Last updated on January 25, 2019
Well, if I can say one thing for this shoulder injury, it has allowed me a bunch of new experiences. Two of those happened in physiotherapy during my month in Spain.
During the first physiotherapy session, the therapist used electrodes and did some electrical stimulation of the area around the nerve. Then he gave me some exercises to do every day. I was doing most of them already but he nixed some of the more advanced ones that I was doing and checked my form during the exercises.
During my second visit, he asked if I was interested in dry needling. After he explained the process to me, I figured why not! He used an ultrasound on my arm and shoulder to guide him in tapping about four (I think) needles into place. He explained that the needles were placed near the nerve to stimulate the area around them but could not touch the nerve because it would be too painful.
In both cases, the vibrations made my hand and arm move without any conscious decision from me. It was the weirdest feeling. It may be similar to when a doctor tests a person’s reflexes. I don’t know if that’s accurate, though, because I’ve never had my reflexes checked.
I haven’t had a physiotherapy session since because the therapist told me I needed to keep doing the exercises for at least a year. Since then, I do my exercises every day. I do side arm raises, front arm raises, pullbacks and two rotation exercises. My range of motion is much better but not completely restored, and my pinkie finger gets quite sore sometimes. I also experience some odd sensations in my arm from elbow to wrist at times.
It has been 5 months since my injury. I’ve been able to do some Zumba and pilates but I have to modify in pilates because the shoulder cannot handle much weight. I can also walk and do lower body exercises without limitation. I hope that I can go back to Crossfit and do modified WODs in about a month.
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