Shoulder injury

ihamner · Oct 18, 2008

Somehow I injured my shoulder about 4 or 5 weeks ago. I kept thinking I was sleeping on my side wrong causing my shoulder to keep hurting. It is so painful and there are certain times I move my arm that the pain will bring me to my knees - almost.

Yesterday I realized how I injured it and why it keeps getting re-injured. I had my shipper paperwork on a clipboard in my left hand and rather than put it on the seat and use both hands to grip and climb in the truck, I put the clipboard in my arm and grab on with both hands but I literally pulled myself up into the truck with my right arm. The pain was so intense I fell into the seat and could not move for a couple of minutes.

We probably all know the rules about having three points of contact at all times when climbing into the truck but pulling my full weight with one arm is not the way to do this. I imagine it is going to take months for this pain to go away but at least now I know what I'm doing to cause it.

I have an aunt that had such a terrible bruise on her wrist and it would not go away. She went to the doctor and he could not figure out what was causing the awful bruise. They put her through all kinds of tests. She was shocked to discover the reason for the bruise. She was hitting her toothbrush on her wrist every time she brushed her teeth to get the water off the toothbrush.

pjjjjj · Oct 18, 2008

Boy, that must've been some MOTHER toothbrush!

butterfly610 · Oct 18, 2008

Sometimes my back hurts, and I never thought of it being caused by the way I climb into the truck. Hmmm...I'll have to pay attention next time. I did get a memory foam thingy for our bed, and it helps with my shoulders hurting. They were so tense for awhile, but this seems to help it a lot.

Moot · Oct 18, 2008

Somehow I injured my head about 10 or 11 years ago. It started out as a bruise. Then a bump here, a gash there and the occasional scrape. Until today, I couldn't figure out what the cause of my cranial injuries was. Then I remembered that I am bald and live in a van.

theoldprof · Oct 19, 2008

ihamner. Get some Biofreeze and rub it on the sore spots. It is the modern day Ben Gay. It's good stuff. You can get it from chiropractor offices and some drug stores. I practically bathe in it every night before I go to bed. Both knees and both shoulders. Try it.

pelicn · Oct 20, 2008

India,
I had a similar issue with my shoulder. Mine was caused by shifting a manual truck (before expediting) I ended up developing what the doc said was "frozen shoulder"
Your Orthopaedic Connection: Frozen Shoulder

Can you pinpoint the pain? Have you had a chance to go to the doc?

Pilgrim · Oct 21, 2008

I had "frozen shoulder" about four years ago, and it was nothing to joke about. The symptoms were much the same as yours sound like, and the doctor said if I had let it go much longer it would have required surgery. Instead I got off with a cortizone shot and a couple months of physical therapy. Get it checked out - the inflamation won't go away on its own.

cheri1122 · Oct 22, 2008

Butterfly: I used to get that tension pain between the shoulderblades too, after driving long hours. I've found a great way to relieve it: place a ball (tennis, or slightly softer foam ball the same size) under your shoulder while lying on your back. Moving yourself slowly over the ball, the massage is wonderful, and helps to work the tension out.

Moot: is THAT the real reason you keep saying "Ban the van!"?

Jack_Berry · Oct 27, 2008

strange injuries

gracie had a mark on her upper arm when she went to the doctor years ago. this was ust after we had been together a couple years....doc says...i have to ask, is it abuse? gracie says no but i can't figure out where it came from. kinda suspicious response right? so some time goes by and one day we are getting into the car and she yelps in pain. the wind had pushed the door in on her and she received the top point of the door in that spot. suddenly she knoew where that spot came from. the constant shrugging against the door with the upper arm to push the door back to the point it stays open..

pelicn · Jul 11, 2009

Hey India....How's your shoulder doing?

ihamner · Jul 11, 2009

Thanks for asking. My shoulder is so much better. I have learned to be very careful and I do physical therapy on it when it starts bothering me again. I don't think I'll ever have the range of motion I used to have but I'm thankful the awful pain is gone.

By the way, a doctor mentioned to me that the best thing to do as we age to keep our shoulder joints healthy is to reach up for the top of a doorway every time we go through a door. Of course you tall folks have to stoop down to go through doors but us short folks can use it for exercise.

pelicn · Jul 11, 2009

My doctor told me the same thing. Reach for the top of the door to keep those muscles stretched and flexible. I'm glad to hear that it's better now.

cheri1122 · Jul 11, 2009

I can't do it in the KW, but I used to keep a 2lb dumbell in the overhead compartment, and did some stretching exercises with it while driving during the night. Kind of limited with the left arm, but those of you who drive team can do it in the passenger seat, too - just don't bonk the driver, lol.

tr · Jul 11, 2009

Had bascially the same problem two years ago, just continued to get worse so finally went to DR. He gave me a shot of cortisone, did physical therapy on my own and it cleared up in a few weeks. The pain was almost totally relieved with the shot. To keep it from happening again, I continue to use the rubberized type stretch band, do several movements with it each day while watching TV. You might be able to buy one in a pharmacy, if not, just call any physical therapy office and they can tell you where to buy one. They come in different colors. The color indicates how much resistance is in the
band. Glad to hear it is better.

babs3361 · Jul 12, 2009

Quite often shoulder pain is not caused from anything you did with your arm or shoulder, but caused by a nerve being pinched in the cirvical spine at c-5 c-6. With the job we do it is the constant low vibration that causes the disk to buldge thus causing the nerve to be pinched. You can have a feeling when pushing or pulling on something that the shoulder is popping out but it is the signal from the brain to the muscle that is not getting thru. The nerve is being pinched so the signal can't get thru properly, for the muscle to work the way it should. The bio Freeze is wonderful stuff it is like putting Ice on the inflamation and bring the inflamation down to stop the nerve from being pinched.