Now with Bonus Rotator Cuff!

The evolution of my condition is becoming a little clearer. Apparently I have some rotator cuff damage as well. That's what I did when I threw the sponge ball.

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that hold the top bone (humerus) into the joint. It's these that contribute the amazingly flexible mechanism that allows us to swing our arms in all sorts of directions. Rotator cuff injuries seem pretty common, and they can take a while to heal. In my case I think it was the triggering injury for Frozen Shoulder.

Today I also found a web site that rounded shoulders may also increase your risk. By chance, I did have a therapeutic massage a few months ago, and the masseur commented on my rounded shoulders. She said she could tell because my shoulder blades don't sit flat on my back.

The final straw was after my injury I started using free weights. But I think I was a bit too enthusiastic with them, and instead aggravated things.

So the sequence is something like this:

April 2009 - massage, noted rounded shoulders
May - threw sponge ball, damaged rotator cuff
June - desert motorbike trip
July - weights; onset of FS
7 Sep - today, probably end of Freezing stage.

I've just found a web site where they claim to have a therapy that offers rapid healing. I am wary since there are many fakes out there. I will research a bit more, and record here how it pans out. However it looks reasonably promising.

See http://www.frozenshoulder.com/

In the beginning

In the beginning there was pain, and there was much unhappiness...

This blog is to chart my progress through Frozen Shoulder, aka Adhesive Capsulitis.

I see there's another blogger who started one of these, but unfortunately didn't continue. We'll see if I do. Along the way I'm going to tell you about the various treatments and other information I uncover.

It all began a couple of days before my motorbike trip to central Australia, into some of the most amazing remote desert regions. On my lunchtime walk I picked up a sponge ball, and when I got back to the office I flung it over the partition to Bim.

It hurt straight away, and I knew I'd done some damage. Just before a very physically demanding motorbike trip. Good timing!

As it happened, I was able to do the trip without much impediment from the injury. The only time I noticed it was when I went to pick up a bike after our many prangs. I also recall starting to swim across the Diamentina River, and realising I couldn't properly swing my arm over my head.

Then when I returned I tried to fix my arm by exercising with light weights. Bad news; I wish I hadn't because all that happened was that it triggered the onset of Frozen Shoulder.

Postscript: I now know the damage was to my rotator cuff.