Re: Wondering...
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:49 pm
espiper here (suzy). I had never met anyone with this injury, and still haven't face to face, except my oldest sister who is robpi (yes, same stupid doctor). I always thought I was severe until coming to the boards and meeting Dr. Nath. Now I think I am mild or medium. I was injured only at the C5 (my sister at the C7) so it was my deltoid that was affected. My arm is straight and have no hand problems other than can't completely supinate. But it was severe in that I didn't use it at all, ignored it in fact in childhood so was really locked down by the other muscles - could only lift 22* to the side and 45* out front. After Mod Quad I am at 92* to the side and 114* out front which has completely changed my life. I am expecting to get ever higher - I have two problems now, weakness and when I lift the opposing muscles kick in so I am working on stregnth and most importantly - learning new muscle patterns so the opposing ones don't trigger on when I lift. Both can be over come with a lot of work.
I really started using my affected arm around 10 years old when I got put in a brace for scoliosis - had to exercise twice a day for 10 years when I finally got out of it. I learned to swim at 4 years old - don't ask me how. I also had to swim as part of the routine and rode horses competitively from 6 yrs old to 14 years old.
After the 10 years I naturally have kept up with exercise at gyms and swimming because I really didn't know anything different since age 10. I was also more comfortable carrying heavy loads in my affected arm before Mod Quad- made me feel balanced cause the affected side always felt so light. After Mod Quad my affected side suddenly felt very heavy since it was all released now so carry heavy stuff on both sides now. I always carried my kids on my affected side though so if anything, perhaps I had fairly even use except for reaching up high and then I would drag the object to the edge of the high shelf and then let if fall into my affected hand. So, actually, my unaffected arm had it pretty easy maybe - it is such a show off anyways!!
Ironically, I did develope neck pain following Mod Quad that lasted a good 5 months. My therapist figured out imediately it was because now that the shoulder was released it was sitting at a lower, normal placement but my neck muscles - mostly upper traps - were too freakin' short to deal with this. So over the 5 months we legnthened the traps and other neck and upper back muscles to accomodate the new position and now although I still do the stretches daily, I am pain free and look quite normal. My shoulders are even, still one is a bit smaller but even less noticable now. The pain really freaked me out but the reasoning made sense and I knew "this too shall pass".
I have just started swimming again a month ago and can finally do the backstroke without getting a face full of water! My anterior deltoid is super tiny so I do the breast stroke, crawl, and backstroke to beef up the sucker along with working with therabands and movements to retrain my muscle patterns - huge issue for me.
I am very thankful that I had scoliosis and spent 10 years in the brace with a crazy exercise routine, my parents put me into ballet class at 4 years, and that my parents threw me in a pool at 4 years old (actually my dad said he had to teach me to swim at 4 because he was sick of jumping in to pools after me at parties, fancy dinners, ect. - I don't know what he is talking about!) and they were insane enough to put me on a horse at 6 years old! I encourage all parents to be brave, hold your breath, look away, or whatever you need to do to get that kid to use that arm!
I really started using my affected arm around 10 years old when I got put in a brace for scoliosis - had to exercise twice a day for 10 years when I finally got out of it. I learned to swim at 4 years old - don't ask me how. I also had to swim as part of the routine and rode horses competitively from 6 yrs old to 14 years old.
After the 10 years I naturally have kept up with exercise at gyms and swimming because I really didn't know anything different since age 10. I was also more comfortable carrying heavy loads in my affected arm before Mod Quad- made me feel balanced cause the affected side always felt so light. After Mod Quad my affected side suddenly felt very heavy since it was all released now so carry heavy stuff on both sides now. I always carried my kids on my affected side though so if anything, perhaps I had fairly even use except for reaching up high and then I would drag the object to the edge of the high shelf and then let if fall into my affected hand. So, actually, my unaffected arm had it pretty easy maybe - it is such a show off anyways!!
Ironically, I did develope neck pain following Mod Quad that lasted a good 5 months. My therapist figured out imediately it was because now that the shoulder was released it was sitting at a lower, normal placement but my neck muscles - mostly upper traps - were too freakin' short to deal with this. So over the 5 months we legnthened the traps and other neck and upper back muscles to accomodate the new position and now although I still do the stretches daily, I am pain free and look quite normal. My shoulders are even, still one is a bit smaller but even less noticable now. The pain really freaked me out but the reasoning made sense and I knew "this too shall pass".
I have just started swimming again a month ago and can finally do the backstroke without getting a face full of water! My anterior deltoid is super tiny so I do the breast stroke, crawl, and backstroke to beef up the sucker along with working with therabands and movements to retrain my muscle patterns - huge issue for me.
I am very thankful that I had scoliosis and spent 10 years in the brace with a crazy exercise routine, my parents put me into ballet class at 4 years, and that my parents threw me in a pool at 4 years old (actually my dad said he had to teach me to swim at 4 because he was sick of jumping in to pools after me at parties, fancy dinners, ect. - I don't know what he is talking about!) and they were insane enough to put me on a horse at 6 years old! I encourage all parents to be brave, hold your breath, look away, or whatever you need to do to get that kid to use that arm!