pondering

[curgoth]

I'm feeling a little frustrated with my body in the last few days - while I've come a long way, I'm feeling stuck where I am, and I still need to lose more weight.

I'm also feeling that my exercise program needs an update. I'm not sure I really want to shell out the cash to get a trainer to do it for me, though, so it is time to hit the books.

I'm also fairly frustrated with my shoulder - it's clear now that the injuries I've done to my shoulders have messed something up in a long-term manner, and I'm going to have to do something about it beyond just taking it easy for a while to let it heal, since it seems to start hurting with less and less provocation. Since I've managed to have enough pain to keep me from lifting my arm for a couple days when I wasn't at the gym, and then had that pain go away after a gym night, I am wondering if it's more something being misaligned than damaged muscle at this point. Or maybe it's related to that massive knot on my right shoulder blade.

Which leads me to pondering about what to do about it - if it's a misalignment, perhapos I should be looking at chiropractic, or an RMT. Physiotherapy should, I suppose, also be on my list. I'll need to see what work's insurance covers. I'm a little distrustful of chiropractic, having had a spent several years of regular chiropractic before discovering that the immediate benefits could be reproduced with regular stretching. On the other hand, I could just be seeing the down side of stopping chiro now.

Anyone have any strong opinions on what I should do? I'd consider asking my doctor, but it's not worth the wait to ask a quick question like this. Maybe I should have an LJ poll! (except I'm too lazy to go build one just now. Maybe later.)

Comments

[sylvarthorne.livejournal.com]

It'd help to know what kind of injuries you've done to your shoulder, and what kind of pain it is and where it's located...but if you did manage to damage muscle, it won't get better by taking it easy - you'll need to restrengthen the muscle and all the little pieces parts that make your shoulder work. Think of it like a sprain, you know? You need to work it to get the pain to go away.

As for it being a knot - I have chronic pain in my back and shoulders due to knots, but I almost never have problems lifting or moving my arms due to them unless a nerve is being pinched. If that's the case, I'd personally recommend a massage therapist over a chiropractor. Well, I'd recommend one anyway, since knots are no fun to deal with...or find a really good friend with really strong hands who knows what they're doing and can work knots out.

If you've had constant issues with your shoulder for a week or more, I'd say go get it checked out by your doc. Bonus: a lot of medical stuff requires a doctor's rec before they'll cover it, so you may be hitting two birds with one stone.

Good luck!

[curgoth]

About two or so years ago, I messed up my right shoulder while doing lat pulldowns, and had to give it a few months to heal. Then about 6-8 months later, I got tossed onto a hard wood over concrete floor at a jujutsu class, which messed up the left shoulder and irritated the right. Since then, I've had a few relapses where it started to hurt again.

I guess I just have it drilled into my head that doctors don't know how to deal with muscle issues. Damned hippy upbringing!

[sylvarthorne.livejournal.com]

Damn...you're partially right about general practitioners, though, they aren't trained to know what they're doing when it comes to muscles, which is why you need to see someone who is. Go to your doc, tell him/her what's going on, and get a recommendation on who to see (and for insurance purposes). Pronto, because as it is, the damage may be permanent.

[curgoth]

I suppose that would be the sensible route... sadly, since Ontario is running short on doctors, it'd be a month or two wait for a doctor's appointment, and then a full day wasted to have a 10 minute chat with the doc... it just seems wasteful. But then, I suppose I also need to admit that this isn't just a minor soreness... (never get old, kid, that's my advice...)

[sylvarthorne.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I keep telling my knees and hips and back that I'm too frikkin young to be in pain, but they just don't seem to listen. This is probably going to be a theme throughout my life, but I'm staunchly resolved not to age past 23, or thereabouts. Old enough to party (Stateside anyway, lucky Canadian kids), young enough to be immortal, you know?

Also, I had no idea the medical situation was that bad. I went to a boarding school in Stratford a couple years ago, and I remember there being problems, but I had no idea it had gotten to that point.

[curgoth]

If it were an emergency, I could get in faster than that, but my current doc is massively overextended - I've had to sit in the waiting room several hours every time I've been to see her. My previous doctor (who retired), would usually see me within a week or so, and I rarely had to wait more than 10 minutes for my appointment. Which is the problem, really - doctors are retiring faster than new ones are going into family medicine, so the ones left are getting massively overworked.

[sylvarthorne.livejournal.com]

Right, that makes sense.

Can you give me a quick-and-dirty on the Ontario medical system, since I didn't pay attention while I was there? It seems to me like we need to combine the Canadian and US systems somehow, heh.

Yes, I live under a rock.

[curgoth]

Basically, it's an entirely public system, run at the provincial level. With the exception of things like chiropractic, dental, prescriptions and the like, the government pays for citizens to get health care (so I don't have to pay for doctors or tests). The federal government used to pay 50% of the health care costs - these days, it's less than 20%. Ontario's previous government cut costs, and closed a bunch of hospitals. Combine that with the whack of retiring baby boom doctors, and an aging population, and we have the beginning of a mess.

I live in Toronto, so it's not too bad for me for finding a new doctor, if I want one, though they're all overworked and underpaid (family doctors get paid less than specialists, according to the current scheme, while having high malpractice insurance rates, so it can take a very long time to pay off the med school debt). In some of the smaller towns in the province, it's virtually impossiuble to find a doctor at all, since the new docs would rather go to, say, Toronto.

The whole public health care thing is a big part of Canadian identity, but it's coming under fire - the supreme court recently ruled that Canadians have the right to be treated before they die, and that they should be able to pay to see a private doc if the public system is too slow. this opens the door for a two-tier system like many European nations have.

I'm personally rather uncomfortable with the idea, since if the rich and powerful aren't using the public system, there's a lot less pressure to keep it from sucking ass.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's interesting because I seem to recall a story on public radio not too long ago regarding fewer doctors going into general or family medicine because they perceive it as being less rewarding, gives them less pay and forces them to work longer hours. So many are choosing to go into specialities. Which would explain why it's a production trying to see a "regular" doctor around here.

Have you considered exploring Reiki? I've heard good things about it for chronic pain.