Free Spirits Rowing

Despite all these injuries there is hope out there! I have just achieved two 5k rows on consecutive days. We will pass on the times. However, my resting heart rate is down to 49 bpm for the first time since before my heart op. I have found that I can take care of my own training and am pushing my heart rate up inch by inch. However, resistance training is another matter. I have searched high and low for information on this matter (how much weight and when for example. I did find a website for Cardiac Physiotherapists who advocated that all heart patients should do this but did not even do me the courtesy of sending a reply when I asked for help. I guess I am going to have to "suck it and see". Heart rehab is very good for returning heart patients to 'normal living', but leaves one on their own to return to real fitness.
Just as a bonus, I have been told that I need a new hip. Any more hurdles? Just put them in front of me, I will jump them! Well row at them anyway.
To all those with injuries, I am with you in spirit and as far as doctors are concerned, I take the advice of my marvelous surgeon who said YES YOU CAN!!

Dave
75 6ft tall 13 stone 4 and very proud to be a Free Spirit

Way to soldier on, Dave! A real inspiration!

Davedcm wrote:Despite all these injuries there is hope out there! I have just achieved two 5k rows on consecutive days. We will pass on the times. However, my resting heart rate is down to 49 bpm for the first time since before my heart op.t

Very good news, Dave!

Back to my GP today after my trip to Alvor. Two issues - back pain and a nasty case of the dreaded lurgy.

I've been referred back to my pain specialist to get a cortisone injection and prescribed an antibiotic for a chest/lung infection and told to stay off the erg for a week or so. Hoping to be (at least partly) recovered in time for Madchester.

Paul V

Paul Victory wrote:Back to my GP today after my trip to Alvor. Two issues - back pain and a nasty case of the dreaded lurgy.

I've been referred back to my pain specialist to get a cortisone injection and prescribed an antibiotic for a chest/lung infection and told to stay off the erg for a week or so. Hoping to be (at least partly) recovered in time for Madchester.

How are you feeling now Paul?

I hope that the cortisone injection has helped ease the back discomfort and the antib's have been effective?

Davedcm wrote:To all those with injuries, I am with you in spirit and as far as doctors are concerned, I take the advice of my marvelous surgeon who said YES YOU CAN!!

David, many apologies, as I'm not 100% sure as to which David you are ( not Plummy I know )? That doesn't matter though, because each time I read your comments, I break out into a big smile. Heartening stuff. =D>

Take care both of you.

Jill wrote:

Paul Victory wrote:Back to my GP today after my trip to Alvor. Two issues - back pain and a nasty case of the dreaded lurgy.

I've been referred back to my pain specialist to get a cortisone injection and prescribed an antibiotic for a chest/lung infection and told to stay off the erg for a week or so. Hoping to be (at least partly) recovered in time for Madchester.

How are you feeling now Paul?

I hope that the cortisone injection has helped ease the back discomfort and the antib's have been effective?

Thanks Jill

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting to get an appointment for the cortisone injection (the specialist is away at present, returning on Monday) and I've finished the antibiotic, but my chest/lung infection has not fully cleared up, so I'm thinking of going back to my GP on Monday (he's also been on holidays this week).

So I haven't done any erging this month apart from the 5 minutes I did before having to bail due to shortness of breath in Alvor. Hopefully, I'll be back on the erg in time for Madchester. If not, I'll join Erik as co-cheerleader.

Paul V

I have decided that I will no longer post in "Injuries". I am doing very well with my sessions and have taken lumps off my 5K time (nowhere near my previous times yet, but "softly softly catchee monkey"). Resistance training is still a bit painful but they said my chest muscles would be the last to comply with my requests.
Under Post Reply at the bottom of this page is- Return to "Training and Racing". Which is what I will do.

Dave
75 6ft tall 13 stone 4 and very proud to be a Free Spirit

There will be no rowing for me in the foreseeable future, I'm afraid.

An X-ray revealed a big lump of calcium in my left shoulder which greatly reduces external rotation (and can be rather painful at times). I now need to do exercises that improve suppleness, along with frequent visits to the manual therapist. As I understand it, it could be either shockwave therapy or surgery after that. Apparently rowing is not helpful, because the straight rowing motion builds shoulder strength that is more of a hindrance than anything else right now.

Jill wrote:I am sorry to hear that you have injured your shoulder Roger.

