Monday, May 16, 2011

Sit up straight, or else!

This morning I went for an MRI on my shoulder. It’s been hurting off and on for a while. I had put off going to the doctor because I was afraid that he’d say I’d have to quit spinning or doing yoga. (Not the brightest move in the world, I know.) But I’m allowed, as long as I take it easy. Good thing too, because I’m not sure what I’d do with myself if I couldn’t do yoga at least once if not three times a week. Funny how something I didn’t care about a year or so ago is now vital to me. Same thing happened when I really got into knitting, and I feel the same way about spinning.

I thought I’d had an MRI before, I was wrong. (I had a CAT scan, I think.) Ooooo I’m not a fan. All the people were very nice, but that little-bitty space, with the noise that was much louder than NPR in the headphones, and the vibrations that made my teeth rattle did nothing to help my morning remain calm. But, hey, now I know for sure – I am indeed slightly claustrophobic, and I’m certain I’d really like to never do that again. I tried to breathe as shallowly as possible, so as not to move my shoulder and they still had to redo two of the images because I twitched.

I've googled the causes for this injury, aside from repetitive overhead motions (like playing racquetball), slouching and not having very strong shoulder muscles can contribute to it. I'm considering trying to spin with a book on my head. Maybe not, I'd probably end up with crummy yarn and a book landing on my toe.

Edit:
Just heard from the doctor, I shouldn’t have been too excited about being able to do yoga. While I don’t have a tear (hurray), I do have a calcium deposit in the AC joint. And the real kicker is the thickening of the ligament in the rotator cuff. I’ve got an appointment for Wednesday with an Ortho-surgeon, and will probably get a shot of cortisone. Hopefully this will make the inflammation to go away enough that I can start strengthening the muscles around my shoulder to keep this from happening again. This is good news, and I know that it is, I was just hoping for the “lots of rest/take it easy” answer, not “time to make another appointment” answer.

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