On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 06:19:59 -0500, "Knothead"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I DAGS and found several of the regulars have had some shoulder repair work
>done. Was it worth it? How long before you were able to push the jointing
>plane? Would you do it again? I'm looking at the scalpel and asking for a
>second opinion.....Those with experience.
I was having terrible problems with my rotator cuff in my left
shoulder, and went to physical therapy for it. Turns out that years
of manual labor after an old tear in the joint had made the wrong
muscles too strong, and they were pulling the it into a wierd
position. Three or four visits to PT and making sure to do the
exercises they gave me did a world of good- I'm sure not everyone can
have such an easy fix, especially if the problem was due to a specific
injury, but it's probably worth a shot to try the therapy alone first,
and use surgery as a last resort. With that route there was *no*
recovery time, the problem just got a little better every day until it
went away.
What type of procedure are you looking at? What injury type? (rotator
cuff? dislocation?)
I had a repeatedly dislocating shoulder "fixed" about 8 years back.
Seems the "capsule" of tendons that hold the ball on the socket (you
remember high-school anatomy, right? Ball and socket joint...except for
the shoulder it's more like a golf ball and a golf tee...) Anyway,
those tendons had stretched out considerably after dislocating the
shoulder a good ~20x over the course of four years.
They stretched the loose tendons over and tacked them down to a handy
bit of shoulder bone.
I had them cut me open (95% success rate vs. 65% success for
artheroscopic <sp?> ) and I didn't have a dislocation again until about
a year ago. I'm back in PT to build things up again (like I should
have in the first place). Down time was about 2 weeks (IIRC) with my
arm strapped to my side. I was back to "normal" in about 6 weeks. I'd
say you'll be out pushing a jointing plane after about 2-3 months if
your injury/surgery is comparable.
Overall, the surgery was worth it, but don't discount the physical
therapy that you'll need...and DO it, elsewise you'll end up back in
the same place later...
Knothead wrote:
> I DAGS and found several of the regulars have had some shoulder repair work
> done. Was it worth it? How long before you were able to push the jointing
> plane? Would you do it again? I'm looking at the scalpel and asking for a
> second opinion.....Those with experience.
>
> Thanks,
> Knothead
>
> My bad shoulder got a lot better when I stopped abusing it nearly so often
> with an ugly golf swing.
Bet mine wins the ugly competition. I just recently figered out I was
looking for the low score...
> Do you think I can I claim my handplanes as a medical expense? ;-)
>
> Patriarch
I would go for the golf fees for therapy
On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 06:19:59 -0500, "Knothead"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I DAGS and found several of the regulars have had some shoulder repair work
>done.
Work-related injuries
http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20050709.html
Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I was having terrible problems with my rotator cuff in my left
> shoulder, and went to physical therapy for it. Turns out that years
> of manual labor after an old tear in the joint had made the wrong
> muscles too strong, and they were pulling the it into a wierd
> position. Three or four visits to PT and making sure to do the
> exercises they gave me did a world of good- I'm sure not everyone can
> have such an easy fix, especially if the problem was due to a specific
> injury, but it's probably worth a shot to try the therapy alone first,
> and use surgery as a last resort. With that route there was *no*
> recovery time, the problem just got a little better every day until it
> went away.
>
My bad shoulder got a lot better when I stopped abusing it nearly so often
with an ugly golf swing.
Do you think I can I claim my handplanes as a medical expense? ;-)
Patriarch