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IRL (In Real Life) => General Discussion => Topic started by: Knavery on October 23, 2012, 07:22:11 AM

Title: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Knavery on October 23, 2012, 07:22:11 AM
Hey guys,
I just turned 40 this summer, but it seems that I'm starting to fall apart, which isn't something I noticed until very recently. It could be that I just moved to a new house and have taken on more than I should, but not sure.

At any rate, I've noticed my range of motion in my left shoulder is very limited. I can't really swing my arm around or move it in certain angles. It's as if the rotator cuff is messed up. This is also present in my right arm, but not nearly as bad.

I've seen a chiropractor about it, but I've yet to get actual treatment. The chiropractor I saw uses "different" methods. Instead of treating the specific area, he believes the spine controls everything from shoulder pain to acid reflux to high blood pressure. It sounds like Eastern medicine to me, but I'm willing to give it a shot I guess.

I've worked on a laptop using a keyboard and mouse all day for 11+ years. Plus, I game a lot afterwards.

Has anyone else experienced these issues? If so, did you get around surgery? I'd love to hear your stories.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Gusington on October 23, 2012, 07:30:12 AM
Welcome Knavery. I am sure some of the old farts here will be able to help you out. Feel better.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Jarhead0331 on October 23, 2012, 08:04:58 AM
Get an MRI...you may have a partial rotator cuff tear. 
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Barthheart on October 23, 2012, 09:48:25 AM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 23, 2012, 08:04:58 AM
Get an MRI...you may have a partial rotator cuff tear.

This.

Plus go see a physiotherapist rather than a chiropractor.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: LongBlade on October 23, 2012, 10:25:43 AM
Quote from: Barthheart on October 23, 2012, 09:48:25 AM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 23, 2012, 08:04:58 AM
Get an MRI...you may have a partial rotator cuff tear.

This.

Plus go see a physiotherapist rather than a chiropractor.

+1

Chiropractors are fine if your back hurts. Some of them, however, think they can cure almost any ailment. I have yet to remain convinced of this when it comes to something like, say, a torn rotator cuff.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Grimnirsson on October 23, 2012, 02:07:39 PM
QuoteI just turned 40 this summer, but it seems that I'm starting to fall apart,

It doesn't just seem so my friend...turning 40 is a dangerous step on the path to eternity. When I turned 40 my system started to screw up almost the day after my birthday...and to my SO (who was laughing and didn't believe me) I said 'Just wait and see what happens when it's your turn...' She turned 40...and she didn't laugh anymore...this number 40 is just a symbol for a dangerous time to come...


;)

Go and see a real doctor, make a MRI scan to actually see what's up with your shoulder, don't play games with your health. Get well soon :)
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 23, 2012, 05:41:16 PM
You've probably had this checked out, but if not, it could be a calcium deposit.
Doesn't seem like this could happen, but a friend who very regularly played tennis noticed his range of movement was becoming limited.
His doctor diagnosed a calcium deposit and said to sit on the edge of the examining table.
He then raised my friend's arm as far up as it would go,and got under the arm.
With a hand on the patient's shoulder, the doctor abruptly stood up and there was a looud crack.
After dealing with the pain, my friend found he had his movement almost all the way back.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Mr. Bigglesworth on October 23, 2012, 06:38:49 PM
Did you injure it when you were young? I had a good tackle in rugby where I fealt his shoulder bone go right down to my thigh bone. The leg swelled up 5" after the game relative to the other one. I was limping for a month. It all went away until I got to 40 where I can feel limited flexibility. My shoulder also grinds like mad from my tackles.


You have to stretch several times per week or it will just deteriorate.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Knavery on October 23, 2012, 09:22:49 PM
Hey guys,
I haven't been to an MD yet, because I'm afraid they're all just going to say I need surgery. And that is not an option for me right now. I don't recall ever injuring it while I was younger. This happened out of the blue about 2-3 months ago. I can do most things, but I really notice it when I lie on that side in bed and stretch my arm out. Also, one day last week I slipped in Walgreens and almost fell on my ass. I swung my left arm out to catch my balance and it hurt like a bitch afterwards. So something is definitely wrong. But you're all right... I should see a doctor.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 24, 2012, 01:32:26 PM
Man, you can't take chances with your health, and it can only get worse as you get older unless you get it fixed now. I'm really sensitive to stuff like that now as a get near to my 64th b/day and have a couple of health issues because I did not get them sorted when I should have done.

