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04/14/2016

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Shoulder Rehab – Making Progress

The last couple of days I have taken a break from rehabbing, I had a serious issue with my foot. I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain right across the bridge of my foot, right in the center. It hurt to move, the pain was preventing me from going back to sleep, so I zoned in and out of consciousness for the remainder of the night. When I got up to get ready for work I could put almost zero pressure on my foot, and barely made it to my closet to get the cane I keep there. Even with the cane, getting to the garage where I keep a pair of crutches was almost undoable. (I keep crutches in the garage because when you live life full tilt, you sometimes find yourself in need of them. They are in the garage because I learned the hard way that the attic is not a practical place to keep them should you suddenly need them.) The only thing I can think that may have caused the problem was either sleeping with my foot hyperextended for too long thereby straining the ligaments or tendons, or some kind of insect bite. I didn’t see anything that would indicate an insect bite though. The pain was comparable to a hairline fracture.

I am also out of Move Free, but have been adding collagen protein to my coffee this week.

Yesterday I only did one stretch and no weights, and the day before I did nothing. Today I didn’t notice any setbacks though. My foot is recovering pretty rapidly, yesterday I was able to trade in the crutches and come in to work using only the cane. Today I am using nothing, but I am still limping.

It really feels like I am making great progress with my rehab now. I’m still working in the “level 5” pain range, but I’m getting more ROM. I performed 2 sets each of ALR and LR stretch, 1st set is done with scapula rotated back and down, 2nd set with serrates flexed.

1 set ea. of ALR and LR exercise, 20 reps with 3 pounds. Note: I am doing both shoulders.

04/04/2016

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Shoulder Rehab – Making Progress

Over the weekend I did a dead hang from a pull-up bar with scapula activated (pulled back and down). Didn’t time myself, just did it as a test so I hung as long as I could keep very strict form. This morning my adducted lateral rotation stretch didn’t hurt as bad, and when I activated my scapula I was able to get more range of motion without any additional pain. For the exercise I upped the weight to somewhere in the 3-5 pound range, I used my lunch bag so I’m not sure about the actual weight. It has a bowl, a can of soup and a glass jar in it.

My side lateral rotation stretch didn’t hurt as bad either, but I wasn’t able to get more range of motion out of it. Instead of my usual isometric contraction I used the purple band so I could start working on strengthening my range of motion.

I only did 1 set of each exercise, and I worked both shoulders.

03/18/2016 Shoulder Rehabbing – still

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I haven’t been as diligent as I should be, and I feel like I am not making progress.  I have done some more study and have decided on a more precise plan of action.

First off, I will warm up the shoulder before stretching it, then do stretching, and then mobility exercises.  I have made the executive decision that the exercises will not be the warm up.  I will probably do some light arm circles and the hanging pendulum drill as a warm up.

I have also started to wonder if I may be pushing too far in my stretches.  Based on all the reading I’ve done the stretches should be relatively pain free before moving on.  I should only be stretching to about a “4” on the pain scale rather than the “7-8” I have been pushing to.  The reason I was pushing so hard is because you always hear people complaining that their physical therapist causes them tremendous pain during rehab.  I don’t know; I’m going to have to think on this one.  Maybe I’ll lighten up for about 3 weeks, then push harder again.  The isometric exercises don’t hurt as much as the stretches, but my ROM (Range Of Motion) is at about 60% compared to my uninjured side, but my uninjured side doesn’t have great ROM either (that is the side that I tore in my 20’s and rehabbed on my own).

So here’s the drill:

  1. Shoulder Pendulum Swings – clockwise and counter clockwise, 20 reps
  2. Shoulder circles – small then large, 20 reps each direction
  3. Lateral Rotation Stretch in abduction for 30 seconds
  4. Lateral Rotation Stretch with elbow at my side for 30 seconds
  1. Lateral Rotation in abduction using a water bottle, kneeling on the floor with elbow on desk
  2. Lateral Rotation Isometric for 20 seconds

 

02/25/2016

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Shoulder Rehab

I went to see my doctor yesterday for my 6 month diabetes checkup (it’s required by law in order for him to be able to write me a scrip for my insulin and test strips, what a load of crap).  Since I was there, I asked him about my shoulder.  He confirmed my diagnosis, and said I should be stretching it even if I do still have pain.  He said it is not uncommon for this type of injury to morph into frozen shoulder syndrome, especially for people our age and for diabetics.

Here is an awesome link that goes more in depth on what my doctor told me.  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drryan9.htm

I did one set of one stretch for each muscle, and one set of one exercise.  My shoulder seems to feel better, maybe just because the muscles are warmed up and tighter.  I held the stretches for 20 seconds each, did 12 reps for the infraspinatus and a 20 second isometric contraction for the Teres Minor.

Shoulder Rehab – 02/20/2016

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I have been doing more research, and I feel confident that I have diagnosed the muscles involved in my discomfort / restricted mobility pain. I was only half right yesterday, it’s the infraspinatus and/or the teres minor.  I have also decided that my injury is a strain, not an impingement or tendinitis.  I basically pulled a muscle.  I haven’t started with the rowing exercises yet, but I am doing the scapula mobility movements. To that I am going to add crawling.

I have a better understanding of the scapula now and I realize that it is designed to move in all directions, so some movements such as pull ups require it to be pulled to the back and down, while others such as crawling require them to be pulled forward and down with the serratus. When doing the crawl I need to make sure that my serratus are fully engaged at all times.

Here is a breakdown of the Rotator Cuff muscles:

Supraspinatus adducts the shoulder (lifts straight out to the side),

Teres Minor externally rotates the arm when bent at 90 degrees with elbow at your side,

infraspinatus rotates the arm back when bent at 90 degrees with shoulder adducted (elbow elevated),

subscapularis is the exact opposite motion as the infraspinatus – at rotates the arm forward as in a throwing motion.