Injuries.....:(

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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by wojtek »

Cheers Iain,

Woj
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by plummy »

plummy wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:54 pm Diagnosed with a right-side shoulder rotator cuff injury by a physio yesterday after 4~6 weeks of extreme pain if I move it at just the "wrong" angle. 90~95% of movement is ok but 3 times in the last 2 weeks I've managed to hit that wrong angle/stretch and it's left me in agony for 45 mins to an hour after. I was convinced it was tear of some kind but he reckons not - so I've got a set of specific strengthening and stretching exercises and will be going back for progress updates weekly. If it doesn't improve he's suggested an ultrasound as a deeper delve into what might be wrong. Think I'm getting old... :-(
Just an update on this...
I had an X-Ray and it came back "normal" - which is entirely what I expected. I have an ultrasound booked for the 30th but as there has been no discernible improvement inall the weeks I have been tolerating it I'm starting the private medical route to try and short circuit the situation. One of my customers said the same symptoms were being presented by his mum and being from the stoic generation she left it and left it but when she eventually had surgery, the consultant said he'd wished she had gone much earlier as the detached ligament had tightened so much he couldn't re-use it so had perform a more difficult procedure. I'm pretty convinced I'll need some surgery on this so I'm not delaying any more re getting it sorted.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Iain »

Sorry to hear that th ephsio alone hasn't done the trick. i hope that they find and sort the problem quickly.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by wojtek »

Hi folks,

My ankle is wel on the way to recovery, and I was looking forward to starting rowing again when amidst the pandemic and civil disturbance here in Cali I managed to get an ultrasound on my right shoulder that had been bothering me. Turns out I tore one my rotator cuff tendons badly and the other two needed some repair too. I had the operation two days ago and will be looking at nearly 60 physio sessions, starting in about 10 days.

I had the same operation here but on my left shoulder eight years ago. At least I have the summer to get through the initial physio before returning to school on the 2nd August. Hell of a way to spend my hols: I had wanted to start taking down the caretaker´s house and help with the re-build this summer as well as celebrating my 50th at the farm, but that doe not look possible.

Will be back as soon as possible.

Cheers,

Woj
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by wojtek »

Plummy,

I am there with you on this. Had my left shoulder operated on 8 years ago. My right shoulder two days ago. Reclovery is qbout 3/6 months, but you should be driving after a month or so.

Woj


plummy wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:31 am
plummy wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:54 pm Diagnosed with a right-side shoulder rotator cuff injury by a physio yesterday after 4~6 weeks of extreme pain if I move it at just the "wrong" angle. 90~95% of movement is ok but 3 times in the last 2 weeks I've managed to hit that wrong angle/stretch and it's left me in agony for 45 mins to an hour after. I was convinced it was tear of some kind but he reckons not - so I've got a set of specific strengthening and stretching exercises and will be going back for progress updates weekly. If it doesn't improve he's suggested an ultrasound as a deeper delve into what might be wrong. Think I'm getting old... :-(
Just an update on this...
I had an X-Ray and it came back "normal" - which is entirely what I expected. I have an ultrasound booked for the 30th but as there has been no discernible improvement inall the weeks I have been tolerating it I'm starting the private medical route to try and short circuit the situation. One of my customers said the same symptoms were being presented by his mum and being from the stoic generation she left it and left it but when she eventually had surgery, the consultant said he'd wished she had gone much earlier as the detached ligament had tightened so much he couldn't re-use it so had perform a more difficult procedure. I'm pretty convinced I'll need some surgery on this so I'm not delaying any more re getting it sorted.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

After doing my first session on the erg in almost two months on Monday, I am experiencing a lot of pain in my right hamstring. I didn’t think I was rowing fast enough to cause any problems and I didn’t feel any pain when I was rowing. But I suppose it would be a heck of a coincidence if the problem is unrelated to my session on the erg.

The pain is just above the knee on the left side of my right leg. I can walk without any difficulty, but it’s difficult to climb stairs and I found it almost impossible to pull on my socks yesterday, so I’m wearing sandals today. Having spent a fortune on various therapists over the past couple of years, I’m not all that keen on yet another visit, but would welcome any advice on what I might do to alleviate the problem. I’ve taken painkillers (which I’m always very reluctant to do) and I rubbed some Voltarol gel on the area yesterday.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Kevinhorne44 »

Sorry for that late reply Paul.
Sounds like you have a classic case of "DOMS" delayed onset muscle soreness.
Hydrate with electrolytes if you have some.
Massage the areas gently but firmly.
Get up & walkabout as much as possible.
Sorry to say this but........"hair of the dog" might work
Good sleep might help too.

Question though. Did you stretch or warm down after your ctc ?? Your friend can answer 😉

I take it the pain isn't sharp & constant? If it is. That's something else & needs professional advice.

