United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

should i always be worried about something happening to the injeryed sholder like sport wise. iv herd two different oppions that you should be overprotecive and worried, and others say always pushit as bodybuilders do or intill the pain is to much. most people say stay right in teh middle but id like to push myslef and was wondering whats the worst that can really happen.

Hello Marian;

I think the very worse thing that could happen from an “on-the-edge” activity like you're suggesting is an injury to your unaffected arm or shoulder. The longer I’ve lived with my injury the more I appreciate the functionality I have with my unaffected arm. This is particularly true in the last decade or so. A temporary injury would be inconvenient but a permanent injury would be very difficult for me and family and friends who would want to help me.

I think everyone has their own comfort level of risk and adjusts their behavior accordingly. One example for me is that I gave up playing competitive slow pitch baseball when I reached 50 because my unaffected arm started to bother me during warm-ups. It took longer and longer with noticeable pain in my shoulder. I decided preservation of my unaffected arm was more important than the enjoyment of the competition and my team-mates. It was a difficult decision but in this case, the risk of an injury affecting function wasn’t worth it.

However, another example is that I've downhill skied since high school and look forward to skiing with my wife and friends every winter (rather than finding the sun). This might be one of the edgy sports you’re thinking about because I love to carve the groomed slopes and find the new powder and go a fast as I can. It seems that I can balance risk of injury against the fun and enjoyment of skiing and skiing wins.

I hope this makes some sense.

John P.
ROBPI for almost 69 years

If you push yourself really hard, you could hurt your strong arm and jam yourself up good... but I say what the heck! You only live once. I do things like Judo, aikido, I ride horses, used to ride bulls in the rodeo, I lift weights, do pushups, work in law enforcement, etc... etc... etc...

I'd rather hurt myself being active than to just let my BPI arm atrophy. If you are working your body out, I think that it makes you stronger all of the way around, including your BPI arm.

i used to play volleyball and tennis when iwas in elementary and i dont really find anything wrong with my affected arm using it. actually it felt even better.

I think consistanxy is more important than pushing yourself. I look at it like this: if on any given day, if I'm not making a positive stride, then I'm taking a step backwards. A positive stride can be anything that makes me think I'm not taking a step backward, no matter how small it is. If I have 4 of 7 days that I make a positive step, and 3 that I did nothing to encourage the development, the overall for the week is +1, which isn't bad, but not great to me. I try to make every week a +7, so every year, I have made 356 positive strides towards more normal function of my affected arm. Some days I push it harder, but I think it's important to balance those days with easier days. A hard day and easy day still just count as +1 to me, so my ego stays in check and I don't end up hurting myself. I don't know how it is with everyone else, but when I push my affected arm, I can't tell how tired it is until it just gives up. So I try to avoid that and therefore I believe consistancy and tenacity are the key to developing usage. I run a lot too, and developed IT band syndrome in my knee, and learned that you have to treat an injury like an injury or you might have to give up your activity. I've been learning to run differently and have definitely kept at it, but I'm far more thoughtful now and less inclined to push myself into another ego driven injury again. That's my story and my 2 1/2 cents!

-Chris 24/LOBPI