Rotator Cuff

[RoadRaven]

Oh SheFly!

Ouch
I don't know about rotator cuffs, or about recovery... but wanted to say I'm cringing and thinking of you. I know how much you like to race and how intensely you put your energy into training and racing. It would drive me nuts to have this diagnosis and be told to rest or to have surgery.

From one who understands the implications from a purely "I want to race" mentality, heres hoping for the best possible prognosis and quickest possible healing.

[SheFly]

Went for the MRI on my shoulder this morning. Having never had an MRI, this was an experience. I am REALLY GLAD that I'm not claustorphobic! The machine is definitely loud, but having a headset with the radio on helped.

I'll have to wait until Monday, likely, before I know the results.

SheFly

[crazycanuck]

Hey Shefly,

Did you get the results of the MRI back? What's the next step?

How does your shoulder feel?

ps-the mri machine reminded me of the many many fight scenes from Star Wars..

[SheFly]

CC - Thanks for checking in!

I have a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is that I have not torn my rotator cuff. The other good news is that I don't have tendonitis in my shoulder.

The bad news is that I have a tear in the cartiledge in my shoulder. I can have it repaired arthroscopically, or I can go and do PT for 4-6 weeks and see if that makes a difference. I opted for the PT route for now, and then will see where I am at after that.

In the meantime, I am still riding (albeit somewhat painfully), so life isn't all bad.

I am traveling at the moment, and will make an appt with the PT for next week. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for the support!

SheFly

[bmccasland]

Hey Shefly, welcome to the shoulder PT gang. After a couple of weeks it does get better. Although I asked Tony if he was a torturer in medieval times? Without skipping a beat, he said yeah, but now he doesn't have to wear that leather hood, the coarse hair shirt, or the heavy boots, and the hours are better, and he likes getting out of the dungeon.

One of the things he did say is that women have a tendancy to roll their shoulders forward, so it may not be the biking, but the sitting at the computer or doing other tasks that cummulatively does us in. Men are taught more to stand up straight, roll their shoulders back, and stick their chests out. Women seem to get only the stand up straight part. I've tried to think about my posture, which I didn't think was bad, while I'm typing away or just standing. Roll your shoulders back....

PT people are your friends. And so are ice packs... and heating pads.

Good luck!

[Crankin]

Glad you found out what was wrong. I definitely would try the PT for now. Surgery or even the thought of it scares me!
Just be careful when you are out there. I would think x country skiing would put a lot of pressure on your shoulders.

OK, keep us posted. Going to go get my ski clothes on...

Robyn