Repairing My Shoulder

I can tell a huge difference when I lift on my right side vs the left.  There must be something in my muscle structure causing this, right?  Also, my left hand is often going to sleep and all tingly.  My coworker was thinking this was carpal tunnel.  I finally broke down and went to a sports medicine doctor.  This one is closer to work (actually on my way to the farmer's market) so it's a little more accessible (and free parking) than the rest of the doctors I've seen over the years.

Last Wednesday I stopped at the office on my way back from the farmer's market and scheduled an appointment for Friday.  When I saw the doctor she did multiple manipulations of my left shoulder.  I also had her check the bump in case that was related.  I was surprised when she took me to another room that had a portable ultrasound machine.  She took a quick informal look at the bump.  The diagnosis?

Other specific joint derangements of unspecified shoulder, not elsewhere classified, Benign lipomatous neoplasm of other sites, Impingement syndrome of left shoulder

Once I was done with the doctor I went across the hall to physical therapy.  They were able to get me in with a therapist right away; I just had to wait a little for her to finish up with her current patient.  After all I was in no hurry to get back to work.  The therapist manipulated my shoulder some more.  She determined that I also have at least one kink in my ulnar nerve, causing my pinky and ring finger to go numb on occasion.  So with all that, instead of her normal 2 exercises to work on she gave me 7!

Yes, I tried to get creative on this picture.  Do you know how hard it is to use a stylus on a tablet to color in hair? LOL  I gave up trying to color the others.

Same as the first but using the opposite side of my arm.

This one makes me think of it as a modification on the Superman exercise.

The therapist didn't have me use a weight for this.

My fingers would go numb doing this exercise.  I like doing this one while brushing my teeth.

The therapist said that sometimes the median nerve is also affected when the ulnar is funky so she threw this one in too.

Looks like I'll be laying the smack down! LOL

Today I got to use the arm bike for the first time ever.  Both ways my hands went a little numb.  I noticed that forward pedaling (do you call it pedaling when it's your arms not your legs?) my right arm felt more dominant but backwards pedaling it was my left.  The therapist gave me 3 more exercises to do but with the therapy bands this time.

Have you ever noticed the difference in abilities to lift or carry things between your right and left sides?

Have you had a shoulder impingement?  If so, what did your treatment plan look like?

October Challenge

In the Brand New Me Healthy Living Community we will be walking and running through October. We are doing this to go along with the If Girls Ran The World campaign. This challenge will be a difficult one for me since I don't like walking in the rain and have no treadmill for indoors.  I hope the library has some Leslie Sansone walking DVDs I can pick up!

The Rules

• Run or walk daily.
• Choose what you are going to track over the month.
• Time: Run/Walk for more time on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Distance:  Run/Walk further on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Speed:  Run/Walk a little faster on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Share an image from your walk or run with your time/distance/speed noted in the post.
• On Instagram, tagging me, and using the hashtags #BrandNewMe #IfGirlsRanTheWorld and #Walktober (if you're walking) or #Runtober (if you're running).
• In the Brand New Me Healthy Living Community
• At the end of the month prizes (TBD) will be awarded to the person with the most improvement in each tracked category.  This will be on the honor system.

Linking up with

Jill for Fitness Health & Happiness

MississippiPiddlin & HoHo Runs

#MotivateMe Monday with Fitness Cheerleader, Running Rachel, & Run Mommy Run

Sunday Fitness & Food Linkup with Marathons & Motivation & IlkasBlog

Goal

There were no changes in measurements when Benny checked me Monday night. I weighed in last night down 1.6 lbs, surpassing my goal weight! I'm now in Maintenance for six weeks before reaching Lifetime at Weight Watchers. The aim is to stay in the 138-142 lb weight range. I now have an 6 extra points a day to eat....no idea what else I WANT to eat.  What did you add to your daily food intake when you hit maintenance?

 

 

Weight Maintenance

 

So how do you succeed in maintenance? The little booklet they provide when you reach goal gives 5 simple steps.

1. Enjoy your extra food each day. (As long as you don't go overboard, you'll be OK.)
2. Continue exploring ways to make the Plan work for you.
3. Continue attending meetings and weighing in regularly.
4. Keep (or start) moving!
5. Look forward to Lifetime Membership.

