Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Me and Pain, Not So Much

So a few months ago I felt pain in my shoulder.  Not a big deal, I thought, just a strain from Spring gardening activities.  But it didn't really go away.  And it was that kind of surprise pain....you know the type...you're feeling fine then you go to, I don't know, take off a jacket, or put on your car safety belt, or tread water in the pool and WHAM - sudden sharp pain.  And then at some point, you can't lay on your left side when you sleep and you finally say, hmmm, think I should go get this checked out.

So the Doctor said Tendonitis, but the Physical Therapist today said probably a strained rotator cuff.  Either way, the treatment is the same - working on it through PT.  But I guess, me and pain? Yeah, we don't get on very well, because not once, not twice, but three times, I had to take a seat or faint.  The therapist finally made it clear to me, it shouldn't hurt that much to do the exercises, so I need to ease up. 

Hey, I was just trying to follow instructions.

You say, put the arm at 90 degree angle, press on wall, don't lower the elbow, count to 20, do it 3 times in succession....I follow directions.  But turns out, if you would rate the pain at a 9 or 10 on a 10 point scale...you shouldn't follow instructions.  You should take the new instruction of STOP, BREATHE, RELEASE, and then try again, but push much less, worry less about arm position, and pay more attention to pain.

So now here I am at 9:00AM having experienced three near fainting spells, pain galore, had three Advil, an ice pack, and a little nausea that I'm countering with a cheese danish (oh, yes I am) and a whole long work day stretched out before me.  I'm hoping my typing can hold up as my arm continues to get heavier and heavier. 

I never understood why people groaned about PT.  Now, I know.  I also know, me and pain?  Not so much.

5 comments:

Pat said...

I am so sorry you are going through the pain in the shoulder thing. I will tell you from experience that PT will help eventually (2 or 3 months). Don't be afraid to tell them when it hurts, or if it ached particularly bad at night. Hang in there and take whatever pain reliever works for you.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

That sounds terrible.

In a strange coincidence my daughter has a doctor's appt. today about her shoulder--it might be a rotator cuff. She got hit hard during a water polo game a couple of weeks ago and now it's bothering her a lot when she swims.

mkosboth said...

Ah, I know this pain well. I have what the ortho called an impingement in my shoulder. The tendon that runs across the top and front of the shoulder gets caught in the joint randomly, when doing things like you describe. Often it involves not reaching out, but when I go to pull my arm back from having reached for the phone, put a glass in the cupboard, or am taking a glass/dish/bowl etc. from the cupboard. It is FUN. Gasping gut wrenching fun. I can feel it go PING PING PING during certain motions, like swimming. It hurts more sometimes than others.

Susan said...

Shoulders are difficult. I hope yours heals quickly. I really believe in the power of PT.

A's Mom said...

I'm pretty sure that qualifies for something a little stronger than Advil. Let me know if you want some good stuff. :)