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[inthelab]

I tore both rotator cuffs 16 years ago.  Started PT the same same Orel Hirscheiser went in for RC surgery.  I lightened my load, weeded out non-essentials from my briefcase (which is canvas with leather handle); purse is a shoulder bag made of fabric worn bandolier-style.  Non-essentials are out of it as well.  Helps keep my neck from hurting as well.  But if you have to carry a lot more than I do, maybe a nice backpack is an option if you don't want a wheelie.

If your dept won't pay, get a note from your PT/MD and deduct it as medical expense.

[big_giant_head]

Punchnpie, it feels like the frozen shoulder part is the part that really bothers me.  I can feel a hard ridge where the rotator cuff muscles are, but that doesn't really hurt.  It's the biceps tendon and the other tendon that runs over the top of the shoulder that cause the pain and restriction of movement.  And yes, reaching around behind is pretty much impossible.  I've needed help getting t-shirts and sports bras off until I started doing the exercises prescribed by my PT this past week. 

Those exercises have REALLY, noticeably, helped.  I almost feel like bowing at her feet next time I see her.  Tomorrow, that is.

The messenger bag idea appeals to me, and to all who suggested the department should pay, I will certainly ask.  That never would have occurred to me. 

What I have to carry to class is a laptop and whatever books I assigned for that day, and the manila folders for each class that contain their homework or papers to be returned. I would guess it probably weighs close to 20 lbs, when you throw in those non-essentials that I really ought to get rid of anyway.  I don't really need 5 dry-erase markers, two pencils, three pens, two highlighters, a pocket knife, some old trail mix, a hair brush, my iPod, a calculator (I teach writing, for crying out loud; they can figure their own grades), two boxes of different-colored chalk, brochures from the Writing Center, lip balm, hand lotion, etc., now that I think about it.  Seems I've been packing for a trip to the Outback instead of two buildings across campus.  :-)

[punchnpie]

You need the iPod, everything else can go.

Seriously, I got a mini precisely because I couldn't hack carrying the laptop around anymore. I refuse to tote a wheelie around campus, though I have students who do. I do fine w/my messenger bag carrying books, small gadgets, and food. It's big enough for the mini w/room to spare. I don't use the blackboard and don't worry about chalk, etc.

When the pain and lack of range of movement was at its worse, I realized I didn't need the big heavy laptop carrying case and got a sleeve. I'd just slip the sleeved laptop in my bag and was good to go. I got a sleeve for the mini as well. Yeah, you have to find something to put your cords in, but a baggie w/cords is a heck of a lot lighter than a big suitcase thingy. Just be aware that it will probably take a looong time for the shoulder to heal, but it will get better. One day you'll put your bra on and realize you're doing it normally.

[buglet]

After carrying heavy bags in grad school on one shoulder and sitting long hours in front of a computer (and having an inadequate chair/desk), I developed thoracic outlet syndrome.  That took a year of PT to heal, and twenty years later, I still do the stretching exercises as it is a chronic condition.  I wish someone would have told me about carrying a backpack on both shoulders and lightening the load.   I also now religiously clean out the change from my handbag...nothing like toting around heavy wads of metal!

[big_giant_head]

I'll second the "wish I had known" business.

I have a "winged scapula" that could be the result of a paralyzed thoracic nerve.  I had no idea this could happen just because I tried to tough it out and not go to the doctor.  I have "fibrotic" tissue all through that shoulder now, and while most of the range of motion is returning, there's one spot that is not improving in the least.  I still can't move my arm back and up.  It's as if there is a little wedge in between the humerus and the bones of the shoulder, like a door stop, preventing me from moving in that direction.

So now I'm trying ASTYM, which doesn't hurt at the time but hurts like nine m-f's all the rest of the day, and doing my range-of-motion and stretching exercises four times every day, and hoping for the best, and feeling like a dope for not getting this seen to earlier.

[jacaranda_]

Good luck with your physical therapy, BGH.  I'm sure your therapist has explained this to you, but the pain during therapy is the necessary indication that the joint is improving (that was my experience after RC surgery, anyhow).  But wow it sucks as you're going through it.  If it makes you feel any better, I went through 10 years of a regularly dislocating shoulder (and thus shredding things up pretty well) before finally having surgery, and 15 years after _that_, I still have very good range of motion (I recently spent two hours in the pool, swimming freestyle).  I had a genius surgeon, though, so I consider myself very lucky.

Hang in there -- I hope the pain during the day starts to let up some.

[punchnpie]

thoracic outlet syndrome.

winged scapula

Whoa! Just looked those up. Thank you for something else to worry about and for the reminder to sit up straight at the computer.

[buglet]

thoracic outlet syndrome.

winged scapula

Whoa! Just looked those up. Thank you for something else to worry about and for the reminder to sit up straight at the computer.