Reading through all the replies, it certainly doesn’t sound as if there are going to be any quick solutions, so it is important to follow the sage advice of your physio and fellow rowers and apply plenty of that beneficial medicine, patience.

As an alternative form of exercise, what about a daily 30 minute walk? You might be doing this already of course but if time allows, could it be increased to 1 hour perhaps …?

Lots of health and fitness advantages gained from walking and apart from comfortable footwear and suitable outdoor clothing, you need little else. Perhaps a canine companion … but definitely no wasps.

Best wishes and take care.

Jill, thank you for your well-wishes and suggestions. Walking is not an activity that suits me. I would get bored very quickly and it doesn't seem very time efficient to me either. I'm also ruling out any activity that requires me to join a fitness centre. Right now I'm looking into buying a stationary bike.

Hopefully I will be back on the rower at some stage, no idea when though!

Sorry to hear about your shoulder, Rodger!

The stationary bike should help maintain fitness while you're deciding what to do. Would the surgery actually remove the calcium lump? And did they say what caused it in the first place? Diet? Genetics?

Wishing you the best!

Cheers,

zootMutant wrote:The stationary bike should help maintain fitness while you're deciding what to do. Would the surgery actually remove the calcium lump? And did they say what caused it in the first place? Diet? Genetics?

I'm waiting for the delivery of the bike right now!

"Irritation" is as informative as it got for me regarding the cause. Apparently it's a fairly common issue, but usually for people a bit older than me (60+). I don't know, maybe this is a side effect of years of medication taking (for inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis).

As far as I understand now, surgery will only be the last option. First, the shoulder movement needs to improve with exercise and manual therapy, then they will be looking at shockwave therapy. If that doesn't give the desired effect, surgery will be the last resort.

zootMutant wrote:And did they say what caused it in the first place? Diet? Genetics?

Been there, done that.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4559544/

Mine flared up about 4'ish years ago out of the blue. Confined me to watching TV as motionless as I could for several days. Any little movement of the arm caused excruciating, nausea-inducing pain in the shoulder. I believe it was the worst pain I've ever endured (to date).

Funny thing is that the pain doesn't originate with the cyst/lump itself; at least in my case. The entire mass of soft tissue (muscle, tendons, ligaments) basically ignited with inflammation in response to the cyst's presence. Luckily for me, a big ol' cortisone shot in the shoulder gave near instant relief, and I was back to relatively normal within a week. They said the cyst might remain or it might dissolve away on its own over time. I get the feeling it's still in there or has been replaced with another as my shoulders both tend to have odd soreness from time to time. I'm just hoping to never see another flare-up like that last one. This minor nuisance pain I can live with.

Had a lumbar injection yesterday which will hopefully resolve my back problems (or at the very least improve them a bit). I've been told it will take a couple of days before I feel the benefits of it and I've to take it easy for the next couple of days.

I've been given the all clear to start erging again in a week or two, so I'm hoping to get back in the saddle before month end. I might even have a go at the CTC!

Best of luck with the treatment and recovery, Paul

Thanks Erik. I'm not particularly happy with how things are going at present. Yesterday I was woken just after 5 a.m. by a very severe cramp in my right hamstring. When I was walking yesterday, I was experiencing pain down my right leg that was as bad as, if not worse than, anything I'd experienced before the procedure. Last night, I was woken up by a severe pain in my lower back on the left hand side and couldn't get back to sleep until I took some painkillers.

I was told it would take a few days for things to settle down after the procedure, so I'm hoping this is just temporary. I'm reasonably OK this morning and I'm going to try going for a long slow walk in a while.

I'm wrestling with an injury (left shoulder rotator cuff - no idea how I did it) and although rowing is manageable, I'm easing off the metres and high pressure/low SPM stuff is not at all good for it - so yesterday'S CTC will be my last June effort.

Hopefully 2~3 weeks of not aggravating it will see it right again.

Paul Victory wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2017 10:24 am Had a lumbar injection yesterday which will hopefully resolve my back problems (or at the very least improve them a bit). I've been told it will take a couple of days before I feel the benefits of it and I've to take it easy for the next couple of days.

Paul - was wondering how things are now?

