(arthroscopic pic of my humerus during surgery Sep 09)Two years ago I tweaked my shoulder while climbing in Dunkeld, Perthshire.
One small mistake, a moments bad co-ordination was going to cost me 50 physio sessions, an MRI, an XRAY with dyes injected, a CT Scan, an Arthrographic Distention injection and a full Arthrographic Capsular Release procedure!!
Two years two months since that minor mistake with co-ordination I sit here at the tail end of 12 weeks rehab after the shoulder surgery. The whole journey has been quite an eye opener and I have learned a lot.
I was fortunate to have one of Scotlands best shoulder surgeons and the procedure went well with immediate improvement in range of motion. The hard part would be keeping the mobility as my body fought hard to dump as much restrictive collagen at the surgery site as it could while I worked against the daily tide with physio sessions.
At 12 weeks I am back lifting weights and riding my bikes, I have even been climbing once and have been given the green light from my physio to start up again, albeit carefully.
So what have I learned??
Well first of all, Patience. During this 26 Month period my shoulder has been up and down. My ability to train my whole body has been hit hard as the shoulder hurt with weights or circuit training. Thus my upper body musculature has wilted and this simply adds to the shoulder problem. Its a vicious circle.
The muscles around the shoulder become weak and the problem joint has no support from essential neighbouring groups.
So I have had to bring my climbing down a few grades, quit indoor climbing and avoid all circuit training for 2 years.
Nov 2009 and its great to be back doing what I like. I've joined a brilliant gym and I'm busy rebuilding myself.
I'm going to armour my shoulder against the rigors of climbing even though I'm well aware that more muscle weight is a climbers enemy.
Its more important to be fit for the big picture and not just one facet of the sport of climbing.
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