With A Torn Rotator Cuff - Nearly Had to Give Up Playing Golf

Being a slightly older dad with young kids I try fairly hard to try to stay fit and active so that I can keep up with my kids as they grow uo. I also enjoy a game of golf, a good walk ruined as they say. I'm not a briiliant player as I never get to play as often as I would like but I do like a round every now and again, so was really hacked off when I developed a shoulder problem that made me stop playing.

It was more complicated than that. The shoulder injury turned out to be a torn rotator cuff which really stopped me from doing any form of activity. It was painful when I ran or walked, even though I am right handed, any movement could cause serious pain in my left shoulder. If I forgot for a moment and made a sudden movement I could end up crying with in agony. I know exactly how I did it. I was being my usual impatient self and trying to lift some flat packed furniture on my own rather than waiting for help, felt a pop in my shoulder and that was that. Shoulder messed up| The next day I woke up with shoulder pain and it got progessively worse as each day went by.

Reaching above my shoulder, reaching out for anything was impossible. I couldn't reach behind me. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get comfortable and I couldn't do a thing with the kids. Golf was out of the question. So I took myself off to the doctors who sent me to a specialist. He diagnosed my torn rotator cuff, which was confirmed by an MRI scan. The shoulder joint is a basic ball and socket joint. It is different to the hip joint in that the socket is made up predominantly of cartilage rather than bone and doesn't grip the bone of the arm. Instead, a group of four muscles hold the joint together. These make up the rotator cuff. I had managed to tear one of these muscles which had caused. Because all the muscles fit snuggly together any inflammation causes an impingement or pinching.

The muscle that I had torn is called the supraspinatus. I had torn a tendon that runs under my collar bone or clavicle and the end of my scapula or shoulder blade. Because it became inflammed, each time that I moved in a certain wayit got pinched or impingedpinched and was aggravated. Surgery was recommended to shave off part of my collar bone to release the impinged tendon and let it to heal without any more damage. It all sounded very simple but I was a bit nervous.

Being in the UK we are used to waiting for surgery so I took the time to do some research on the subject while waiting for my surgery date. Having read up on my injury extensively I finally discovered that the majority of rotator cuff problems are solved with simple physical therapy .Even a torn rotator cuff can be solved in this way, as long as it is only a partial tear. You start off by resting the joint to let the inflammation to calm down, treating it with anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and using ice packs. Once the inflammation and pain have reduced you can start gentle physical therapy exercises aimed at building up and strengthening the rotator cuff

Within six weeks my shoulder was pain free and the movement had improved dramatically. A few more weeks saw me return to full fitness. I have put off the surgery and may well be cancelling it altogether if I remain pain free.

In the meantime I am playing golf again, still losing but hey, I do have a bad shoulder!