Rehab recommendations for a shoulder injury

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by BoroGrecian, Sep 21, 2013.

  1. BoroGrecian

    BoroGrecian Valued Member

    Hi folks!

    I injured my shoulder a few weeks ago in an aikido lesson (I stupidly didnt tap out sooner on a shoulder extension, so my own fault) and it's not been quite right since.

    it started out with not being able to lift my arm which after a few days seemed to sort it out, now six weeks later I am still having problems with it but at the moment it's still sore and when rotating my arm it's a bit 'crunchy' which is to be honest a little disturbing. More than anything I am still finding problems putting jackets on and rucksacks on my back.

    any advice on nursing it back to health?
     
  2. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Quick question, do you experience any shooting pain in your thumb when you move your shoulder?
     
  3. BoroGrecian

    BoroGrecian Valued Member

    I did to start with, but that pain went away about three days after the injury
     
  4. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    That makes sense. The reason you couldn't lift your arm for the first few days was because you have a major tendon/ligament thing (I always get them confused) that runs from up across your shoulder down the length of your arm and attaches to the thumb. If you draw an imaginary line down the side of your shoulder, it's pretty much there. You naff that, the use of your arm is gonna go out the window. I had that one when I had been practising aikido for two months and some ...muppet...applied shiho nage by taking my arm out to the side rather than straight back. :bang:

    Sounds like you might've partially torn the tendons in your rotator cuff (the set of tendons and muscles that stabilise the shoulder). An injury to the tendons can take months to heal up properly. That would explain the pain and even the crunchy sensation you get.

    Short answer? Get yourself to a doc, but there's not a great deal you can do except rest it, let it fully repair and gentle rehabilitation a few weeks down the line. And the occasional ibuprofen.

    In other words, don't do what I did and carry on training 4 weeks later :eek:
     
  5. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Also, for gentle rehab? Gentle resistance bands are ace for this kind of stuff, actually. Just enough to force the muscles to work and slowly strengthen but not enough to actually damage it if done properly. Just take it slow and gentle to begin with.
     
  6. Princess Haru

    Princess Haru Valued Member

    I think most people including you would know if it was dislocated at the time. I got my hand stuck in someones belt during newaza last summer and it took 2 months to fully get back to normal training. Several sessions of physio helped get full mobility back, hurt like hell though
     
  7. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    :jawdrop:

    That...sounded...horrific. Ouch.

    Oh aye, it's not dislocated. But you can still sprain/hyper extend/tear the tendons and muscles in the affected area which is what I think she might have done. My shoulder still experiences bouts of stiffness, pain and even a wonderful "crack" every now and again from my injury because I didn't take care of it and it's been...five years now?

    Physio's always good, but it was never offered for me at the time *sniff*
     
  8. BoroGrecian

    BoroGrecian Valued Member

    I didn't know I injured it at the time, it was the next day when I couldn't move it that was the problem. I thought I had just slept funny and it would be fine in a couple hours....yeah wrong on that one.

    Have to see how it goes in the next few weeks, have my first grading on the 19th October so want to be ok for that. ok, so don't have to go all out for a yellow belt grading but still want to do well
     
  9. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Yup, same thing happened to me. Went home, took a couple of ibuprofen, rubbed on a little deep heat and thought that a good night's sleep and I would be fine. Just like all the other bouts of DOMS and mini sprains and what-not I used to get.

    Next morning I got up, turned onto my bad shoulder and swore. Loudly. You've also gotta remember at the time the injury happened you were training and likely had a good amount of adrenaline/happy brain juice in your system so it wouldn't of been so bad straight away. Especially with the fact that the swelling doesn't happen straight away.

    I get that, I really do, but you have to be so careful how you proceed. Wanting to be well is one thing and there's always a part of you that thinks you can push on in spite of the injury. You think "if I just take a little more care how I move, I'll be alright", "I really don't think it's as bad as people say it is", etc. Five years later if I'm not careful, a couple of press ups can leave me with enough pain in my shoulder I can't do anything else. It's not worth it for the sake of a new colour on your belt.

    If you are adamant about grading though, go to the doc's anyway and explain to your sensei & partners you are sporting a niggling injury in your shoulder and so you'd prefer them not to do too much to it.
     
  10. BoroGrecian

    BoroGrecian Valued Member

    Thankfully Sensei already knows about the injury so she lets me work within it and she has already informed the grading assessors I will be grading with it. Thankfully in my style of Aikido the grading from white to yellow belt is a 'walk through' to show technique and ettiquite more than anything, yellow belt onwards we start speeding things up a little. don;t have to worry about that yet, that's at least 6 months off after this grading.
     
  11. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    If the grading assessors and the sensei already know, then that's not so bad. I'd be less worried about being well on the day and more concerned with how you train until then though. It may only be a few weeks away, but a lot can happen in a few weeks.
     
  12. BoroGrecian

    BoroGrecian Valued Member

    Yeah that's my thinking. I'm not too worries about the grading itself, been there done that, just hoping I done get injured in the seminars prior to the grading!

    Just the everyday things like putting my coat on I find annoying when I can't move my shoulder properly
     

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