Slightly Torn Rotator Cuff

Is that like being slightly pregnant?

Yep! I did it. Too soon old, too late smart. I do believe that is an old Hawaiian saying Arthur Godfrey used to say.

Some time in mid to late March I picked up a plastic bag of groceries that was way to heavy…should have used two hands and cradled it in my arms to carry up stairs. Should have. Hindsight is 20/20 vision. Instead I carried it from the garage and up a flight of stairs to my kitchen with my arm fully extended.

DON’T DO THAT!

A few hours later I had this pain that would fire down my left arm…sometimes in the upper arm and sometimes in the lower arm. The best was when it fired in both at the same time.

I’ve had this before and my chiropractor has always been able to make it go away with adjustments. This time she did all she could and told me I needed to get x-rays to determine the damage.

I saw an orthopedist…and now I know. Slight tear in the left rotator cuff.

I had choices as to how to treat it. 1) do nothing and let it heal over several months; 2) take 400 mg ibuprofen 2 to 3 times a day for 2 weeks; 3) a shot of cortisone. He never mentioned therapy or surgery. Therapy I would do. Surgery…not on your life! What I did choose is the ibuprofen.

To be honest, it doesn’t make a difference…at least not yet. I have opted for 2 times a day since why take something 3 times if it isn’t working anyway. (Why take it at all?)

As far as what I have to do in order to move, well, that doesn’t stop. I pack and move boxes and actually, I feel better when I am actively moving my arms around. It’s afterwards that the pain comes on like an angry bear…and then subsides.

Oh, well. That’s life and it doesn’t stop for a slightly torn rotator cuff and a little arm pain. ☺