NATURAL TREATMENTS
Discovering ways to naturally treat a new injury I am dealing with, leads to my sharing the experience in hopes of helping others. During the middle of March, my body was put to a test again. This time it was dealing with a rotator cuff injury.
My left shoulder had been giving me some slight problems off and on through the winter months. But on the day that I reached for a set of heavy mixing bowls with my left arm, it set my shoulder "over the edge". I felt a strong pain on the inner part of the shoulder and pretty much ignored it. By evening, a dull aching was present whether the joint was moving or still. The pain became pretty intense. Using arnica tablets and the gel was the first course of action. After a few hours, this was not addressing the pain and I started taking 200 mg of ibuprofen, hoping to be able to sleep. While taking non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is not something I regularly do or advocate, they have their place at times to ease pain. Sleeping on my back to avoid any pressure on my shoulder also helped get me through the night. The next morning it was still a very serious problem and the limited range of motion I was experiencing, also a big concern. Having heard about "frozen shoulder", this was not something I wanted to end up with.
Referring to Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition
1000mg
The following day I was at PT, evaluated and started on a course of treatment. Two sessions the first week really helped as the therapist worked on my upper back and shoulder blades, loosening "knots" in the muscles. This along with some exercises to be done at home and icing, had me off ibuprofen by the end of the week. Continuing with MSM, PT sessions 3 times a week for the first two weeks, then 2 times for the following two weeks, led me to a full recovery of my range of motion and no pain! After my final last visit on the fourth week, my therapist was as pleased with my progress as I was. Continuing exercises at home and icing after over use of my shoulder were recommended. Nearly 6 weeks later I am happy to report all is still well with a pain free, full range of motion.
Physical Therapy has always been high on my list of natural treatments for injuries and has proven its worth again with my rotator cuff. But I also feel avoiding the use of steroids and prescription anti inflammatory drugs allows our body to heal correctly without harmful side effects. Pain does serve its purpose when we are injured. It is the body letting us know something is wrong, needs attention/treatment and will improve with time. I know how difficult it is to believe this while in the midst of intense pain and discomfort. But it never ceases to amaze me that we can recover by doing it the safe and proper way.
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© 2014