I once had to shuffle up the stairs on my bum the day after a big squat session 🤣 not pretty 😳
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by plummy »

Finally had my ultrasound scan today on my right shoulder. The good news is - no ligament damage. There's a little bit of bursitis but essentially the clever man with a cravat said it's a "frozen shoulder" and needs physiotherapy - but "will come back".

So, I'm not going under the knife but may have to be tweaked painfully by a nurse in uniform!
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

Kevinhorne44 wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:58 am Sorry for that late reply Paul.
Sounds like you have a classic case of "DOMS" delayed onset muscle soreness.
Hydrate with electrolytes if you have some.
Massage the areas gently but firmly.
Get up & walkabout as much as possible.
Sorry to say this but........"hair of the dog" might work
Good sleep might help too.

Question though. Did you stretch or warm down after your ctc ?? Your friend can answer 😉

I take it the pain isn't sharp & constant? If it is. That's something else & needs professional advice.

I once had to shuffle up the stairs on my bum the day after a big squat session 🤣 not pretty 😳
Thanks Kevin.

I’ve been thinking back over the past few days and I think the problem may stem from a very hilly walk I did on Sunday rather than Monday’s erg session. The pain was sharp and continuous yesterday, but seems to be easing back a bit today. Not sure that another erg session will help, but I’m going to go for a walk and see how far I can get without exacerbating the problem. I’ll try massaging the area after my walk.

Regarding whether I stretched or warm down after my session on the erg, I’m afraid this is an area where I’m very remiss. I did a 20 minute or so gentle walk after the session, but no stretching.

Hopefully, things will have eased back further by tomorrow. If not, I’ll look at consulting a professional.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

plummy wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:03 pm Finally had my ultrasound scan today on my right shoulder. The good news is - no ligament damage. There's a little bit of bursitis but essentially the clever man with a cravat said it's a "frozen shoulder" and needs physiotherapy - but "will come back".

So, I'm not going under the knife but may have to be tweaked painfully by a nurse in uniform!
That’s good news plummy. Did they give you any indication of how long it might take for things to get back to normal?
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by JonT »

Paul,

I'm sure you already know this, but there is a very, very strong correlation between lower back pain and lack of flexibility in the hamstrings. You really do need to bite the bullet and start a very gentle stretching programme. It will hurt and you will definitely feel that you have no flexibility at all. But it will help and you will get improved flexibility, little by little, over time. You also need to get into the habit of some simple dynamic stretches before any rowing (i.e. avoiding thinking a gentle 5 minutes on the erg is the same as some simple stretches) and some deep stretches (gently!) for 30 seconds at a time (minimum) to help with that flexibility. I can't guarantee this will help, but I can guarantee it certainly won't make things worse.

Meanwhile, if you have one, get that foam roller out and give your hamstrings some stick with that. Excruciating when done properly, but extremely effective.

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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by JonT »

plummy wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:03 pm Finally had my ultrasound scan today on my right shoulder. The good news is - no ligament damage. There's a little bit of bursitis but essentially the clever man with a cravat said it's a "frozen shoulder" and needs physiotherapy - but "will come back".
That's great news Plummy. Not ideal, but obviously could be a lot worse.

Unfortunately I have also picked up a shoulder injury, and it is definitely keeping me off the erg. On the bright side this has reintroduced me to my bike trainer :fsbgrin:
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Iain »

Sorry to see this thread so busy. Paul, I hope this is only DOMS. After my 4 year break from erg, I was getting serious DOMS after embarrassingly slow sessions, but these faded after 2-3 weeks.

Jon, really sorry to hear that you are not able to erg at the moment, I wondered how we could end up in the same CTC boat!

Plummy, great to hear. I had bad bursitis many years ago. Mine was caused by an infection from an insect bite, my knee was double its normal size. They put me on 4 antibiotics at double strength and this had a very unfortunate effect on my stomach. As they hadn't warned me I worried the infection had spread! I hope the physio does the trick (don't call them nurses, they will inflict even more pain from that!).
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

Iain wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 3:33 pm Sorry to see this thread so busy. Paul, I hope this is only DOMS. After my 4 year break from erg, I was getting serious DOMS after embarrassingly slow sessions, but these faded after 2-3 weeks.
Thanks Iain

I don’t think it’s DOMS. If it was, I think I would feel it in both legs. It feels like a pulled tendon and I just hope that’s it not too badly torn. It’s not as sore today, so hopefully it will clear up in another few days.

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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

Those of you who are long term members of Free Spirits will have seen many posts from me on this thread over the years. Most of the early ones were about injuries incurred while training and my inability/unwillingness to allow myself to recover fully before venturing back onto the erg. In recent years, it's been more about the chronic back pain that I've been enduring for the past four years or so and my various attempts to 'fix' things.

Among other things, I've had four MRI scans, visits to various specialists, two lumbar injections, multiple visits to physios, two lots of sessions with two different Amatsu physical therapists (don't ask!), and a number of sessions with an acupuncturist. None of these have provided anything more than temporary relief and I'm beginning to despair of ever being able to compete on the erg again.

