Man…I go from surfing about as well as I have in years to feeling like a complete kuk. Been out of the water all but four times since Late October with a frozen shoulder and now it’s getting where I can actually paddle… the added 20 pounds and layoff has really dulled my surfing ability. I am paddling fine…but my timing is waaaay off.
I have had layoffs before and I am even lighter than than the last frozen shoulder I had on the left side…but this one has slowed me way down.
Anyone familiar?
I too have gained 15 lbs. and gone downhill as my surfing has dwindled to a max of 2 hours in one day with serious repercussions the next two to three days for doing so. I had to give up amateur competitive surfing. I have an impinged shoulder due to a rheumatoid arthritic condition in my shoulder. The little gap in the ACJ(?) is closing, and the muscles and nerves are constricted. The doctor told me that PT won’t really do much, as the actual bones in my shoulder are growing. If you search Swaylocks, you will find links to the best paddling techniques possible. I have never paddled more efficiently since reading them. I don’t have spurs or anything like that. My mother has had multiple surgeries on the same joints over the years. I’m holding out until I can’t paddle at all. Then I will get the dremel tool arthroscopic surgery.
I’ve never been a great surfer, but I hurt my knee last july which led to surgery in october and kept me out of the water till january. needless to say when I got back in it wasn’t pretty. I honestly wondered if I’d ever get it back. maybe you can relate.
but here is the good news, I just got back from surf trip to peru where I volunteered with a group called WAVES for Development helping kids in a poor little village next to a world class left. I don’t know if it is the good karma, or just a ton of time in the water, or both, but I’m surfing better than ever, and with more stoke.
hang in there man, you’ll be back.
I dislocated my right shoulder a few years ago when I slipped and fell. It popped right back in and I never went to a doctor about it. Now every so often when paddling into a wave it will come out, but still pop right back in. The pain is excruciating for a couple of minutes but then subsides. It happens most when I am double pumping and really stroking for a wave. I have to be real conscious of what my arms are doing when paddling, the wrong combination of moves causes it to pop. I’m a little worried It won’t go back in and I’ll be stranded.
Now I just bought a house, been working my ass off on it, and haven’t been in since early november plus my shoulder is worse then ever. I cant’ imagine what it will be like when I finally get back in.
I work with arthroscopists and would have to say there’s a 85%+ chance your traumatic injury caused a labral tear which is the cause of the dislocation. Arthroscopic surgery would fix it by reattaching the labrum but you have a 4-6 mo or so recovery time…before you’re back to 100% (depending on the severity of the tear). Might be something to consider if it keeps happening…
I’m with you solo
Torn(frayed) tendons and fluid around the nerve in the left elbow.
Had the cast on for a month and now that it’s off I have lost 50% mobility and 80% strength.
I can’t lift a coffee cup and the physical therapist told me surfing is completely out of the question for the next 4-6 weeks!
I’m dieing over here!
This sounds like a bunch of guys I want to share a line-up with…
BLUEFIN
Ive suffered the same injury. I went to physical therapy and they had me start doing rotator cuff exercises with those rubber resistance bands. Two days into doing the exercises my shoulder felt twice as good, two weeks later it was almost back to normal and i could surf again. The way it was explained to me was that since Ive stretched the ligaments out or whatever it is that is supposed to hold the shoulder in place, I need to strengthen the muscles to serve this function. I spend 5-10 minutes a day doing these exercises to keep my shoulder strong and havent had any problems at all.
Good luck and i wish you a speedy recovery
Thanks for the info, I’m gonna have to do something soon it’s getting pretty bad, happens pretty regularly. It would be nice if it was a quick fix, but with my luck I,ll be under the knife and laid up even more.
Torn supraspinatus tendon in right shulder November last year. Almost separated from the bone. Butchers said operate. I’ve gone the Osteopath route. Several months of not being able to move much because it hurts too much but it’s getting better. Started back at yoga after 2 months (not the hum hum meditate or stretch your ass variety, but a system that works with flexibility, strength, endurance and movement)*. Best thing I could have done. I’m still out of the water but my legs and core body strength are still there.
I also took this as an opportunity to make sure I’m eating healthy and cut back on the booze and other stuff, because the body is trying to cope with enough without putting up with added poisons. Chrissy(mas) packed on a few kilos, but fruit and veggies have sorted those out.
But you’ve gotta take a complete break or you’ll just stuff it up more (especially at your age ;-). Forget about surfing until you’re fixed. Ps At 49 I think I have a few years on you.
