Monday, September 7, 2015

Excellent Shoulder Exercise After Bike Crashes

This is about a hardware store expedition as you will need some bits to make this yourself.

How to make it:

You need a pulley.  Some of them have multiple channels but you only need one.

Now you need a hook to put over the top of an interior house door.  Attach the pulley to that.  Don't get cheap stuff as it's going to work hard.

Get a nylon rope between two and three meters and two handles for it.  Run it through the pulley and size to fit then attach the handles to each end.


How to use it:

Move a chair facing the door and take the handles in each hand.  When holding the handles, the upper arm should be roughly parallel with the ground.

The exercise will pull down with one arm which raises the other to its extension.  Do NOT force it.  Alternate until you are absolutely bored out of your mind and keep on doing it.  You are not finished yet.  It's worth it.


Why bother:

There has been an ongoing problem with numbness in my arms due to some non-specific ergonomic cause.  The left shoulder was replaced but numbness comes to both so my thinking is the same therapy is valid for each of them.

There is excellent confidence this is an effective response as it was originally prescribed by a professional physical therapist and an exceptionally good one.  When she started with me, my left shoulder was recently smashed all to hell and could not move in any way.  My hand would grip my leg so it didn't move too much or it would hurt ... a lot.  She brought it back so I could play again so, yah, I trust her advice and this was part of it.

Another easy prop is to use a stretchie but it would be best to consult a real physical therapist to determine which types of exercises with one would be most helpful to your situation.


Caution:

This is NOT a strength-building exercise and the object is not to pull any harder than is necessary to move the arm.  The object is to maintain flexibility and range of motion in the shoulder.  Confidence is high this a good answer and it shouldn't cost more than twenty dollars to do it.

Do NOT do this to the point of pain.  Forcing it will likely make things worse.  Take it easy and give it time but count on a lot of it.  This don' come easy.

This is NOT medical advice.  If there is the faintest question of the applicability of the exercise, consult a licensed therapist or a doctor.  Keep chiropractors away ... with a cattle prod if necessary.




Payday is tomorrow night.  This is definitely going to happen.  

No comments: