QUESTION: What can I do to help shoulder tendonitis caused by paddling?
Hi Beth,
I was checking out your stuff on the SurfPulse site—very cool. Anyway, around October 1, I surfed three lovely days in a row at OB and ended up with a sore right shoulder. It felt like rotator cuff tendonitis with the addition of a kink in the back of my neck—like when you sleep on it wrong or held a telephone between your shoulder and your ear for too long. Here it is December and I still have those symptoms. The shoulder is a bummer for paddling, but the pain in the neck is especially a bummer since it is always there.
Anyway, I did see a sports medicine MD around Oct. 10th, who also thought it was rotator cuff tendonitis, and he prescribed a set of exercises that he thought would clear it up in six weeks. He said at the time he thought after a week or so of rest I should be able to go out for “easy” surfs. Well, I live at OB so I don’t know if that is possible. I have continued to surf about 1 to 3 times a week. It’s sore but I live with it. I would love toget back to 4 times a week. And so, here is the question—if I want to avoid shoulder arthritis, should I totally stay out of the water until it totally gets better, like for 6 weeks or something? I hate to do that, but I am getting towards 40, and I really do not want face arthritis or somethingthat is permanently debilitating. Any thoughts? Thanks a ton! Robbie
ANSWER:
Hey Robbie,
Sounds like a familiar ailment. I have dealt with the dreaded shoulder tendonitis for years and believe me, it isn’t comfortable. Unfortunately tendonitis is a swelling of a tendon which can get repeatedly inflamed when aggravated. Ice helps a great deal as does Advil and rest, but you also need to be informed as to WHAT is causing the tendonitis and HOW do you fix the problem. You can continue to treat the injury acutely but you need to find out what you can do to get rid of it permanently.
For example… is it due to poor posture? Are you compensating elsewhere due to pain so you are super tight in certain areas? Is it surfing that aggravates it or are you not stretching enough? Rest will probably make your shoulder a lot happier but if taking the time off is going to kill you, I would try a few other measures. (Again this is my opinion based on your complaints. Basically, be smart and listen to your body)!
Start taking a yoga/stretching class if you don’t already. In rehab, range of motion comes first and then you start strengthening the injured area. You may be super tight. I would also try to get a few sports massages from someone who knows injury. I know of a great yoga place here in the City.
Ideally, rest is probably the number one helper but it still isn’t going to assure you that the next time you surf, you won’t re-injure yourself. Figure out what caused it in the first place and tackle that problem. Good luck and let me know if this helps!
Hasta, Beth
Related posts:
Great tips! I know someone who really needs this. He has been going back and forth to different specialists and he’s still in pain. I told him to start yoga…