March 26, 2015
The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Having to Wait
Today was my second physio appointment. I had been working really hard on the exercises I was given last week - which involved using a stick to put the shoulder through a range of motion to the side and to the front. The physio measured the motion range with a kind of protractor, and declared about three times more motion than last week! So that was a thrill.
But, the next step was to see how much force my arm could exert in various directions. I don't have a clear visualization of what these directions were, but generally those forces were close to nil.
The physio said that my brain can not "find" and use many muscles. It is looking for something it can use, and consequently is activating the wrong ones. One of these is the pectoralis minor. So the strategy is to massage the pectoralis minor for a minute, to fatigue and deactivate it, and then to do "internal" and "external" rotation with the elbow at the side, using an elastic exercise band. I think the idea is that with the pectoralis minor temporarily disabled, the correct muscles will be brought into play. Does that sound right or have I just totally misunderstood?
Anyway, with a lot of the immediate pain gone, I feel ready to do stuff - like drive the tractor or riding mower, maybe even my bike? Dodie of course said no way, so I tried it out with the physio. Grrr. Nobody will let me do anything! Small steps, they say. Needs time, they say.
Patience is not one of my strong points. I am used to doing everything, and doing it now. If I need to move a 400 pound tractor tiller, or a refrigerator, or something, and there is no one to help, I will generally find a way to do it on my own, rather than wait. At least, I used to. But, I will do it again. Real soon now! (Sort of).
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