*Yoga Synergy, if you’re interested
Thanks Red
Yeah…my friends won’t even LET me go surfing until I get a clean bill of health from my MD.
I can build em…but I can’t surf em.
NOW THAT SUCKS! LOL
I have always wanted to try yoga
Maybe now’s the time
Mahalo
Sounds way familiar. The older you get the more attention you need to pay towards basic fitness and eating. Especially, when you add injury and rehap to the equation. Bet you already knew this, Solo. Twenty pounds is a huge gain, even for a big guy. Less quickness, screwed up timing, etc. Plus, it’s not healthy and ultimately will result in less longevity for fun and games. Mike
Sounds way familiar. The older you get the more attention you need to pay towards basic fitness and eating. Especially, when you add injury and rehap to the equation. Bet you already knew this, Solo. Twenty pounds is a huge gain, even for a big guy. Less quickness, screwed up timing, etc. Plus, it’s not healthy and ultimately will result in less longevity for fun and games. Mike
Just like surfing or shaping yoga is some thing you dont just try, as the benefits of it will not manifest them selves without REGULAR practise. That being said you seem to be a very entusiastic and dedicated guy and you should go for it. I had torn ligaments on the inside of my knee from years of competitive running and it always used to “pop” out ,since practising ashtanga yoga religously this hasnt happened again.
Good luck with your injuries
peace
Chris
The worst part is I just got back in really good shape prior to. Dropped a bunch of weight, tightened up and was suring really good. Then the shoulder. My first attempt to right the ship was getting back on the good diet and working out…then I got hit with a diverticulitus infection. Bam…back on a bland diet…which means pounds if you can’t work out. To top it off…I am totally over where I live. I have been trying to leave for years and remain stuck. My stoke for crappy inconsistent surf is dwindling. It was fine before I live other places and travelled experiencing real waves. Now it’s sometimes like sex with three condoms. The stoke just is not there like it was. The injury and time off just heightened the feeling.
Not whinning. It is what it is. I will have to climb back on the horse and deal with it.
You guys are basket cases.
18 years of baseball, 4 years of PAC10 pitching= 1 Tommy John surgery. If you need the surgery, get it done. It will rehab and you will feel great, maybe not 100% great, but a lot better than it feels right now.
I have a buddy that needs the same thing done…keep putting it off, he even had a surgery date set and he blew it off. Say “hey it feels better now, I’ve been eatting grass roots with kutzi berries” totally doing the holistic approach to surgery…yeah whatever. So every 3-6 months it tears again, then it heals, and it tears again. Can’t even duckdive now…has to kook out and just ditch & dive. Sooner or later it won’t “heal again” and he will go under the knife…but there will be so much scar tissue and crap in there that there won’t be much to reattach. So instead of bitting the bullet, doing the rehab and becoming 85-97% better, you end up being something like 30-50% better.
So if you have the insurance and the funds to get it done…get it done.
Aloha resinhead,
Good advice you gave! I kept putting off my need for shoulder surgery thinking that at my age I should just man up and live with it. Last year we had a nice west swell and I gutted it out and surfed beyond what I thought I could bear. After that session I couldn’t even turn the steering wheel on the truck on the way home from Lahaina. Couldn’t run a board through the table saw. Super depressed, I finally gave in and had the surgery followed by four months of rehab and being out of the water. Within six months I was surfing and paddling as if nothing had ever happened. I hit the big 6-Oh last July and haven’t felt this good since age 40…out in the water 6 days a week. Bottom line for all you young guys that feel old…don’t delay, get the treatments your doc recommends, stay on it, keep the pos.attitude, and never act your age! As Jerry Lopez says: “the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun”. Shootz.
Enjoy the ride!
Richard
solo, I have seen this frozen shoulder thing before in a friend I surf with. Seek professional help. He ignored it and was out of the water for about a year. Find a good doc who really knows what the heck it is, and do what he/she says. No over night solutions, but you can make steady progress. Don’t wait until you can’t even hold a planner.
As for surgery, I tore my rotator cuff in a swim meet couple of years ago and my doc said just deal with it. I insisted on the repair (age 52) and came back stronger than before. I rehab’d like a man on a mission and I am so glad I got it fixed.
Get it done now, because with socialized medicine you won’t have the option. My buddies in the UK confirm this.
Now that i’m in nursing school and there’s no time, and i got sick and just plain old, it’s being really hard to get the game back this spring…we’re going down to hatteras next week for five days and the warmer water and 3/2 mm suit and turning the brain off for a bit ----maybe, just maybe i’ll get reorganized and happier with my surfing…all we can do is just keep plugging away, because quitting is not an option!