflammatory Drugs, Left Shoulder, Muscles, Rope, Rotator Cuff, Rubs, Severe Pain, Shoulder Height, Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, Shoulder Injuries, Silence, Steroid Injections, Swimmers, Tendons, Three Months

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