January...must be time for Physical Therapy again! (long)

[tealtreak]

I hope you can get this fixed, Catrin.
Sometimes I wonder if all of this "healthy" stuff we do is good for certain parts of our bodies. Of course, I am not suggesting that w should stay home and lie on the couch, eating chocolate, so I wear my chronic conditions and time with the PT as a badge of honor.

This is so often discussed at our house! (: Some of us 50+ (athletes) have amazing cardiac #s, fit in our high school clothes etc...BUT are plagued by orthopedic issues... the "other half of the family" are on statins, blood pressure meds, etc..... happily sedentary.... but pain free (: It makes me laugh...I love kayaking, biking and backpacking too much to give them up regardless......

[Crankin]

Well, my DH is on statins, bp meds, and is in awesome physical shape .Definitely not sedentary. Some of us can't fight our genetics. He's pretty pain free, too, although, I think age is catching up with him a little. Me, I think I have just accepted this is the price I pay for weighing the same as I did in HS!
Funny, DH's cardiologist was a little discouraging to all the intense exercise when he first had the stents put in, but now, he accepts it. We are all outliers.

[OakLeaf]

We-e-e-e-lll ... that whole line of reasoning always ticks me off, because it's such a false portrayal of life, that a few unfit people use to justify their choices, and ridicule people who try to take care of ourselves.

If you've seen the kind of musculoskeletal pain that people who DON'T exercise typically suffer when their muscles and tendons contract from non-use, bursitis sets in, degenerative arthritis affects multiple joints, etc., etc. you'd never for a moment choose those over either the temporary pain of acute orthopedic injuries, or the lasting pain of post-traumatic arthritis in a few joints. And that's not even talking about their greater risk of all kinds of painful and extremely debilitating diseases.

It's no different from dietary choices. If someone has never in their life felt physically good, they really have no idea how bad they feel, or that they have any control over the matter. And it's easy for them to ridicule those of us who are acutely aware of when we feel a little bit (or a lot!) bad and put some effort into trying to remedy it.

[Catrin]

...
It's no different from dietary choices. If someone has never in their life felt physically good, they really have no idea how bad they feel, or that they have any control over the matter. And it's easy for them to ridicule those of us who are acutely aware of when we feel a little bit (or a lot!) bad and put some effort into trying to remedy it.

I am reminded of someone just recently who said that as a 53 year old woman, I should simply accept that I've weak shoulders and just focus on deadlifting and leg presses. In her mind my age was the automatic cause of my problem. I am thankful I didn't listen Time will tell of course, but I am SO thankful that we found an underlying mechanical cause to my left shoulder problem.

I am unsure why the rotator cuffs in my RIGHT arm are so weak - though not as bad as the left. THAT would be difficult. My thought is while I have gained some strength in my right arm, we haven't ever really been able to challenge it because of the "evil" left arm. What we don't use, we start loosing... So adding rotator cuff exercises to my already lengthy list of correctives, mobility and flexibility exercises.

[Crankin]

Oh, I don't doubt sedentary people have the kind of muscular-skeletal pain you described, Oak. I just hate the comments that my pain is self-induced and I should just give it all up, as an almost 60 year old woman. Yeah, well BS on that. I admit, I do have moments when I'd like to be what DH and I often call "a regular person," and maybe see a little walk as my form of exercise. And I don't even compete or do half the stuff some of you all do. I get over the moment quickly, but I have a bunch of nagging things that I've just been ignoring, which will eventually land me back in Walter's office (my MacKenzie PT).

[Catrin]

Yippeeeee! Yayyyyy! Ok, back down to earth now

Went in this morning to my PT appointment, the first one since my evaluation. It featured a LOT of manual manipulation in some painful places and a back "cracking". By the time he was done my bad arm showed perfect extension AND with no pain or tension in my scapula! By Jove, Bill is on the right track! He gave me a gazillion rotator cuff strengthening and serratus muscle exercises to do three times a week, and he does think that in 4 short weeks we will likely have won this battle.

While the AC joint is the most immobile by far, there are also issues with the scapula and serratus - probably all going back to the immobility of the AC joint. Guidance has been sent to my trainer to do more "pulling" than "pushing" exercises to balance out all of the rotator cuff work.

Now we just need to persuade the assorted elements of my shoulder to STAY in place after our sessions It has been like this for years, so I hope he isn't over-optimistic about this being fixed in 4 weeks.

[OakLeaf]

Woooohoooo!

My DOM is going deep into my shoulder on Friday. The way he was talking about the things I shouldn't plan on doing Saturday, I think he's planning on using a crowbar.