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flexagonPhysical therapist visit today. Apparently what I really pissed off last week is not my deltoid but my AC joint, the joint between the clavicle and a funny little wrapping-to-the-front bit of the shoulder blade. The PT thinks that it's inflamed (but no worse) and will get better over the next couple of weeks (which I was figuring out myself, based on it getting better quite a lot over the last week). This is fantastic news, actually, and I even learned about a joint I didn't know I had.*
But he still wants me to come for twice-a-week physical therapy for a couple of weeks, and he has issues with my posture. I need to be doing more lower/middle trap exercises, apparently, to keep my now-very-tight pecs from dragging my shoulders forward. And I need to stretch out my upper traps more. Fine, okay, but the trouble is that I need a doctor's note for insurance to pay for actual PT, and I don't have a PCP and I've been putting off getting one. The PT also seemed kind to have a scolding demeanor and not take my current work/goals very seriously (though I might have just been feeling touchy because of the things I've been doing on the injured shoulder). I tried to explain that when I'm working out alone I can take infinite care with my form, and that in fact my workouts didn't cause or particularly exacerbate the problem... but I got the sense I was being scolded for continuing, even though the things I backed off on due to pain are the same things the PT told me to back off on. My conclusion is that pain's a perfectly good guide on what to do and what not to do.
Option One: pay for today's visit out of pocket, don't go back, implement PT's suggestions as part of my usual workouts. Feel guilty about not doing as suggested by professional.
Option Two: call potential PCPs tomorrow, see if they can take a new patient. Actually see one (this will no doubt result in a small cascade of follow-on appointments -- when was my last PAP smear again?), get doctor's note, go back to PT to get scolded about posture. Feel guilty about wasting the insurance company's money, feel guilty about posture, feel guilty for not feeling guilty about hardcore strength work.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromioclavicular_joint. Looking at the picture, I've pretty clearly irritated the superior acromioclavicular ligament. Better that than the other ACL!
But he still wants me to come for twice-a-week physical therapy for a couple of weeks, and he has issues with my posture. I need to be doing more lower/middle trap exercises, apparently, to keep my now-very-tight pecs from dragging my shoulders forward. And I need to stretch out my upper traps more. Fine, okay, but the trouble is that I need a doctor's note for insurance to pay for actual PT, and I don't have a PCP and I've been putting off getting one. The PT also seemed kind to have a scolding demeanor and not take my current work/goals very seriously (though I might have just been feeling touchy because of the things I've been doing on the injured shoulder). I tried to explain that when I'm working out alone I can take infinite care with my form, and that in fact my workouts didn't cause or particularly exacerbate the problem... but I got the sense I was being scolded for continuing, even though the things I backed off on due to pain are the same things the PT told me to back off on. My conclusion is that pain's a perfectly good guide on what to do and what not to do.
Option One: pay for today's visit out of pocket, don't go back, implement PT's suggestions as part of my usual workouts. Feel guilty about not doing as suggested by professional.
Option Two: call potential PCPs tomorrow, see if they can take a new patient. Actually see one (this will no doubt result in a small cascade of follow-on appointments -- when was my last PAP smear again?), get doctor's note, go back to PT to get scolded about posture. Feel guilty about wasting the insurance company's money, feel guilty about posture, feel guilty for not feeling guilty about hardcore strength work.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromioclavicular_joint. Looking at the picture, I've pretty clearly irritated the superior acromioclavicular ligament. Better that than the other ACL!
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-11 11:39 am (UTC)I've been told the shoulders forward posture thing is actually fairly common for circus folk. Solution is mainly stretching/additional strengthening, like he said. Still good to catch early before it pulls stuff out of whack.
So so glad it's just inflamed! That stuff is scary. You also icing and maybe taking some anti-inflammatories?
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Date: 2011-08-12 12:26 am (UTC)That's interesting about circus people and the forward shoulders! I have to say, though, I tried some of the exercises prescribed by the PT this morning and they hurt the inflamed joint a lot more than the hardcore strength stuff I'd been doing before. I wonder if some of the slump is coming from pain avoidance, at the moment. I do one exercise already that should be hitting the mid-traps pretty hard. Anyway, I have no problem working in some more stretches and back exercises... it's clearly a good idea, if not related to the problem at hand. Er, at shoulder.
It's hurting less every day now, and yes I'm taking anti-inflammatories. :-) I had been using heat when the muscle pain outweighed the joint pain; but I might ice tonight.