We Grogs have take care of ourselves! ;)
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: MetalDog on October 24, 2012, 10:33:59 PM
64?!  You threw me off with the 48 in bob48.  Well, happy pre-birthday!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: GDS_Starfury on October 24, 2012, 10:45:52 PM
thank God I dont work behind a desk!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Steelgrave on October 24, 2012, 11:20:49 PM
Knavery, if you happen to take meds for cholesterol (especially Lipitor), there is an outside chance that you are having a reaction to the drug. I took Lipitor for 8 years before it happened to me, but it can be very, very serious if left untreated. Unexplained muscle pain in the arm(s) and shoulder is one of the possible symptoms. If you happen to be a diabetic (as I am), another common issue can be a "frozen shoulder", which can be painful and render a great loss of mobility in your shoulder. A frozen shoulder is not a permanent condition and is treatable with therapy, but it's no fun.

Hopefully you fall into neither of these categories, but I thought I would toss them out there since they hadn't been mentioned yet.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: undercovergeek on October 25, 2012, 02:40:01 AM
Quote from: MetalDog on October 24, 2012, 10:33:59 PM
64?!  You threw me off with the 48 in bob48.  Well, happy pre-birthday!

I've always taken it to be bobs year of birth which ties in with his post.... What you've got to ask yourself is what century the 48 is from... He's reeeeeeeeeealy old!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 12:46:14 PM
Quote from: MetalDog on October 24, 2012, 10:33:59 PM
64?!  You threw me off with the 48 in bob48.  Well, happy pre-birthday!

:)Thanks - another 3 weeks yet!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 12:52:17 PM
Quote from: undercovergeek on October 25, 2012, 02:40:01 AM
Quote from: MetalDog on October 24, 2012, 10:33:59 PM
64?!  You threw me off with the 48 in bob48.  Well, happy pre-birthday!

I've always taken it to be bobs year of birth which ties in with his post.... What you've got to ask yourself is what century the 48 is from... He's reeeeeeeeeealy old!

Yup - a real ancient Grog. Long in the tooth, but short on sage wisdom........

Anyway Geek, you young whelp, enjoy your trip to see the Grimsby Wargames lads on Saturday.

A word of caustion though as I hear that they still have the press-gang in those parts and I would hate it if you woke up next week with a lump on yer noggin and found yourself in the lower gun deck of a frigate blockading Breast  ;)
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: LongBlade on October 25, 2012, 01:11:26 PM
Quote from: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 12:46:14 PM
Quote from: MetalDog on October 24, 2012, 10:33:59 PM
64?!  You threw me off with the 48 in bob48.  Well, happy pre-birthday!

:)Thanks - another 3 weeks yet!

Wow. That armor makes you look ten years younger.

Happy Birthday :)
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 01:13:05 PM
Thanks LB :)

However, its my youngest son in that tin suit, and he's only 30!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: LongBlade on October 25, 2012, 01:18:54 PM
Quote from: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 01:13:05 PM
Thanks LB :)

However, its my youngest son in that tin suit, and he's only 30!

You keep saying that, but I think that's you in there.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 01:28:59 PM
I do have the right shaped head for it, I must admit.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 25, 2012, 01:40:56 PM
This is him being kitted-out, and looking a bit aprehensive;

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1076.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw447%2FRobert_Ellis48%2FP7280034.jpg&hash=a5b3e2c98c033c832e917e0ae1ee30656772409a)

And getting it all off again after the joust - the amount of padding and stuff is incredible;

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1076.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw447%2FRobert_Ellis48%2FP7280055.jpg&hash=747a7ce13ef6ac5a6ec77e7d8419431679926aab)
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Staggerwing on October 25, 2012, 06:38:34 PM
Looks like fun... and I have to say that the background scenery looks quite epic in it's own right- real picture-post-card stuff.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Centurion40 on October 26, 2012, 07:48:11 AM
Yeah, lose the cars and the telephone poles and it could look like a photo taken in another time.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: undercovergeek on October 26, 2012, 09:12:20 AM
Quote from: Centurion40 on October 26, 2012, 07:48:11 AM
Yeah, lose the cars and the telephone poles and it could look like a photo taken in another time.

theyre photoshopped - this is Bob country, theyve only just figured out the wheel and fire - this isnt a reconstruction its a genuine fight over who gets to wear the purple hat!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 26, 2012, 12:42:22 PM
^Shhhhhh.

I told you I'd send you a crate of Pot Noodles if you kept quiet............
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 26, 2012, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: Staggerwing on October 25, 2012, 06:38:34 PM
Looks like fun... and I have to say that the background scenery looks quite epic in it's own right- real picture-post-card stuff.

It was up in the Yorkshire dales. Pity that on that day there was a lot of low cloud and rain about, but a very picturesque place indeed.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 26, 2012, 01:25:29 PM
Bob, thanks for the warm warning to avoid the press gangs in the south of England.
No one would be happy to experience that.
I do have a slight question.
Who's Breast would the poor unfortunate be blockading?
Surely not the French naval base in Brittany, Brest?
I like to think of you up in the fighting tops, skylarking to your heart's content, while contemplating a truly dangerous Breast.  Angelina Jolie?
Or perhaps a captive French demoselle, showing spirit to her English captors, and as George McDonals Fraser (editor of the Flashman Papers) put it, "showing a smouldering bosom, and heaving eyes."
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 26, 2012, 01:58:00 PM
lol - Actually, where Geek is going is on the east coast, just south of Hull. However, yes that's the Brest I was thinking of, although skylarking with Angelina sounds much more fun, I will admit......

