.....I messed up my shoulder.

Today after having my wonderful wife at home for 3 weeks for the Christmas and New Years holiday and getting to do a lot of fun non-woodworking stuff with her and eating far too much food that was not on my regular diet, she went back to work in her classroom and I was going to get back to my diet and exercise routine and get back to work in the shop. So at 6am  before the sun came up I was out at my usual walking place to do my 30 minutes of cardio before I had breakfast. it was a balmy 38 degrees so I was dressed warmly and headed out around the lake. As I was about to finish up my first lap my feet suddenly went out from under me and I landed on my back and right shoulder as there was some unseen ice across the sidewalk. I hit and bounced right back up and gave a little test to make sure that I didn't break anything (including the sidewalk) and found that I had sprained my right shoulder. I could still move it pretty well right then, but I knew that it would tighten up real quick. So I headed home to do the alternating cold/heat packs and hit the ibuprofen, and sure enough I cannot move my arm at the shoulder forward or to the side without some very excruciating pain in the muscles. So now all my plans for this week to get my shop back in order and get started on some projects all went out the window. Being a So. Calif. boy all my life ice is not something that I ever give a second thought to when walking. But this one little spot was the only place that there was any ice anywhere out there and I got the joy of stepping on it. So the rest of my day was filled with reading on my Kindle.  

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Ouch Allen.  When it rains it pours.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Sorry to hear of this misfortune, Allen. I fell the other day and could not believe how fast it can happen. Didn't even have time to react. Not like when we were kids!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

That's too bad Allen, hope you get to felling better soon.

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

I know I don't bounce like I used to. The ground sure is harder than it used to be!

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

and that ground is further down than it used to be!!!

Sounds painful, Allen. Hope it eases quick!

Have you considered a treadmill? INSIDE? :-)

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Did you get the license # of the Mack truck that ran you over? Hope you're feeling ok now.

That ice can really sneak up on you! We go thru a snow, melt and then it ices over for 4 month. Just when you think you're in the clear, your feet start slipping. Makes for an interesting walk. Even our dog doesn't like to go for "our" walks (has nothing to do with the temps being around 10*)

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

Glad you still got a little bounce left. My bounce is about all gone. Last night when I got home from my mother n laws, I started up the steps on the deck. They had a thin coat of ice on them. I made it up and across the deck which was also iced. Took little steps and was glad I made it in the house without injury.

Hope you get better soon.

My shop thinks I have divorced it right now. I promised it tonight I wasn't stepping out on it.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Allen, all I can do is wish you a speedy recovery.

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No Ref

Well, since things were not improving as much as I would like and my wife was continually harassing me about going to the doctor, I went to the doctor this morning to get it checked out. It looks like I have a torn rotator cuff as well as some muscle damage. So the doctor gave me a prescription for some heavy duty anti-inflammatory meds and had me do a bunch of shoulder X-rays, then he will review them and let me know the extent of the damage. If it is minor then it will just be a time issue for healing of about 4-6 weeks. If it is more major then we go from there as it may require surgery and/or physical therapy. Oh well, more down time with no shop work for awhile.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

I hope it turns out as a minor tear and you don't need surgery . I have some experiences with torn rotator cuffs. I've had surgery on both my left and right cuffs. Both from falls. The first surgery put me out of work for 5 month and the second for 3 months.  They can take a long time to heal and can effect you ability when working overhead. 

The worst part was having to sleep in a chair of several months. 

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Somewhere in Kenya.... a village is missing its idiot!

Alaskans for Gobble Warming

I've had some experience with that as well, my tear was a very large one. It took almost 6 months before I could do anything, and close to a year before I could really start using my arm completely. Good luck with this....

Allen,

Dang,

Wish you a speedy recovery.

It seems the older we get, the faster the ground comes up to meet us.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

I won't go into details about "our" experience with rotator cuff surgery other than DO what the docs tell you. I stopped therapy way too soon and started losing movement in it so I had to start all over again.

Best of luck with this Allen.

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

Hoping it is not bad and you can use the meds and a little therapy and be right back at it.

My BIL just had a complete shoulder replacement. That was in November and he is still in therapy.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

To follow up on this.

I went back into the doctor today to get the results of the x-rays and there is nothing broken and the rotator cuff is ok so no surgery needed. It looks like it was just a nasty sprain to the shoulder and I should recover in about 3-4 weeks. After that if I am still having a lot of pain then they will reexamine  me and possibly do an MRI, but I hope that I wont' have to do that. So I will be taking this week off out of the shop and hopefully next Monday I will be able to get out there and start doing some general clean up and get things ready to start some other projects.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Good news, Allen!

I know it can be the pits trying to stay out of the garage (shop) and not doing anything.

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

That's great news, Alan. Here's hoping for a complete recovery in 3-4 weeks. Less than 3 weeks, hopefully.

Wife dropped a cordless screwdriver, bit down, onto her ankle. Left a nice X wound just above the ankle bone. It was on the leg that has the bionic knee. I convinced her that she ought not to take any chances with infection in that leg. Naturally, it was a Sunday by the time she became convinced, so we had to go to the ER. Tetanus shot and Xrays. Nothing broken. Bad sprain, they said. Took her about 3 weeks for the pain to subside and to walk normally. 

Maybe, your shoulder will heal much faster.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Good deal. 3-4 weeks is a lot better than the alternative...go easy, no sense taking any chances.