COTH Trashed Shoulder + Elbow Brigade!

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=canadianbacon;7203515]
So the doc said I can finally start thinking about riding again next month, and suddenly I find myself terrified of hurting that shoulder if I fall off. Has anyone ever used a body protector with shoulder pads? I know it won’t protect against everything but I’m debating if it would be helpful even from a mental stand point. My physiotherapist said it takes 1 year to recover physically and 2 years to recover mentally and there is no way I’m staying out of the saddle another 18 months until I get over this fear… :no:[/QUOTE]

Don’t worry about it too much. The more time passes, the stronger and more normal your shoulder feels, the less you will fear re-injury. Riding is so second nature, you will soon forget while in the saddle that you ever had an issue. You will feel it later and want to ice it, but it isn’t hard to stay in the moment while riding. You’ll be thrilled to be back on a horse. I’m so happy for you!

[ponybutler]

Don’t know if this thread is still going [much], but…ParadoxFarm posted last fall, with the closest description to what I seem to have. Not exactly ‘Frozen Shoulder,’ but similar: an ultrasoundand shoulder x-rays last week indicate I have ‘Calcific Tendonitis’ of both shoulders.

They’ve been kinda painful and have limited my range of motion for a few months (right worse than left), but in the past few weeks I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t lift more than 5ish lbs. with the right arm.

It’s hard to get dressed, drive (with standard/no power steering truck!), and do SOO many daily things…let alone horse stuff. I’d be in big trouble if we hadn’t moved off farm a while ago.

Apparently calcium deposits build up, and cause pain; they usually go away, but it takes time. Ultrasound or shock wave therapy may help…for pain, anti-inflam stuff is suggested.

My GP told me I just have to wait, oh, and gave me some Tylenol 3’s. WTF. I’ve had one cortisone shot (which was more in my ‘back’ for some reason?!), so guess I’ll try one aimed more at the shoulder.

This is all so frustrating; like most horse folks, I’m used to aches and pains, but not being able to do a lot combined with chronic pain is not fun. I’m usually a fairly amusing gal, but this is grinding me down.

Even typing on a keyboard hurts…so better scram. If anyone has an inspiring experience, I’m all ears. If you’re in the same boat as me, here’s hoping we improve somehow!!

[RMJacobs]

I wish I had some inspiration for you, but I don’t. I discovered a few days ago that biking on ice when one is already 56 years old, has rheumatoid arthritis, and a mysteriously torn rotator cuff is not the best combination. Of course I fell on my bad shoulder. Of course it made it all a gazillion times worse. My arm wouldn’t work well enough to lift my bike back onto the car rack when I finished my ride. And I thought my arm was going to fall off when I hitched my pony to the cart the next day.

You may ask (as my daughter did) why the heck am I doing all this stuff after a pretty serious injury. I’ve always done better by pushing through pain rather than giving into it. We’ll see how well that plays out this time. It is already better, but that’s relative–it is also still pretty sucky.

Wishing reduction of pain for all,

Rebecca