| Why would exercise be bad?
Up front, I know very little about the formal rules for exercising. But I do know use it or lose it. So hopefully someone can explain why doing the wrong thing helped me.
I hurt my shoulder in late February, had a bunch of various diagnoses. First tendonitis, then concern it might be a rotator cuff problem, then a fractured clavicle and finally a torn ligament is what they are saying now.
I did the smart thing and kept doing things normally so I wouldn't lose muscle strength nor would I lose joint mobility. I work retail and while I don't typically handle very heavy stuff, I do have to carry stuff around on a regular basis. The pain just kept getting worse, which is what led to getting an MRI. I just finally couldn't keep up and asked the doctor for a weight restriction at work in April but otherwise I did what I could to keep strength/mobility up.
So beginning of May I just couldn't move my shoulder in certain ways without pain. It's been going on so long the orthopedic surgeon (who told me the MRI was interpreted wrong and it was a torn ligament, not a cracked bone) said I needed physical therapy, which I have the initial appointment next week.
But this week work didn't schedule me at all and while I've walked some on the treadmill so my legs wouldn't weaken I vegged out instead of lifting weights so my arms wouldn't weaken. And in 5 days I can maneuver stuff overhead without pain, lift a heavy laundry basket without pain, and have only discomfort reaching behind my back or across my body.
So why did doing all the right things for keeping my strength up made me hurt more but doing the wrong thing of stopping the load on my shoulder made me hurt a lot less in a hurry? It's so counter-intuitive to me.
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