Week of Workouts

 

Thursday was cardio and abs.

 

Friday I worked my back.

 

Week 7 wrapped up Saturday working my shoulders.

 

 

Monday I worked my chest.

 

Tuesday was lightheaded leg day.

 

Combo headache this morning so I made it a rest day.  (Delayed onset headache from PT maybe.)

 

Physical Therapy Week 1

 

Tuesday's physical therapy session focused on evaluating me for positional vertigo. Everything looked OK and I passed all the tests. Nothing brought on vertigo. My left eye did have a delay in catching up with my right eye. Not really sure what that means or if there's anything to do about it.

Today's session the PT manipulated the muscles at the base of my skull and jaw.  The little bit of pressure she applied at the base of my skull took my headache away relatively quickly.  I know I clench my jaw sometimes but never thought my muscles there would be so tight!  She also stretched my neck out several times to balance everything out.  At the end she had me lay there with a heated neck wrap.  That felt good but more because IT'S FREEZING OUT!

No clue how much the physical therapy is going to cost me.  I'm sure if Benny saw the pricing he would say quit now.  I really wish the medical and insurance professions were more transparent in pricing so you can better plan for things.

 

 

Linking up with

Ending Build and Starting Bulk

Yesterday morning I went to the doctor for my annual physical.  I'm probably going to be billed a copay for the visit because apparently Anthem requires visits to be 1 year and 1 day apart.  The doctor and I believe my headaches stem from my neck.  He examined my neck and shoulders, finding several tight and/or tender spots.  So he's given me the referral for physical therapy.  Hopefully they'll find the release point like they did for my leg!  With the crazy way insurance is I have no clue how much it'll cost me.  As far as blood work he had them run several but the results won't be available for me to see online until about midnight.

Benny measured me last week.  I lost another inch in my chest and a half inch or so in my arms.  Everything else pretty much stayed the same.  Last night I weighed in down .2 lbs.

Week of Workouts

Thursday I worked my shoulders.

Friday was leg day.

Saturday was the last day of the build phase working my back and biceps.

Monday I began the bulk phase working my chest.  It was quite a different format in how the sets are in the build phase.

Yesterday was the first bulk leg day.  I couldn't get in the single leg 50 calf raises; it was around 36 on each leg for me.

Today I worked my arms.  I was wondering what an arms workout was...after all isn't weightlifting in general all arms?  There were a LOT of curls in this workout.

Linking up with

Tai Cheng Week 4 - Painfully COMPLETED

For years I had pain down my right leg which I thought to be sciatica but the doctors would never say that's what it was.  Once I reached the point of constant pain without relief my doctor sent me to physical therapy. The PT immediately knew what it was - my IT band and piriformis muscle were extremely tight and would rub my sciatic nerve.  She found the tight spots and worked them out; it was painful in that instant but afterwards sweet relief!  I was nearly pain free in my leg for the first time in years.  The PT gave me some stretches and instructions for what to do whenever the pain flared up.









Well, this week's Neural Reboot 2 introduced from rolling of the quads - the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis.  Laying on the roller was a challenge.  I felt like a beached whale trying to get on there!  Then came the actual rolling of my right leg.  OMG I thought I was going to die!  There was instant pain that felt like someone was stabbing my leg multiple times.  I was crying and screaming a little while trying to roll.  Then I started laughing...I don't know why experiencing this pain was so comical to me.  Then came the left leg.  Hello, pain!  Where did you come from?  I had no idea there were tight spots on my left leg too!

 

Benny was watching me the whole time.  While I was the beached whale screaming and crying I told him that we should've filmed this experience for America's Funniest Home Videos!

Well, all that pain made me nauseous and I had much difficulty performing the rest of the workout.  I shook for hours afterwards the first day.  It was around day 4 that the pain had subsided enough post foam rolling that I could complete the rest of the workout as my normal self.  Sure, the pain is still there when I roll the quads but it's nothing like those first few days.

There were several other new moves in Neural Reboot 2 but it was all a blur because of the pain.  I completed everything but it wasn't an enjoyable week.  This set of Tai Cheng moves was more complicated than the first ones so I think I missed out on the full experience since I was concentrating on making the pain go away.