A few years ago I slipped on an icy patch crossing the street in Fort Collins, Colorado and landed on the bumper of a car. It forced my right arm much high that is was meant to go. Boy was it painful. As gracefully as possible I picked my self up and with one arm hanging at my side motioned to the driver that I was OK!! That was a lie because I knew that I had pulled something out of it's socket, broke a bone or tore ligaments.
Within a few days it started to feel better so I went back to my usual exercising routine avoiding most things that would cause pain to that area. A few months later I visited a orthopedic surgeon just to see what I actually did to my shoulder. His answer after doing an MRI, "You have a massive tear in your rotator cuff." He explained to me that it had already begun to reattach itself and his advise was the following: surgery or leave it alone. Surgery would require lots of rehab, pain, many months to heal and the arm will never lay against your body evenly. The other option was leave it alone. That was an easy choice, I left it alone. The surgeon also said that because I continued too exercise the healing process was much more rapid than a normal recovery from this kind of injury.
Nine years later I have not had any trouble with that arm. I play tennis, lift weights, cycle, swim, run and hike without a hint of a problem.
The essence of the story: think it thru before jumping into surgery and do some of your own research, it's easy, just google it!!
Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.
Within a few days it started to feel better so I went back to my usual exercising routine avoiding most things that would cause pain to that area. A few months later I visited a orthopedic surgeon just to see what I actually did to my shoulder. His answer after doing an MRI, "You have a massive tear in your rotator cuff." He explained to me that it had already begun to reattach itself and his advise was the following: surgery or leave it alone. Surgery would require lots of rehab, pain, many months to heal and the arm will never lay against your body evenly. The other option was leave it alone. That was an easy choice, I left it alone. The surgeon also said that because I continued too exercise the healing process was much more rapid than a normal recovery from this kind of injury.
Nine years later I have not had any trouble with that arm. I play tennis, lift weights, cycle, swim, run and hike without a hint of a problem.
The essence of the story: think it thru before jumping into surgery and do some of your own research, it's easy, just google it!!
Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment