So this week’s physical therapy for my shoulder was fairly uneventful, except that it was more of the painful table slides from last week and the addition of caning for external rotation like this:
This week, I got my flexion to 115 degrees, and the goal is to get to 140 degrees by Friday of next week. I have already met the goal of 80 degrees for abduction. But for external rotation, I’m still stuck at 15 degrees with no additional progress, and my goal is to get to 40 degrees. Yuck! That’s why we added the cane exercises this week to my home routine. It honestly feels like it’s impossible for my arm to externally rotate any more than it is, and it’s so painful even to have the therapist manipulate it that far.
My sleep quality has further declined since adding the table slides and caning. I’m doing them twice a day at home, along with the pendulum and stretching exercises that I do 3 times a day at home. At therapy appointments, the therapist has me do pulleys, and he also does some joint mobilizations as he tried to stretch out my range of motion. All of this adds up to waking up many times per night with pain and an inability to get comfortable after the first few hours of sleep. Last night, I woke up 8 times, and I got less than half an hour of deep sleep. No wonder I feel so tired!
At this point, I’m trying to work hard to make small advances at therapy, but it’s a little discouraging to be making such small gains. I really just long to feel normal again. This Friday will be the 6-week mark, so I should be cleared to come out of the sling for altogether. I’m kind of looking forward to that, because It hasn’t been very comfortable to wear it since they remove the immobilizer. I really feel like it just aggravates my neck and shoulders. I take it off whenever I can just rest my arm in my lap at home.
It took me two full afternoons to wrap Christmas gifts this year. It’s so hard with one arm and trying to make use of both hands with one hand so close to the body. It’s very awkward and takes twice as long! It’s finally done, though. It hardly even feels like Christmas. I didn’t even get to enjoy shopping the way I normally would. I did a lot of my shopping online to avoid the crowds with my sling. It’s felt like a very strange holiday season! But I press on. I’m trying to stay positive.
One cool thing is that I ordered a paddle brush hair dryer from Amazon to see if I could use it to dry and style my hair with one hand. It works great! Now I don’t have to trouble Steve with having to hold the blow dryer while I hold the brush. That was very awkward. So at least there’s one more thing I can do for myself again.
The downside of trying to be self sufficient with only one arm is that my good arm is most definitely getting overworked and has started aching much of the time. I’m trying to be careful not to overuse it, but that’s easier said than done.
No doubt, Friday will be a big milestone day for me. Aside from coming out of the sling, I can also transition from passive-only therapy to active therapy. I don’t know that my shoulder is even capable of moving on its own, but I’m anxious to find out. Wish me luck!
You will typically begin non-intrusive treatment inside the initial ten days. In the first place, exercise-based recuperation will concentrate on keeping your muscles graceful with inactive movement.
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