Shoulder Injury Status Update

Since being with W Ross MacDonald Swimming it's been a busy start to the season with a new schedule, new pool, new routine, and new lane mates. With the end of the first full regular week coming to a close I thought this would be a great opportunity give my followers and readers an update on my shoulder and the latest information I know.

The pain in my shoulder hasn't went down much since the summer months of training and competing. Through the month of August pain was minimal with a few bad days but most good. Going into Camp AK-O-MAK I knew and my coach knew we had to be EXTREMELY careful with everything I was going to participate in knowing this shoulder will flair up with pain could dominate if a sudden stress or increased movements were taken. Now my pain tolerance is high and it takes a lot of pain to make me uncomfortable. I could tell something was going wrong because a 1 KM swim and a hour and a half canoe paddle made the pain come back and as a result I wasn't to swim, canoe, lift anything, or do anything that could damage the shoulder more.

I'm lucky to have an awesome team filled with people that are willing to go out of there way to ensure a swimmer is cared for. One of the team doctors took a look at the shoulder and recommended further assessments be done to ensure nothing is broken or torn.

First was an ultrasound last week which reviled a small tear (3 mm by 3 mm approx) in the left rotator cuff. As bad as that news sounds there were positives that came out of it.
1) This pain I have been having for 5 months really has been something and not just thoughts in my head or tendinitis or nothing.
2) The tear is small enough it can be fixed with intense therapy and care
3) I WILL be able to swim again (No timeline given, could be a few days, a couple, weeks or a couple months, depends all on how the body responses to treatment)

Second up (yesterday) seeing Steve Hill a well known and highly recommend sports therapist who has worked with international athletes in many different sports. He provided some stability exercises for my back as my shoulder blades are weak and need strengthening before the shoulder can be fully dealt with. The prognoses from Steve was simple, listen to your body, do your  stability exercises regularly and always be aware of what was going on and figure out limits that can happen at this time. Next appointment is next week so the ball is rolling quickly with Steve and good news was given. Right now there is a lot of tape involved to get the ball of the shoulder rolled forward and the shoulder blades back and the lower back sitting straight instead of bent.

Third was seeing the shoulder specialist today. The morning began with 4 X Rays being taken to get a different idea of what's going on in the shoulder. The doctor wanted to compare ultrasound images from last week to the new X Ray images from this morning. There is a small white spot on the shoulder bone, it is unclear if it's inside the bone or on the outside of the bone and we don't know if it's connecting to anything.

The doctor today was able to give some great answers to some questions.

Q: Will surgery need to be performed on the shoulder to repair the damage done?
A: No, the tear is so small surgery is not the route to go. Intense therapy is the way to go and listening to the therapist as yourself to when pain comes on and taking the proper steps to ensure you aren't causing more damage.

Q: Is there any timeline on when I can take a stroke again?
A: I wouldn't be surprised if you could take a stroke now. I would say if you feel comfortable, and ready to take some easy strokes you probably can. If you are going to do that, make sure even if you feel the slightest of pains or something isn't right STOP right away and return to kicking.

Q: Do you know a cause of this injury?
A: Most sports related injuries likely come from something within the sport. (I mentioned earlier that I figured over training and lack of attention to detail would probably be causing this pain) After this reply I gave the doctor, he mentioned likely poor technique overtime and not being aware of what was happening or given proper direction by coaches could be a reason for the injury.

Q: How long is the road to recovery?
A: There really is no time frame with this kind of injury. It all depends on how the body reacts to the therapy and how invested you the patient are into getting better. There will be good days and bad days. This could be a few weeks or maybe a couple months, we just don't really know.

After discussing further the doctor recommended I go for an MRI to ensure all angles of this shoulder problem are covered, and to ensure nothing has been overlooked. The doctor believes the MRI won't show anything but he would like one done to ensure everything is good to go. Unsure at this time when that will be scheduled in but hopeful for the next couple weeks.

So for now there is a lot of tape going on, I was making the joke this morning at swimming my back looks like a treasure map with all the tap and the big X is where the gold is. Lots of kicking going on and a lot of being careful. I'm ready for this road to recovery and hope to be back in the water training hard with my teammates instead of doing kick for everything. But I know doing all this kick will only improve my kick, build strength in my legs and make me a better swimmer. I'm in for this long haul and will do anything and everything in my power to get better as quick as possible BUT as healthy as possible. Stick to my Twitter @tmac_swim14 for the very latest on this injury and for more awesome things swimming related, school, news, and so much more. I'll try my best to be back before the end of the week with another blog post. Have a few ideas rolling through my mind of what I'd like to write about, and of course if you have a topic and you want my view on it let me know via email, comments, Twitter, or Facebook and who knows your topic may appear on my blog. :)