I have been off the erg since end of May due to severe back/leg problems. Following a MRI scan turns out to be a slipped disc, L4, and goes a long way to explain the pain and symptoms. On Wednesday had an epidural into the area. Was told that it could be worse for 2-3 days after before it starts to improve but looks like I might have been lucky as it has definitely helped. Going back in 6 weeks and to keep off erg for at least 4 weeks which is so frustrating. Only good thing is that in the past 5 weeks of no rowing and pretty well flat on my back I have lost over a stone

Good news about the weight loss Dave. I'm happy to hear the injection seems to have worked. It seems to be a bit hit and miss. Mine hasn't really helped and I'm scheduled for another one in September. I met my specialist last Wednesday and he explained that it's difficult to hit the exact spot, which is why it often takes two or three attempts to achieve the desired result.

I hope everything works out for you. I'm beginning to feel that I will never get back to anything close to pain free and I've kissed goodbye to the idea of ever challenging my PBs again.

Thanks Paul, think a lot of the weight loss is muscle so not going to be nice when I do get back.

Sorry to hear things didn't work first time for you. Have to say my consultant was pretty confident of the benefit of the injection. Will keep you posted and good luck for Sept.

On the subject of PB's - I have long given up on getting any near them, just want to keep owing at least 1m a year

I've been concerned that the recent significant increase in the amount (and intensity) of erging that I've been doing might result in exacerbating one of my old injuries. But I underestimated my resourcefulness!

I had a fall last night and woke this morning with intense pain in my ribcage. I've been diagnosed with an intercostal injury and I've been told not to do any vigorous exercise for at least a couple of weeks. The doctor clearly thought I was completely insane when I asked her if this would rule out doing any indoor rowing! Although, she did say I could try doing some gentle rowing in a week or so if the level of soreness has diminished significantly. However, her advice was to leave it as long as possible if I want to maximise my chances of a relatively speedy recovery.

That may be the end of my season and I certainly won't be contributing any more meters to the world erg challenge. Just hope I'm not back to square one when I'm next able to venture back onto the erg.

Paul V

Paul Victory wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 12:32 pmI've been diagnosed with an intercostal injury and I've been told not to do any vigorous exercise for at least a couple of weeks.

Literally feel your pain and send best wishes for a speedy recovery. From personal recent experience of this injury, do not be tempted to dabble too soon (in my case, a week after was most certainly too soon)

Thanks Ian. I know you're right and I hope I'm sensible enough to heed your advice. I have a history of returning too soon after injury, but maybe this time I'll buck the trend.

Dang, Paul - sorry to hear that! Hope the fall was just a freak accident and not due to other issues. My dad's balance has rapidly declined recently with numerous falls per month. He's too stubborn to abandon his walker and get on a scooter, but I'm guessing he's only one more significant injury away.

Draggon wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:36 pm Dang, Paul - sorry to hear that! Hope the fall was just a freak accident and not due to other issues. My dad's balance has rapidly declined recently with numerous falls per month. He's too stubborn to abandon his walker and get on a scooter, but I'm guessing he's only one more significant injury away.

Thanks. Hopefully it's not a symptom of the onset of balance issues. I think it was just middle of the night disorientation, not helped by having had a few drinks while watching the Masters on TV.

Anyway, I seem to be recovering a lot quicker than expected and may even venture on the erg at some stage over the weekend if my present rate of recovery continues.

Paul V

No longer feeling any pain in my ribs, so I did a slow 30 minutes 'just row' today. Covered 7109 meters for my final contribution to the World Erg Challenge. No ill effects so far, so I'm hoping to do something a bit more challenging over the next few days before I head off to Alvor.

Flipping heck, I'm back on this thread again!

Having recovered from my rib injury, I thought I was returning to form and did semi decent half hour and half marathon rows earlier this month. On Saturday, I decided to do a 500m TT, which went reasonably OK - I matched last season's SB. But my lower back was quite sore on Sunday, so I did a gentle 35 minutes at DF 120 (compared to my usual 130 to 135). On Monday, my back was no better, so I took the next two days off.

Being near month end, I would like to have another go at this month's CTC, but my warm up today did not go particularly well and I bailed after the warm up, without doing the CTC. My lower back is definitely sending me signals at present and I may need to take an extended break from erging.

What's really annoying is the fact that last week I saw the specialist who gave me the two lumbar injections I had to try to resolve my earlier back pain problems. I told him my back seemed to be holding up fine and we agreed that nothing further needed to be done at this stage. Then I go and injure my back two days later!

Paul V