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

[Catrin]

Thanks. It also seems to make a big difference if I'm careful to keep my whole arm and shoulder in the horizontal plane vs. rotating internally the way it wants to. Is that an important cue too?

Yes, keep the shoulder down and back.

[Catrin]

I've been a bit discouraged/frustrated on the progress of my neck/shoulder. My PT session yesterday was simply a 30 minute discussion and review of my progress. Bill showed me that I HAVE progressed, and reminded me that we can't expect a shoulder with a pathology to act like a normal shoulder. He also went into some detail about how nerve damage affects muscles, there is no doubt in his mind that my whiplash injury added even more complications to that shoulder.

In the end I am still much better off than many with shoulder issues. Even if I am, in the end, unable to gain strength in this shoulder, I need to focus on my total fitness - not just the behavior of one joint. I doubt seriously that I would consider surgery unless things deteriorate. My intense efforts at the gym are not to reach some magic "score" but to gain as much fitness as I can to take into my next stage of life.

[OakLeaf]

(((((Catrin)))))

Peripheral nerves will heal too once you take the pressure off them - just very, very slowly.

At the risk of saying the wrong thing - do remember that you've been known to ask for too much too soon from your training - and allow for the possibility that it's the same with your PT. I'm sure he's giving you work that will yield results over the long haul - as in months to years, not weeks. I've read where it can be a year before someone even notices improvement when nerves are re-growing from a significant injury or surgery - but it's super important to keep the muscle and circulatory pathways open to let the nerves regrow, and to let the limb function properly when they do. It's sooooooo easy to get discouraged when you're not seeing immediate results ... not to mention bored with doing the same exercises day after day.

Hang in there kid.