Shoulder Pains

I had an Achilles Repair back in August.  It was not my first surgery, but it was my first time in a cast.   I was miserable.  I didn't have the itching that people talk about.  I was just claustrophobic.  I know that sounds silly, but that was the term the doctor used and it seemed to fit perfectly.  I wanted to move so bad and I could not.  It kept me from sleeping because I could not get in any of the positions that I normally sleep in.  And from time to time, it seemed that my foot and ankle would hurt from being swollen up from hanging down. I would have to stop doing whatever I was doing and just lay down and elevate it.  Never, never again!

I also spent a couple of months overcompensating with my arms while using the crutches and the walker etc and helping myself in and out of things.  In the course of all that, I did something to my left arm.  I was having a pain in my bicep.  It was only now and then when I got in a certain position.  At first, I thought that it would go away, that I just needed to baby it for a while to get over whatever I did.  But then time went by and by and by and it only ever hurt rarely when I did certain things.  Before I knew it, it was 4 months later and it was still giving me trouble.  Well, stubborn me!  I finally went to an orthopaedist and was told that it might be either biceps tendonitis or the beginnings of rotator cuff issues, but that either way, I was on my way to a frozen shoulder.  And that's not a good thing.  If you get there, the recovery time is 18-24 months.

I started physical therapy on Friday.  I really had no idea the extent of what I could not do until she started that evaluation.  Then I did a few minor exercises and she did some manipulation.  It didn't take long, and aside from some pain while she was extending my arm, I thought that it wasn't so bad after all.  Famous last words!  On Saturday, the muscles from the top of my shoulder that run up the left side of my neck were absolutely killing me.  I am so glad that I went the first time on a Friday so I had the weekend to recover.  I would have been miserable trying to work like that.  Since then, it had calmed down and I can already tell that I have great range of motion.

When your body sends you a wake up call, don't ignore it like I did!