Today I spent 10 minutes on the air bike. It doesn't sound like much, but it's very tiring, and pushing my left arm out and back deliberately and against weight felt really good. I also ran for 25 minutes on the treadmill (still not loving it). The stretch band was in place on the hanging bars, so I did as instructed and wrapped my left hand in it, as high as I could get it, then did low squats to pull my arm up.
When I got home I did Pilates stretch, then rolled my back and shoulders with the massage balls, and dangled from the ledge over the stairs. I tested my progress against one of the exercises I couldn't do at all before, from the list the physio gave me:
Only two weeks ago I couldn't do the top one at all (and never even tried the second one). Today? Both of them are no problem at all. The traction, hanging off stairs, and massage balls are working a miracle on my shoulder. What is interesting to me though is that just attempting to repeat the exercises did absolutely nothing and I didn't get any better by trying it, it was only getting a great physio who got my shoulder moving that allowed me to be able to do the exercise at all. So for me the exercises the previous physios gave me didn't work at all, and only have some utility now in giving me a benchmark for the improvement in my ROM.
And of course the physio really deserves all the credit. Yesterday he got stuck into my shoulder for 5 minutes manipulation first, and was a little concerned about the bruising in my arm. It has come back a bit - a few times doing the traction I have felt things "give" in my shoulder, and I thought then I would see new bruising, and sure enough it came out. I think it's a positive sign though, shows things are tearing/freeing up inside.
Then we went down to the gym floor. I did some traction and he said he would "assist". Good grief. As I tried to squat down while hanging onto the stretch band to pull my arm up, he found every painful spot in my shoulder, around my shoulder, in my armpit, and my pectorals. It was very, very painful and I yelped at some points (he reminded me not to scare off any potential clients that might be around! Ha). Then he took me over to the air bike:
I am supposed to do this for 5 minutes (I'll do more - I thought 20, but just 10 minutes today was exhausting) and do it very deliberately without letting my arms move with momentum, but pushing them out and pulling them in, using three alternate grips (under and over hand horizontal, vertical). It will get my shoulders moving, and build muscle. And will also be useful for my legs - it wasn't supposed to hurt my knee, but it did. He's going to work on that on Friday - something to look forward to!
My goal now is to get strong, flexible and fit. Just getting ROM back isn't enough any more, I feel motivated to get my body into the best condition I can.
When I got home I did Pilates stretch, then rolled my back and shoulders with the massage balls, and dangled from the ledge over the stairs. I tested my progress against one of the exercises I couldn't do at all before, from the list the physio gave me:
Only two weeks ago I couldn't do the top one at all (and never even tried the second one). Today? Both of them are no problem at all. The traction, hanging off stairs, and massage balls are working a miracle on my shoulder. What is interesting to me though is that just attempting to repeat the exercises did absolutely nothing and I didn't get any better by trying it, it was only getting a great physio who got my shoulder moving that allowed me to be able to do the exercise at all. So for me the exercises the previous physios gave me didn't work at all, and only have some utility now in giving me a benchmark for the improvement in my ROM.
And of course the physio really deserves all the credit. Yesterday he got stuck into my shoulder for 5 minutes manipulation first, and was a little concerned about the bruising in my arm. It has come back a bit - a few times doing the traction I have felt things "give" in my shoulder, and I thought then I would see new bruising, and sure enough it came out. I think it's a positive sign though, shows things are tearing/freeing up inside.
Then we went down to the gym floor. I did some traction and he said he would "assist". Good grief. As I tried to squat down while hanging onto the stretch band to pull my arm up, he found every painful spot in my shoulder, around my shoulder, in my armpit, and my pectorals. It was very, very painful and I yelped at some points (he reminded me not to scare off any potential clients that might be around! Ha). Then he took me over to the air bike:
My goal now is to get strong, flexible and fit. Just getting ROM back isn't enough any more, I feel motivated to get my body into the best condition I can.
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