How I Developed Shoulder Pain
I am the mother of 4 grown kids. Growing up my kids were always very active and one of their favorite summertime activities was tubing. I ended up always being the requested driver because they complained that their dad was “ trying to kill them.” Our boat turned very easily one direction, but the other required some muscle. As the summer months went by and I was doing more and more driving with constant turns to the right and left, I developed some severe shoulder pain. My rotator cuff was tender and inflamed. One of the most difficult daily activities for me turned out to be going to the bathroom. I had sharp pain whenever I tried pulling my pants up or down. I remember anticipating the pain with dread.
It wasn’t until summer and boat driving days came to an end that my shoulder could start to heal. It was time to focus on gentle strengthening of my rotator cuff and I do mean gentle. 0-2#’s of weight is really all you need to get this done. The tendons of our rotator cuff muscle have a very poor blood supply and therefore take months to heal. I will admit even though I know this as a fact, I was growing skeptical that I was ever going to be pain free again! I never did record exactly how long my recovery took but I’m guessing about 4 months. I never had any x-rays or MRI’s. I just stuck to a simple rotator cuff strengthening program along with some manual therapy techniques and my pain went away! I’m happy to report it has never returned.
I hope my sharing this story will help you to trust the process of therapy. The human body has an incredible ability to heal, we just need to persevere. If you need help, just give us a call. 701-361-4984
