Just Health

Please tell us it was just chronic indigestion...

Whew. Be careful (guys) with aorta/ic aneurisms. My dad had one. Did fine with it. Keep it in check.
Also, don't let grim faced docs change your spirit. I've seen too many. Positive outlook! Chin up!
And take care of yourselves, everyone!

Another little one:
Just found out that what I had fondly supposed were bone spurs in my right shoulder, matching the set my left shoulder developed three years ago, are in fact cartilage degeneration at the top of my humerus, accompanied by a "tear" which extends into my bicep. No idea what this means, other than pain, since my doctor won't see me for another week. I thought that the tear must refer to my rotator cuff, but since it extends into my bicep (a muscle), I don't know what it can be.

No big deal; I imagine it can be corrected or ameliorated with surgery and/or physical therapy. I'm just frustrated to get a diagnosis without any kind of explanation or interpretation, or even advice for coping. Am I injuring myself further by using the arm? Who knows?

My dad had an aneurysm and died at 54. I had a similar condition - and apparently related to Marfan's syndrome - and had my aortic valve and related plumbing replaced in 2010 at age 62. But now - had testing done recently to help determine why I'm losing my left eye.

Oh, man, good luck with that, Bruce. My dad had vision problems in one eye around 70, it turned out to be necrotizing scelritis and was treatable.

hang in there. keep up the checks and necessary helpful stuff.

Fingers crossed about the eye, Bruce.

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I thought that the tear must refer to my rotator cuff, but since it extends into my bicep (a muscle), I don't know what it can be.

It probably is rotator cuff. The long head bicep ligament/tendons originate from the same space and can get compressed. I've had on again, off again rotator cuff/bicep problems with my left shoulder for years.

It's a really crappy design, the shoulder.

[edit] here's a better picture. E is the long biceps tendon/head and when it repeatedly flicks over the bony bit at F, it can frikkin' hurt...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2012 03:15PM by Tony Leggett.

Thanks, Tony, that helps to understand.

Geez, we are a bunch, aren't we? Hang in there, Bruce and JW.

Yeah, every time I read this thread, it reminds me how old we're all getting.

"Cripples, bastards, and broken things?"

Turn lemons into lemonade...

The society of heroic, partially deficient geeks!

(graphic novel)

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Am I injuring myself further by using the arm? Who knows?

Avoid fast or jerky external rotation of the shoulder (ie a tennis backhand and/or backhanding small children etc). There are certain stretching exercises to do as well.

Getting heat into the shoulder joint helps with healing muscle recovery. The structure of the shoulder means it gets poor circulation.

Tony Leggett - amateur physio...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2012 03:13PM by Tony Leggett.

Thanks, Tony. The sudden motions are what's killing me. One doesn't always plan making them. Short of splinting the arm, though, I'm not sure how I'll stop making them.

The first step is to take a break from your David Byrne tribute show for a while.

The one stretch that helped me was:

1. With your arms pointing at about a 45˚angle down toward the ground rotate your hands counterclockwise so the palms are facing upwards/outwards.

2. Breath in and pull your arms backwards (only about 30˚ or until you feel a gentle stretch) & hold for about 20-30 seconds.

This shouldn't hurt. If it's painful stop. Supposedly having the arm in this position reduces pressure on the brachioradial nerve that runs through the shoulder joint. (Don't overstretch the bicep though).

Don't do any fancy stuff where you have to raise your arm sideways (esp load-bearing) above shoulder height if you can avoid it.

Bill:

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The society of heroic, partially deficient geeks!

The league of subnormal sporkers?

On step 2, my shoulder starts to hurt a LOT as soon as I move it more than a little bit. I think I'm going to wait for the doctor before embarking on a therapy regimen. Not that I don't appreciate the info. It seems much more applicable than the crap I found on Google.

I was about to edit step 2 to say shrug your shoulders backwards rather than pull (imprecise wording, apologies).

*edit* - also important to relax/drop shoulders as you breath out (crap I know why people don't give these directions online - very hard to describe accurately)

But if it hurts definitely don't do it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2012 08:05PM by Tony Leggett.

>if it hurts definitely don't do it

If anybody can put that into Latin, it will be the motto of House Willoughby henceforward.

I like the motto of the Ramkin household (Terry Pratchett's discworld): "What we have, we keep."

Arguably the motto of the GOP too...