All this nautical stuff makes me want to start reading Patrick O'Brian's books again - all 20 of 'em!
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 26, 2012, 06:58:25 PM
Bob, if you liked Patrick O'Brian, have you tried Anthony Price's Eyes Of The Fleet?
He is very good at telling stories from the Age of Sail.  And his are real, they actually happened.
He even includes a good section on Horatio Hornblower as a good example of a post captain's career.
As he puts it, having more books that cover his life, makes him more real to readers than other captains who might get one, dusty biography.
Seriously, if you liked O'Brian, Price is superb.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Toonces on October 26, 2012, 09:42:09 PM
Even though we've moved off topic, I'm curious to hear what the diagnosis becomes, and what the solution is.  I also have bad pain in my right shoulder.  It doesn't hurt to paddle, thank God, but I can't lift things well over my head, like opening a window.  Doing something like a shoulder fly is almost impossible.

I wouldn't stress over it, but it's gotten to the point where it keeps me up at night.  I sleep on my stomach and if I put my right arm under my head while I'm sleeping it will wake me up with excruciating pain. 

This has been going on about 9 months now, so it's not going to heal itself apparently. 

Copy all on the turning 40 stuff, as well.  Man, I have really started to feel older the last couple of years (42 this December).
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 27, 2012, 06:31:42 AM
Quote from: besilarius on October 26, 2012, 06:58:25 PM
Bob, if you liked Patrick O'Brian, have you tried Anthony Price's Eyes Of The Fleet?
He is very good at telling stories from the Age of Sail.  And his are real, they actually happened.
He even includes a good section on Horatio Hornblower as a good example of a post captain's career.
As he puts it, having more books that cover his life, makes him more real to readers than other captains who might get one, dusty biography.
Seriously, if you liked O'Brian, Price is superb.
Thanks for the tip. I have not read any of his stuff, but I'll have a peek on amazon and see if there's anything there.

Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 27, 2012, 08:22:30 AM
Bob, if you have any interest in spy stories, Price also did  a really good series, set in the Cold War.
He was never embraced like LeCarre was, but since I like history, my preference is for him.  His facts are good, and his characters a little quirky,  his plots are always intricate, but never as opaque as LeCarre.
If you were curious, don't try his first two or three to begin with.  They are worth reading, but as early efforts, they're not as good as the later ones.  Should you want to give them a look, try October Men or Other Paths to Glory.  I confess to reading them about every three years.  He is that enjoyable.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 27, 2012, 08:23:16 AM
Boy, we really do wander on these threads.
Wasn't this one supposed to cover health issues and musculature?
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 27, 2012, 08:53:54 AM
Yeah, derailed in true Grog tradition. However, I hope we have not diminished the original serious theme of this thread. :-[
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: LongBlade on October 27, 2012, 10:14:08 AM
Quote from: besilarius on October 27, 2012, 08:23:16 AM
Boy, we really do wander on these threads.
Wasn't this one supposed to cover health issues and musculature?

I see a lack of thread discipline as a strength. It's like we're having a conversation at a bar or coffee shop, rather than some iron-walled forum.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: bob48 on October 27, 2012, 10:20:27 AM
Yes LB - that's true. I'm sure we've all had experience on other forums of being slapped on the wrist due to lax thread doo-dah, mind wondering and general insanity of the type that we, in fact, thrive upon.

Any idea what i'm waffling on about?

No, me neither........

NURSE...medication please.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: besilarius on October 27, 2012, 02:03:13 PM
That was one of the ideas when we had the Little Soldier Hobby Shop, in Alexandria, Va.
It was mostly a game shop that happened to have a big open table for people to use.
Some wanted to play games, some wanted to talk.
Sorry  we couldn't make it work for more longer.  I would have loved to have you guys over to chew the fat.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: Knavery on October 28, 2012, 02:24:37 PM
Personally, I like it better this way. The last thing we need is someone to come in the thread and say to stay on topic. Coffee shop talk is good IMO.

BTW, now that I'm moved in my new home, I'm going to do as you all suggest--go see a doctor. Thanks for all the advice.
Title: Re: Shoulder Issues
Post by: LongBlade on October 28, 2012, 07:02:20 PM
Quote from: Knavery on October 28, 2012, 02:24:37 PM
Personally, I like it better this way. The last thing we need is someone to come in the thread and say to stay on topic. Coffee shop talk is good IMO.

BTW, now that I'm moved in my new home, I'm going to do as you all suggest--go see a doctor. Thanks for all the advice.

Get well soon!