My latest venture into the world of "triumph of hope over experience" has been to visit an osteopath. This was recommended to me by two people who have had great results dealing with lower back problems. I didn't particularly take to the chap I met last week and I honestly feel that my session with him did more harm than good. I'm just home from a few days away and I felt generally out of sorts with lots of aches and pains and ended up taking painkillers every day, which is usually something I avoid if at all possible.

Maybe there's an element of having to feel worse before I'll feel better, or maybe I should try out the other osteopath who was recommended to me. I would welcome any thoughts/observations/suggestions from teammates, particularly (but not confined to) those who have 'been there, seen that, bought the t-shirt'.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Mike Channin »

Hey Paul - sorry to hear you're suffering again.

The problem with back issues is that there are 100 things that can go wrong, and the good advice for one issue can be absolutely the wrong thing for another condition.

For me, I tend to suffer more background back issues when I _don't_ train enough, as the training keeps the lower back strong and the posture better, and too much slacking tends to lead to issues. But equally, I've had plenty of training or accidental injuries that need to be rested and then worked back into gradually. One thing I'd probably advise is working back in gradually and taking note of what your body tells you it isn't happy with.

Why don't you run a separate thread and share as much as you feel comfortable with, and we'll see if we can find some good advice between us, and get you back rowing again.
There should be a fair bit of information from all that specialist attention you've had.

Edit: I've just noticed that you already _do_ have a thread running for this (apologies, not been in this area of the forum for many years). Let's carry on with it there. Can we rename it to 'Let's fix Paul's back', and tackle it on a positive note?!
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Paul Victory »

Thanks Mike. I think that’s a good idea and thanks for the offer. I’m happy talking openly about what’s going on.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

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Just ranting over the ups and downs of life. Out of last years worlds (Feb 2021) with emergency surgery at Christmas. And now this :cry:

Now with 35 days to go to WRIC Feb 22 I apparently have torn the rectus femoris tendon. To what degree I don't know. It clearly didn't take an MRI or ultrasound to figure it out. Cant walk properly due to pain on lifting the leg to walk forward. Difficult to straighten when lying down, that just hurts more. So my lovely physio aka sadistic green fairy - he has a green mohawk at the moment, has manipulated what he can to loosen of the rest of the quad, needled it, strapped it, and given instructions for no lower limb work for a week. See how it goes in a week but he is suggesting 4 to 6 weeks or the preferred option for me considering the work I have put in - if it doesn't worsen with some training next week then he might be able to nurse me through it up to WRIC and then put a complete ban on training until it recovers.

Disappointed that they didn't have any pink tape, bright blue instead :fsbgrin:

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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by plummy »

Gutted for you - no pink tape.. :lol:

Seriously, that's a tough break so near a comp. I hope you green mohawk'd magician can patch you up enough to put in a performance.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by duffyoz »

I hope you green mohawk'd magician can patch you up enough to put in a performance.
So do I Plummy so do I.

Popped my top ribs again as well which just needs some time to stop hurting when I move. Apparently having done it once they will always be susceptible to moving on their own for apparently no reason.

In a week we will see if the tendon can be nursed through or not. If it can then maybe I pull out of the 500 and just tackle the 2k. We will have to wait for the next instalment.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Draggon »

Oh, dang it! That is tough news for someone as dedicated as you've been lately. Sorry to hear but hope the magic is flowing in your favor for recovery!
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by duffyoz »

The race is on!!!

Healed enough to race but only once so have pulled out of the 500, just doing my beloved 2k :lol:

In lay mans terms he has allowed the tear to heal close together, which means it was quicker than the normal 4 to 6 weeks. It does however mean that it could tear under too much pressure. On the flip side I wont notice it until I finish the race. It has held up under some intense training sessions so I think it will be fine. Apparently the physio took this approach, with my acceptance, just so I could race. I think I'm mad!!

So if anyone has nothing to do on Saturday 26th Feb at 14:48 (Europe time) then tune into world rowing youtube (55-59 HWt women) and watch teeny boat like shapes move across the screen. If the video link is working then Im the one with the blue hair, dark blue sleeved shirt, attempting a 2k PB, upstairs at Commercial rowing club, Brisbane Aus. For those in Aus that is 10 to 1 in the morning. Real life cheer squad allowed but get in by midnight as we will lock the doors during the race. In reality it will probably be me, the hubster and supercoach.

My approach is to run my own race, get a PB. I can't control what others do. :D
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Tako »

Good luck! Hope you will succeed with the PB and that the body tolerates the pressure!

Yes, while one races against others it is the race plan one has to follow and if there is someone to chase at the end within range it can help to squeeze out a little more but normally I am too busy with race plan to notice others. But if you have someone around they could help I guess! Go for it!
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by plummy »

Great to hear that you are healed enough to take part in one race and probably wise to avoid the intensity of the 500m. Good luck.
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Re: Injuries.....:(

Post by Kevinhorne44 »

Great news Lesley !! I'll be watching that little boat go across the screen 😎👍
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