Injuries and Physiotherapy
I am blogging about my own injury and my experience with Physiotherapy.
About two years ago I foolishly helped build a rock wall in my driveway. As I held onto the wheelbarrow with a large load of rocks aboard, it rolled down a hill taking me along with it. I was scared to let go as our driveway is steep and I could imagine the wheelbarrow going into the cul-de-sac where we live and crashing into a child, or an animal, so I hung on. It began to swerve and tipped over injuring my left shoulder and right knee. Being a person who always “fixes” things, including myself, I just put my arm in a sling, took some natural homeopathic remedies and hobbled around for a few weeks. Even though my shoulder still bothered me periodically, I thought that I had worked my way through it successfully.
A year later, while doing heavy garden work, I re-injured the same shoulder, but this time it did not disappear and the pain kept waking me up at night. I decided to visit a doctor and was told that it was probably a torn tendon in my shoulder, and then prescribed pain medication. I respectfully refused a prescription and decided to go for acupuncture instead. Once my acupuncture sessions used up all of my insurance coverage, I continued to go and paid out of my own pocket. During that year, it did help the pain on the day of my visit, but I was back to suffering terrible pain the next day. I couldn’t sleep at night because every time I turned on my left side, the pain in my shoulder would wake me. I noticed that I was losing the use of my arm more and more and this really concerned me. Simple actions like getting dressed or washing and drying my hair took quite a long time and I was constantly in pain. It is very difficult to dry yourself, dress yourself, or wash your hair with one hand! I decided it was time to go back to the doctor for an X-ray and Ultrasound to see what the heck was going on. I had the X-ray done and then that same week I decided to try and find a good physiotherapist to see if that would help.
I began with the yellow pages, scrutinizing each physiotherapist listed there and trying to narrow down the one for me. I started with their credentials as I wanted a skilled professional. I chose a few of the therapists based strictly on their credentials, and then I decided to make some telephone calls to find a therapist with many years of experience in the field as I believe experience in dealing with many types of injuries and many individuals is important. I chose Glenda Loo, a therapist at a clinic called Stability, in Mount Pearl, NL.
I have been seeing Glenda Loo now for a few months and the recovery I have made thus far is amazing. When I began treatment, my pain level on a scale of 1 to 10 was at about 8 most of the time, but there were occasions when it went off the charts. I could not lift my arm at all in any direction. My level of pain now is sometimes at about a 2 when I overwork my arm, but many days I feel normal with no pain at all. I can reach my arm out to the front and up almost all of the way, to straight and out to the side at about a 90 degree angle; not bad for only a couple of months of therapy!
My X-ray results showed calcification in two areas of the tendon in my shoulder, so the doctor believed that I had torn the tendon and it had healed with scarred tissue. She was amazed that I was doing so well and that my range of motion had improved so much in such a short timeframe.
Glenda Loo is a very skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate professional and I am very glad to have chosen her for my therapy. I hope to continue to improve, and should I have any other related complications, Glenda Loo will be uppermost in my mind for the help and assistance I need.
Carolann Hamilton
