Rotater cuff issues are tricky. My personal journey in this regard led from the Traditional Medical, effective treatments like Physical Therapy to Cortisone Shots to Acupuncture. Have you ever had a rotater cuff issue? It is not fun and involves pain which can range from "nagging, just annoying" to much more severe.
About 13 years ago, I injured my rotater cuff, without even knowing at the time that I had. It happened when I was teaching a sailing lesson and there was hardly any wind. My student and I were at a downwind point of sail and I had my arm up for awhile on a 26 foot sailboat in order to keep the boom from going back and forth over our heads while I was teaching a lesson involving points of sail and jibing. The boom was passing over our heads back and forth as it does and was a bit distracting so I put my hand up to hold the boom away from our heads for a minute or so just to make my point. There was hardly any pressure on the sail or I wouldn't have done this. The lesson continued well and I didn't think anything of it.
Later on, my shoulder started to ache a bit, but I just ignored it. Having been trained as a dancer during college along with growing up sailing and as an "outdoorsy kind of girl", then becoming a mom, and therefore not bothered by little aches and pains, I didn't pay my shoulder any mind until a few weeks later when it was still aching. At that point, I sort of started watching it, getting a massage, taking Tylenol, etc.. and it didn't go away. It was really interfering with my tennis, something I especially enjoyed off season for stress relief and to stay in shape. Finally I consulted an MD. He had me take an MRI, which I did. His diagnosis was that I had an impinged rotater cuff and prescribed Physical Therapy. I asked him how I could have torn it - there hadn't even been any pressure on the sail? He explained that starting around age 40, especially if one has a small frame on top, as I do, it is not a good idea to ever have your arm in that position as it is very susceptible to rotater cuff injury.
After about 8 weeks of excellent Physical Therapy, with ElectroStim, Heat, Ice, Massage and prescribed exercises - my arm felt fine again. I was very pleased to be able to teach sailing again without any pain and to play tennis. I thought I was "cured" and that was the end of it.
A couple years later, I moved to Eastern CT, began teaching sailing up there and managing a large sailing program. Everything was fine the first year, but by the second year, my shoulder was really bothering me again, especially while playing tennis. I decided that I'd better get PT again, but this time it actually got worse with the Physical Therapy. I became increasingly concerned as I had an important sailing event coming up and my shoulder was in such pain, that even with Tylenol, it was hard to stand the pain. The MD promised that if he gave me a Cortisone shot on Monday that by Saturday, I would be fine for the event. He have me that Cortisone shot and gratefully, I was fine for the event and pain free for 5 more years! The Cortisone shot was not a pleasant experience, but definitely worth it. If you are at all needle shy and your doctor will prescribe a tranquilizer beforehand, I would recommend taking it.
When the shoulder started acting up again during tennis season, I thought, "O.K., I'll just get another Cortosone shot and I'll be fine for another 5 years." Unfortunately, this time the shot only worked for 3 weeks and the pain came back. My doctor said this meant that I now needed surgery. At yoga class, I was telling my instructor about it and how I was going to have to miss yoga because of this operation and she recommended seeing a local acupuncturist who was also a yoga student.
I had always thought that acupuncture was just a hoax and not being a big fan of needles, I asked her if she was sure it would work. She said she wasn't sure but it was worth giving it a shot (pardon the pun!). She told me the acupuncturist was excellent and would let me know after the 1st session if she could help me and I should just try it. So I did. 4 months later and for the same price that I would have paid as a deductible for rotater cuff surgery, I was healed. This was about 5 years ago and I haven't looked back, so now I am a big fan of acupuncture!
While my acupuncturist said she couldn't have healed it if it was a bad tear and that would have definitely required surgery, I recommend acupuncture 100 percent for pain relief, as long as you find a qualified & talented acupuncturist. Just like a regular MD, the talent, experience and integrity of the acupuncturist is very important, so get references from people you know. My acupuncturist, Dr. Cynthia Frantz of Chester, Connecticut is excellent and uses the finest needles (they are red) for my treatments, and it doesn't bother me at all, in fact it is actually quite relaxing!
Interesting story - like you I think I would have been skeptical of acupuncture but it's really cool to hear that it actually works! :) Glad you are doing so much better!
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