On March 17, St. Patrick's Day, I managed to shred my right rotator cuff (shoulder.) After two months of worthless physical therapy mandated by the insurance company, I was allowed to get an MRI, which showed in vivid detail the tear in the tendon. In the image, the tear looked as massive as the circumference of the Great Salt Lake. Those august personages agreed to let me have it repaired.

On June 13th, I had it repaired. It is currently nailed against my ribcage in a heavy Velcro brace and sling.

Once I get free of this rigging, I want to do whatever the therapists or trainers can do to make me as strong as I can be. Right now, my arm is hooked against my rib cage in Velcro. I can't afford a personal trainer, but I will get everything I can from the PT person. I hate feeling so vulnerable. I want to rebuild with a vengeance. Wish me luck!!

I wish you luck to go with your already plucky determination!

¡Que sales de ésto sintiendo a todo dar!

On a bright note, at least your PT knows that s/he can help you to get better this time around. Keep on keeping on, Catnip!

Paul has been dealing with this sort of problem for a couple of years.

I had him read your post, and the first thing he said was: "Don't try to rebuild with a vengeance!"

You need to go slow and steady, you need to [slowly and gradually!] build mobility, and you specifically need to do the appropriate stretching exercises.

You need to concentrate on your tendons and ligaments, and realize that you WILL develop scar tissue, and if you get too enthusiastic with the exercises in any way (too fast, too strong, using weights), you can tear the scar tissue which is forming right now--and you definitely do NOT want to do this because it will put you in a worse situation than the one you started with.

He also says you need to begin taking Type II collagen (there are different types of collagen), and to tell you that you will need to take Type II collagen for the rest of your life.

He says the best brand he knows of is Collagen Enhance, which is in capsules, and you can find this at your nearest GNC store (assuming it is a corporate store and not a franchise store, because franchise owners can do whatever they want with their stores and their store inventories). You can phone your preferred store and ask if they are corporate or franchise, and they will tell you.

He says a bottle of Collagen Enhance will last two months, and costs $70.00/bottle--but right now, this product is "Buy One, Get [an additional] One for half-price.

He says Collagen Enhance is better than any other product he knows about because this type of collagen specifically targets joints (etc.), rather than hair and skin (which is the specific target of other types of collagen). If you were to get the hair and skin type, it would not target your shoulder.

He does his shoulder stretching and mobility exercises every night (he never skips), and his shoulder now is much improved over what it was when he began.

I feel for you and how vulnerable you must feel right now, and I hope this helps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2019 01:50AM by Tevai.

I don't know the first thing about collagen. Can it be used safely by people with severe kidney failure issues?

Thanks to all for your compassion and responses!

catnip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know the first thing about collagen. Can
> it be used safely by people with severe kidney
> failure issues?
>
> Thanks to all for your compassion and responses!

I tried to get through all of the returns from my Google search for: Can collagen be used safely by people with severe kidney failure issues.

Here is one of the returns:

https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/herbalsupp

Paul says he has never heard of collagen being restricted for those with kidney disease, but you need to check it out first because he only knows what he, himself, has dealt with in his job and his research.

Before you take any collagen, you really need to take the time to check through the Google returns.

I hope you are able to find the right things, for you, that help.

I am so sorry you are going through this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2019 01:41AM by Tevai.

Thank you so much for the extra information!

I understand how frustrating the delay for the MRI was. Doctors aren't really calling the shots anymore. I'm glad you finally got what you needed.

Hold that thought, Catnip!

And follow the protocol!

Take Tevai's advice on this, don't overdo anything. You need to heal first and take your time to repair and rebuild.

What a winning attitude you have, catnip! I wish an extraordinary recovery for you! Love and gentle hugs to you

If your PT person doesn’t give you a pulley, get one. In fact if you only do one thing, work with the pulley. Sloooowly at first. Lift your injured arm in small increments. You don’t want to gain movement only to have tendonitis set in. I’ve had too many cortisone shots from pushing it.

I feel for you, catnip; I've had a rotator cuff repair and the operation took longer than the ortho specialist thought because he found more damage than he saw on the MRI. Take it gradual and easy with the PT. You'll soon be feeling sooo much better.

I agree with what Tevai said. Take it slow and easy. Just keep working at it. You've had a rough couple of years. I hope this is the last of it.

I'm asking Tevai now about this collagen enhance. Would it work for arthritis? I assume? My fingers are so bad. They are better on meloxicam, but it can damage your liver and so I have to take vacations from it. When I don't take meloxicam, I feel like my hands are foreign and I'd like them to just go away.

"Collagen Enchance will improve the situation" (direct quote from Paul).

Another product, Tamaflex, will greatly alleviate the pain--and I know this from some hard experience. A couple of years ago we had to move a warehouse (Paul was shutting down his book business, and I also had a huge amount of my own, personal, books there.) It was incredibly hard physical work and I began hurting so much I was crying.

Paul thought of Tamaflex (a GNC-branded product). On the container it says: "Fast Acting, Proven Joint Support, Feel the Difference in Just Five Days."

From MY personal perspective, within 24 hours [!] I was a different [physical] person! Like night and day difference inside my body. I don't know how I could have gotten through that warehouse move without it.

Tamaflex is made from tamarind seed extract, turmeric (the spice), and boswellia gum extract.

If you are in muscular or joint pain, Tamaflex is (in my personal opinion) an almost unbelievable product.

It is GNC branded, so you need to go to your local GNC store for it.

Hope it helps!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2019 01:14PM by Tevai.

Good luck with physical therapy. Do what you have to do and feel better. Wish this hadn't happened, but now you'll need to work through it and get better. Good thoughts to you.

Hope you're not in too much pain. The inconvenience sounds bad enough,

You might also want to explore non-inflammatory diets.