My Torn Rotator Cuff – Nearly Made Me Pack In Golf
Article by Nick Bryant
As I am a slightly older dad with young kids I do try hard to try to stay fit and active so that I can keep up with my kids as they grow uo. I also enjoy a game of golf, a good walk ruined as they say. I’m not a briiliant player as I never get to play as often as I would like but I do enjoy it, so was really hacked off when I developed a shoulder problem that stopped me playing.
It wasn’t actually as simple as that. The shoulder injury turned out to be nothing less than a torn rotator cuff which prevented me from doing any sort of activity. It was painful when I walked or ran, even though I am right handed, any sudden movement could cause serious pain in my left shoulder. If I forgot for a moment and made a sudden movement I could end up crying with pain. I know exactly how I did it. I was being impatient and trying to lift some flat packed furniture on my own rather than waiting for help, felt a pop in my shoulder and that was that. Shoulder messed up| The next morning I woke up with a painful shoulder and it just got worse with each passing day.
I couldn’t reach much above shoulder height, reaching for anything was impossible. I couldn’t reach behind me. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get comfortable and doing anything with the kids was impossible. Golf was just not going to happen for the forseeable future. So I took myself off to the doctors who sent me to a specialist. He diagnosed my torn rotator cuffand confirmed it with an MRI scan. Your shoulder joint is a simple ball and socket joint. Unlike the hip, the socket is made up of cartilage and not bone like in the hip, and doesn’t grip the bone of the arm. Instead, a group of four muscles help to hold the arm in place and stabilise the shoulder joint. These make up the rotator cuff. I had managed to tear one of these muscles which caused inflammation. Because all the muscles fit snuggly together any inflammation causes an impingement or pinching.
The muscle that I had torn is called the supraspinatus. I had torn a tendon that runs under my clavicle or collar bone and the end of my scapula or shoulder blade. Because it was inflammed, each time that I moved in a certain wayit got pinched or impingedpinched and was aggravated. I was recommended for surgery to cut away part of my collar bone to free up the trapped tendon and allow it to heal without any more damage. It all sounded very easy but I was a bit worried.
Being in the UK we are used to waiting for surgery so I took the time to find out about rotator cuff problems while waiting for my surgery date. Having read up on my injury extensively I finally discovered that most rotator cuff problems are treated with physical therapy.Even a torn rotator cuff can be fixed in this way, as long as it is only a partial tear. You start off by resting the joint to allow the inflammation to calm down, treating it with anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and using ice packs. Once the inflammation and pain have calmed down you can start gentle physical therapy exercises aimed at strengthening the rotator cuff
Within six weeks my shoulder was pain free and the movement had improved dramatically. A few more weeks saw me return to full fitness. I have put off the surgery and will probably be cancelling it altogether if I remain pain free.
In the meantime I am playing golf again, still losing but hey, I do have a bad shoulder!
About the Author
If you want to know how i fixed myshoulder impingement without shoulder surgery that I was told I needed, check out my story at http://www.strongershoulders.com