Topic: shoulder care

In Oct 2011, I was about ready to order a Hwarang bow but a re-occurring physical problem  reared its achy head – what I now know as a rotator cuff problem involving inflammation of the Supraspinous tendon and weakened Supraspinous muscle. This pair is the most susceptible of the 4 rotator cuff elements and I, as most older men, tend to ignore this sort of pain and lowering of function, and assume that a little rest and a few stretches will klet me think that healing had occurred. This is not the case. It appears that the human body, in all its complexities, provides for all sorts of compensations that allow us to find alternative ways to get a heavy winter coat on or lift something weighing just a few pounds to an upper shelf. The point is that for a year or so I had been reacquainting myself with archery and was now well and truly hooked . The pain didn't stop my training but it did wake me up to the need to get (dreaded) real medical attention. I was lucky, the X-ray and ultra sound prescribed by an orthopedic surgeon showed only inflammation but nothing needing surgery- what was prescribed was physical therapy.
Now this may sound rather ho hum but I have been involved with physical fitness my whole life from my father teaching me about push and pull ups and boxing since before I was 5 yrs. old through high school, college, the army and the various sports I have trained for since then; but nowhere along the way did I get instruction or even awareness of the rotator cuff or how to care for it.
The conscientious care of my physical therapist has been of enormous help.  She taught me a whole slew of exercises, especially with stretch bands and how to do cross fiber massage to promote actual healing.  Her guided instruction is now part of my regular exercise regime. I learned about micro-tears that accumulate benignly with time but cause undifferentiated scar tissue to build up in the tendon, leading to increased pain, which limits movement and thus muscle atrophy.  Also, this permanent ache interferes with sleep. Yes, one can go to Google and U-Tube and get information but it is not the same as actually having a trained person actually show you where the problem lies – it's actually a very tiny muscle.
With this therapy I am pain free in the shoulders and even though I still get a twinge now and then and full recovery is still a long way off – archery training is progressing with results – namely that good form is dependent on a rotator cuff that functions properly.
An additional piece of useful physical information - I now better understand the need for bone-on-bone alignment in the bow arm through the shoulders, which allows for better engagement of the back muscles and how this affects the long draw. So I am now about ready to order that Hwarang bow.
I bring all this up because I better understand physical therapy and advocate its use.  Also I hope my experience will encourage others of you to adopt the treatments of physical therapy as physical fitness routine and thus hold off the terrible and limiting pain and discomfort,  and also simply have better archery results.

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Re: shoulder care

Thank you.

It would also be helpful if you could include some exercises that you were taught at the physical therapist.

Joseph

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3 (edited by Eilvin 2012-12-15 03:52:13)

Re: shoulder care

Thanks John for this fabulous post. Our shoulders are so sensitive and need lot of care. I have learnt many things with your post. I will keep these points in my mind that you are trying to say. Great post.

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4 (edited by malborn 2013-01-26 05:27:41)

Re: shoulder care

This is quite informative and useful information regarding exercise.No doubt now days in busy world exercise and physical workouts plays a vital role in our life to maintain our body and health in proper way.

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Re: shoulder care

John, you described my shoulder pain to a T. I've been putting off seeing a doctor for about three months now .............. I think it's time, since the pain isn't getting any better. Thank you for the post. Will

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