Seven days in and I’m getting much more encouraged that I have a partial tear in my right shoulder instead of a full tear. That means I probably will NOT need surgery and will be able to fully rehabilitate my shoulder back to full health. Woohoo!
So, I’m continuing to put my own system, Malin Method, to the test… I really want to see how I respond to the treatments and how quickly and more importantly, how well my shoulder heals. So, let me go into some more detail about what I’ve been doing over the course of this first week.
The first and most important point is to be SUPER aware of pain. Every time I try an exercise, stretch or movement, I do it very gently. I go in and out of that range of motion very slowly to see if my shoulder can handle it. If I feel any kind of shooting pain, I back off and move on to a different range of motion.
That pain is my body telling me it’s not ready for that yet. And if I try to push through the pain, I will only cause MORE damage. That means it will only take LONGER to heal. So, you have to respect your body and listen to it at all times in order for the best and fastest healing. Remember, this is not a race. Take the time to heal well and you will actually heal much faster!
Now, if I try a movement and it feels a little tight and sore, then I will gently and slowly work through that. Soreness and tightness means your body needs a little push and you DO want to work through that to get your body moving again and heal the injury. If you do not do that, then body tends to harden into a much less flexible and stable pattern. So, it’s a fine line, but you want to work through soreness, just NOT pain.
Okay, let me tell you something super important… here’s a big thing I am NOT doing. I have not and will not ice my shoulder. I have written a lot of articles on this and if you want to learn more about that, click here. Ice is passable for short term pain relief (if you absolutely need that), but it is terrible for recovering from an injury. It stops or reverses all the important steps your body goes through in healing an injury, from immune cell response to lymphatic drainage. Unless you need it medically, I strongly advise against it. It will slow down the quality and speed of the healing process significantly.
Instead, I am focusing on IMPROVING blood flow to my shoulder. Getting more rebuilding and healing immune cells into the shoulder will help me heal faster and better. And I also want to drain out the waste from the injury. So, I work on building up the circulation in my shoulder at least 2-3 times a day. It feels great and I have been seeing improvements on a daily basis, so I’m very happy about that.
The next strategy I use is NEVER to directly work the shoulder in the beginning. After an injury, the area will just be too damaged and might get more agitated if you do anything directly in the area, which again, could make you take a step backward in the healing process. So, in the case of the shoulder, I work the areas around the shoulder to take the stress off it.
For example, almost everyone has rounded shoulders which causes a tight chest and weak back. That puts a lot of stress and pressure on the shoulder. So, by working the chest, back and lats in specific ways, I can relieve that pressure which helps the shoulder heal faster.
As time goes on, I am going to add in more and more strength and stability, but the first week has been all about improving circulation and taking the stress off my shoulder as much as possible.
My next post will be on Day 11 and how you can take rehab to the next level.
Stay tuned…