And not of the tricep variety. Monday wasn't good at all - my shoulder, or more my upper arm, had been incredibly painful all weekend, and Monday hadn't really improved it. Off to the physio, and the first thing he asked was to see my movement. Well. Not great. Sideways was ok, and back wasn't really any different, but lifting it in front of me would only get level with my shoulder, not above.
There was a pause, where we both stared at my stupid arm, wondering what to say. I hadn't had a chance to warm up, so it was a bit stiff, and it had been so painful for the last few days. I couldn't figure out what caused it. I only added Lat Pulldowns and Incline Flys, and neither of us could see how those would have caused this.
Adjusted the session to be manipulations, not down on the gym floor. They hurt quite a lot. And at one point something really went in my upper arm and the pain was really quite intense. And my least favourite scraper tool came out as well. Don't care for that at all. The physio cracks me up though - I tell him I don't like the tool, and he just says that's interesting and carries on as before. Ha.
As I pay, he does a double-take and looks closely at my shoulder and tells me to pull my shoulder blades back. Then looks a bit concerned and says I need to really focus on strengthening and rotator cuff exercises. He thought it was a good idea to go and do some exercise right then. Google tells me it's most likely he saw a subluxation, which is not ideal. He did say it improved when I pulled my shoulder blades together.
I did most of an upper body workout, but the gym was surprisingly crowded for nearly 3pm on a Monday, and there were personal trainers with clients cluttering up whole chunks of the space, so I couldn't (or wouldn't) do some stuff. Got 25 minutes in on the airbike though.
Tuesday my knee decided to join the pain party, and there was a horrible tearing sensation at the outside of my left kneecap when I tried to use the airbike. I managed 5 minutes to start, then did a full lower body workout without any issues. The last 10 minutes on the airbike was only 3 minutes, as my knee really let me know it didn't enjoy it. Walking was a little stiff as well.
Today was a bit better. I was in at work very early walking across London in the dawn, and so went to the gym at 9:30 - so nice and quiet for a fair while it was just me and the cleaner.
My knee wasn't too bad, and I noticed that if I focus on not letting my knee fall in when pedalling it's ok. I did a full upper body workout, and very bravely changed the attachments on the pulley machine - which is harder than it might be when my right arm can get up that high, so you have to remove the current attachment (it was a short bar) and add a different one (I wanted the ropes), effectively one-handed. I think the flys might be the culprit that is causing the pain in my upper arm, as when I was doing them today I got the same pain in my left arm.
Tomorrow I'm working from home, and plan to get out for a run, knee-willing. It's going to be pretty cold, but sunny so should be lovely out there. Then Friday back to the physio, where I hope my shoulder will behave, so we don't have to both look appalled and disappointed again.
My main theory is adhesions. It occurred to me that the pain, which is like a really bad bruise, is in the same area where, after the accident, I had the bruise that went sideways round my upper arm, which then turned into a hard lump. Which is also where the deltoid tuberosity / insertion point is. So maybe all that bruising and damage left adhesions behind, and now that I am working the muscles and getting movement, it's causing the adhesions to tear / resist and causing pain.
There was a pause, where we both stared at my stupid arm, wondering what to say. I hadn't had a chance to warm up, so it was a bit stiff, and it had been so painful for the last few days. I couldn't figure out what caused it. I only added Lat Pulldowns and Incline Flys, and neither of us could see how those would have caused this.
Adjusted the session to be manipulations, not down on the gym floor. They hurt quite a lot. And at one point something really went in my upper arm and the pain was really quite intense. And my least favourite scraper tool came out as well. Don't care for that at all. The physio cracks me up though - I tell him I don't like the tool, and he just says that's interesting and carries on as before. Ha.
As I pay, he does a double-take and looks closely at my shoulder and tells me to pull my shoulder blades back. Then looks a bit concerned and says I need to really focus on strengthening and rotator cuff exercises. He thought it was a good idea to go and do some exercise right then. Google tells me it's most likely he saw a subluxation, which is not ideal. He did say it improved when I pulled my shoulder blades together.
I did most of an upper body workout, but the gym was surprisingly crowded for nearly 3pm on a Monday, and there were personal trainers with clients cluttering up whole chunks of the space, so I couldn't (or wouldn't) do some stuff. Got 25 minutes in on the airbike though.
Tuesday my knee decided to join the pain party, and there was a horrible tearing sensation at the outside of my left kneecap when I tried to use the airbike. I managed 5 minutes to start, then did a full lower body workout without any issues. The last 10 minutes on the airbike was only 3 minutes, as my knee really let me know it didn't enjoy it. Walking was a little stiff as well.
Today was a bit better. I was in at work very early walking across London in the dawn, and so went to the gym at 9:30 - so nice and quiet for a fair while it was just me and the cleaner.
My knee wasn't too bad, and I noticed that if I focus on not letting my knee fall in when pedalling it's ok. I did a full upper body workout, and very bravely changed the attachments on the pulley machine - which is harder than it might be when my right arm can get up that high, so you have to remove the current attachment (it was a short bar) and add a different one (I wanted the ropes), effectively one-handed. I think the flys might be the culprit that is causing the pain in my upper arm, as when I was doing them today I got the same pain in my left arm.
Tomorrow I'm working from home, and plan to get out for a run, knee-willing. It's going to be pretty cold, but sunny so should be lovely out there. Then Friday back to the physio, where I hope my shoulder will behave, so we don't have to both look appalled and disappointed again.
My main theory is adhesions. It occurred to me that the pain, which is like a really bad bruise, is in the same area where, after the accident, I had the bruise that went sideways round my upper arm, which then turned into a hard lump. Which is also where the deltoid tuberosity / insertion point is. So maybe all that bruising and damage left adhesions behind, and now that I am working the muscles and getting movement, it's causing the adhesions to tear / resist and causing pain.
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