Shoulder arthritis

[dhofert]

Well I just found out that my shoulder pain is arthritis. Doc says I have an 80yo shoulder 50yrs early. Anyways I am on some anti-inflammatory meds right now and plan on skiing some this weekend. I have been doing the stretches and exercises given to me and told it wouldn't injure me to ski. It seems to me that it feels better after I do the stretches and would assume I need to warm up good before skiing. Does anyone else deal with this shoulder pain? Is there anything special pre-ski that you have found to help?

 

I got out really early this year than have been out to stubborn to go to the Dr. for almost a month. I can't take it any more. If this is unbearable to ski I might have to opt for the surgery:(

[MZito]

Do some research on PRP or stem cell. Talk to your physician if he/she knows anything about this. PM me if you have any questions.

[MrJones]

Probably be a good idea to get to a good PT for a few weeks and get some face to face help. You can likely go a long time before considering any surgery if you do some maintenance on yourself and activity modification.

[dhofert]

It feels like if I change my grip to left palm up instead of right up it seems to feel better. I am defiantly going to take it easy and if it doesn't feel right throw the towel in. If the pain does not go away in a week or two I am supposed to go in and discuss other options with PT being the next step I believe. For sure I am going to keep up on my exercises and stretching as that makes a huge difference already.

[eleeski]

+1 on the PT. Even better if your PT is a water skier. @BHarwood is magic if you are anywhere near San Diego.

 

I was diagnosed with horrible shoulder arthritis a while back. The surgeon was backed up 6 weeks but I started PT right away. I was good about both the sessions and the homework working very hard with my rubber bands. By the time I got to see the surgeon it was much better.

 

"What's your pain level?"

 

"About a two."

 

"I'm not cutting you open for a two! Come back when it hurts."

 

I'm still doing the rubber bands a decade later - and still have my shoulder free from nasty scars.

 

Eric

[Cent]

PT can provide amazing success. I would want PT asap.

[neddie]

I'm with @eleeski here - I got the same diagnosis. Hurt like crazy, so bad I woke up during the nights. Could only sleep when my arm was hanging down on the side of the bed laying on my stomach. Started working out with rubber bands to prepare for surgery. After 7 or 8 months when I finally got the date for surgery my shoulder was feeling a little better so I postponed it. 2 or 3 months later I cancelled the planned surgery as my shoulder was pretty much 100% and has been like this for the past 6 months.

 

So, my advice is to ditch the surgery-plans, do the right exercises and expect your recovery to take a while. Getting back from a shoulder surgery is not done in a week either and once your cut, the "damage" is done...

[foxriverat]

Yep pt all the way. I`m 57 and have had bad shoulders for years from abusing my body. 2 years ago right shoulder really started hurting so bad I was having trouble sleeping. Took me a month to see a guy around here who is the shoulder guru. In the mean time I started doing pt on my own. MRI revealed 2 small tears in Rotator cuff, arthritis, tendonitis, loss of cartilage and bone spur. I was feeling better because of the pt so he said he wouldn`t suggest surgery at the time. I said how the hell am I still functioning with all this going on. Skiing really does`nt bothers it. And I still workout at the gym with selective excercises that dont bother it.

[Alberto Soares]

Another one for PT, 52, shoulders have been a problem for years, doctor told me a couple years ago I have to redo both. With PT I learned not to make any exercises where my elbows go higher than my shoulders, extreme stretchs are also bad for me, daily rubber band exercises are the best

[dhofert]

Thanks for all the input guys. I really feel the rubber band work helps a ton. I don't have any tears just some extra bone. I did stretch some ligaments pretty bad playing hockey in high school which is what this comes from I guess.

 

I really don't want surgery and with how it feels now I think PT would be the best option now. As for skiing I will take it slow and see how it feels, DR said it won't hurt it any, painful probably though.

[cragginshred]

@dhofert was your Doc a gen practitioner or an ortho? GP docs don't have a lot of musculoskeletal evaluation skills and they often generalize with out specifics.

 

PT will be able to assess if you have impingement, lack of motion and then address those issue with range of motion and cuff strengthening exercises.

 

Easy range warm up is slide your hand up a pole on the dock and lean into it for maximal flexion.

For some basic strengthening I can make a short video and show you some of my favorite dock warm up exercises which will help with posterior cuff and shoulder retractors which will warm you up nicely for your stack position!

 

pm if interested

[34mph]

Where in MI are at ?

[B_S]

Also try this stuff, available at Amazon. I have chronic back pain where I used to have a rod and clamps in my back, along with 8 fused vertebrae. This has helped.

 

[dhofert]

@cragginshred he is primarly sports medicine and family care. I will hold off on the video unless you actually have something made already, at least until I find out this weekend if I will be able to ski much before PT.

 

@34mph I am in the Grand Rapids area, ski on Gun lake.

[cragginshred]

Short vid done at lunch for anyone interested - email me at: edenlane@yahoo.com

 

@dhofert good to hear, although I am confused about 'the surgery' you spoke of. That would be following an ortho consult in most cases. Being told you have 'arthitis' without the specifics of -impingement, anterior instability, labrum pain ect, is a pretty generic assessment and pretty common with family Docs.

 

From a skier/clinician perspective think of the joint this way -4 muscles make up the cuff holding the humeral head in the socket, your delts, pecs, lats and others move the humorous bone. If you have joint pain I would take a look at video of myself skiing to see if my arms stay close to my vest through out the entire pass. If so I don't have to explain where the load is coming from, if not your shoulder joints (back, and elbows too) are likely taking the load and the cause of the pain.

 

Just my 2 cents

[dhofert]

@cragginshred I went in to have it looked at after a month of pain mostly when I lift my arm around shoulder height in front of me. There were no serious talks of surgery at this time but more of an option possibly down the road. Based on xrays it looks like I have grown more bone at the end of my collar bone. It was a lot to take in while I was there really. Just another reason its been 10+ years since I have been to a Dr.

 

Again right now we are in a wait and see what happens in the next few weeks mode and was told to call back if it does not get better.

[dhofert]

Finally made it out today! No pain whatsoever while I was skiing. Feels about normal so far a few hours later. Going to keep on doing my exercises and stretches and keep at it. As for my skiing, I felt pretty off balance but being on public water on a holiday weekend it wasn't the best of conditions. Shooting for an early start tomorrow.

[cragginshred]

I am getting a few pm's for my dock warm up so i figured I would post this vid which has several clinical cuff type exercises

 

[mopowpow]

Thanks @cragginshred! I like the idea of standing on the cushion to work core and balance, it makes sense. I'm a personal trainer and the majority of my clients have shoulder issues (me included). I normally throw in some rotator cuff work, since they never seem to continue exercises provided by their physical therapist. "It doesn't hurt any more, I can stop!" But guess that's what keeps us in business!

[liquid d]

I'm going to do umbilical cord stem cell for my hip....I can't find anything negative on it. Does anyone have any experience with it?

[mopowpow]

@liquid d, my sister had stem cell treatment for her hip about 2 years ago. She went to Mayo and they used her own stem cells. She went back for a check up 6 months later, feeling better, but tests indicated no real improvement. They told her she would need to have it done several more times to see any results. She scheduled a hip replacement a few months later.

[tjm]

@cragginshred thanks for video post.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@cragginshred great video. Would you consider doing a similar one for lower back exercises?

[Bdecker]

@cragginshred - thanks for the video. Definitely a number of good additions to the cuff workout I have been doing since my dislocation last season. I love the addition of the one leg on a stabilization surface.