Being an older dad with young kids I try hard to keep myself active and in shape so that I can keep up with the kids as they get older. I also enjoy a game of golf, a good walk ruined as they say. I'm not a great player as I never get to play as often as I would like but I do enjoy it, so was really hacked off when I developed a shoulder injury that stopped me playing.
It wasn't actually as simple as that. The shoulder injury turned out to be a rotator cuff tear which stopped me doing any kind of activity. It was painful when I walked or ran, even though I am right handed, any movementat all caused serious pain in my left shoulder. If I forgot and made a sudden movement I could end up rolling around in agony.
I can remember exactly how I did it. I was being impatient and trying to lift some furniture on my own rather than waiting for help, felt something tear in my shoulder and that was that. The next day I woke up with shoulder pain and it just got worse as each day went by.
I couldn't reach much above shoulder height, reaching for anything was impossible, couldn't reach behind me, couldn't sleep because I couldn't get comfortable and couldn't do a thing with the kids. So it was off to the docs who sent me to a specialist. He diagnosed a rotator cuff tear, which was confirmed by an MRI scan.
Your shoulder joint is a simple ball and socket joint. Unlike the hip, the socket is made up of cartilidge rather than bone and doesn't grip the bone of the arm. Instead, a group of four muscles hold the joint together. These make up the rotator cuff. What I had done was tear one of these muscles which caused inflammation. Because all the muscles fit snuggly together any inflammation causes pressure and pain.
The muscle that I had torn is called the supraspinatus. I had torn a tendon that runs under my collar bone. Because it was inflammed, every time that I moved it got pinched and was aggravated. Surgery was recommended to shave off part of my collar bone to free up the tendon and allow it to heal. It all sounded very logical but I was a bit nervous.
Being in the UK we are used to waiting for surgery so I took the time to do some research on the subject of a rotator cuff tear while I waited for my surgery date. Having studied my injury extensively I finally came across a therapy programme which seemed to offer an alternative to surgery. I signed up to it and was surprised to find my shoulder improving with careful exercise. Within six weeks my shoulder was pain free and the movement was about ninety percent returned. A few more weeks saw me return to what feels like one hundred percent fitness. I have postponed the surgery and may well be cancelling it altogether if I remain pain free.
In the meantime I am back playing golf, still losing but hey, I do have a bad shoulder!
