had my last PT appt

[DebW]

HI Jo-n-NY. I'm still recovering from a similar injury I suffered in May. So yes, it really does take longer to heal and return your shoulder to something near it's full range of motion. I fractured my collarbone, but as I understand it, the problem in the shoulder joint is due to swelling from the injury and lack of motion while the injured bone heals. Scar tissue develops in the joint and prevents normal motion. The stretching you go through in PT breaks the scar tissue and continued exercise continues to break down the scar tissue and free the shoulder motion. I had 6 weeks in a sling and then 3 months of PT (initially weekly, then biweekly) and still do stretching and strengthening exercises. When I was in PT, I was spending 2-3 hours per day doing home exercises (heating the shoulder, stretching, and icing). Now I spend maybe 5-15 minutes per day. My current limitations are reaching straight over my head (it goes to ~80 degrees up fine, then makes 90 degrees with some pain), reaching behind my back, and reaching behind my opposite shoulder. I also have muscle aches in my upper arm, shoulder blade area, and side of neck/top of shoulder. And the shoulder makes lots of popping noises when I move it. I am a backpacker and so far have only been able to carry 20-25 pound packs (my collarbone has a big discontinuity right where a pack strap crosses but extra padding helps that). I started road biking again in September. Had to start with short rides so the shoulder muscles could learn to hold upper body weight again. I was doing 15-20 mile rides before winter came, sometimes with intermittent shoulder aches but no major problems.

I know how you feel about recovery taking much longer than anticipated. I was signed up for a 150 mile 2 day charity ride sceduled for 10 weeks after my accident. I clung to the hope of doing it for 8 weeks but there was no way. So be patient with yourself and lengthen your miles gradually. At this point I can't tell you if my recover will eventually be 100%. But 95% recovery is a heck of a lot better than some of the alternatives. So keep working and be thankful.

[Jo-n-NY]

Thank you so much for your responses to my post.

Denise, in my heart of hearts I believe you are right. I think trying not to disappoint my girlfriend is getting the best of me. But there are 2 0r three centurys later in the year that my husband will be able to ride with us also, and it is probably better to wait until then to ride that distance.

DebW, what a consolation your reply was to me. Thank you so much. My pt did mention about the scar tissue developing and I just was getting nervouse that mine was not going to break down. My movement limitations are just like yours as is the pain in the upper arm muscle. I also has my first century planned 4 weeks after my fall happened. My little riding group ended up riding just a metric century which was my husbands longest ride anyway.

Mary thank you for your kind words also.

As long as there is that light at the end of the tunnel I will be a little less fustrated. Sometimes it mentally makes me feel better about things when hearing it from others. Thank you all so much. I do feel a little better now.

~ JoAnn