Punchnpie, please do sit up straight...the PT for the thoracic outlet syndrome was way painful, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. . I remember just crying during the massage part, and the PT then showed me how hard she was pressing on the other shoulder.  She was barely touching me; I just had no clue how severe the injury really was.  BGH, it will get better, but I'd agree the pain part is awful.  Hang in there, it is totally worth it when you are healed.

[marigolds]

So now I'm trying ASTYM, which doesn't hurt at the time but hurts like nine m-f's all the rest of the day, and doing my range-of-motion and stretching exercises four times every day, and hoping for the best, and feeling like a dope for not getting this seen to earlier.

Maybe this is a little OT, but how is this working for you?  My husband is a bass player and has horrible chronic shoulder/arm pain and numbness (as do many, many older professional bassists) that NO treatment has touched - he's had the injections, the trigger point stuff, and PT, and is currently getting rolfed, but nothing helps for long.  ASTYM sounds like it might be helpful for this kind of thing.  Is it working for your overall shoulder wellness? 

[big_giant_head]

So now I'm trying ASTYM, which doesn't hurt at the time but hurts like nine m-f's all the rest of the day, and doing my range-of-motion and stretching exercises four times every day, and hoping for the best, and feeling like a dope for not getting this seen to earlier.

Maybe this is a little OT, but how is this working for you?  My husband is a bass player and has horrible chronic shoulder/arm pain and numbness (as do many, many older professional bassists) that NO treatment has touched - he's had the injections, the trigger point stuff, and PT, and is currently getting rolfed, but nothing helps for long.  ASTYM sounds like it might be helpful for this kind of thing.  Is it working for your overall shoulder wellness? 

I think it's too soon to tell.  I've only had two treatments.  I get re-evaluated on Wednesday, so I'll let you know at that time.  My other options are a steroid shot, a steroid patch, or a steroid gel + ultrasound.  My PT thought this might work, and it doesn't involve any needles, so it got my vote.  :-)

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone.  It actually doesn't seem to hurt all that much, except on the days of ASTYM.  Then it's a real deep-tissue kind of pain, that I now remember from having surgery a few years ago.

Oh, and big sigh.  No, I can't have a messenger bag.  Wheelie or backpack only.  I'm getting a backpack.

[punchnpie]

Can you have a messenger bag and wear it on the non-injured shoulder? As someone who took the bus, which meant putting the backpack on to walk to the bus stop, taking it off on the bus, putting it back on when I got off of the bus, taking it off in the office, etc. the constant reaching behind me to hoist a packed bag up so the straps could go on my shoulder was just painful as all get out.

Obviously you want to do what you PT and DR suggest, I'm just saying that with injuries similar to yours, big_giant_head, I had to give up the backpack. The wheelie thing doesn't sound that great - you don't want to be pulling something all the time with your affected side (for me it was my right, and try as I might to avoid using it, I instinctively used my right side for everything), which means your unaffected side might get strained.

I'm not sure if any of us asked the big question, but did they give you drugs? With enough of America's finest chemical products, maybe it won't matter what you do with your shoulder.

[oseph]

Tom Bihn Brain Bag.  Seriously awesome.  Brain Bag.  You will love it.  When you are ready to take it off or put it on, find a launching platform (like a desk, countertop, or chair) so it isn't a huge haul up or drop down.  Use the hip band as much as possible - you can even keep the shoulder straps really loose to allow you to ease in and out of them, with the hip band carrying most of the weight.

[big_giant_head]

The PT says that I can't use any bag that causes my shoulders to pull forward.  A backpack that is well-balanced is probably ok.  And the wheelie-dealie might not be a great thing, either: on Saturday, Miz Thang and I went to the big sale at the local garden center.  I ended up pulling the cart laden with plants while she shopped, and even just pulling that cart caused me to get a bit tingly and lose some feeling in my right arm.  It was the tingly that made me realize what I was doing and switch hands.  It's just so unconscious!  Even though I'm left-handed, I use my right hand for anything that requires gross motor control.  The left hand is for fine motor control.  I don't know how to retrain myself in that area.  Right hand = strength, left hand = dexterity.

As for drugs, no, not yet.  The PT discussed a steroid shot, but that's the closest mention there has been of anything pharmacological.  And that's ok with me:  I love a good pain pill, don't get me wrong.  But I prefer them for recreational purposes only.  :-)

Actually, I take naproxen twice a day.  But that doesn't really count; it just lowers the inflammation.

And wow.  That ASTYM.  It is probably working, but the whole day after a treatment, I feel like someone just beat on me with a baseball bat.

[big_giant_head]

OK, new question: has anyone here had experience with a torn labrum?  I've had two PTs work on my shoulder now, and that's what they think is up.

I think the injury they've been concentrating on is a tear in (or near) the bicep tendon, and that is improving at a gratifying rate.  But there is one direction my shoulder just won't move, at least not without a stabbing, non-muscle kind of pain.  It feels either like a nerve is being pinched or a piece of sand is between the bone and the socket.

If any of you have had this, did you have to have surgery, or did it eventually respond to conservative treatment?