I haven’t been posting much at all for several months now, not due to neglect, but due to yet another injury. This time, I re-injured my left shoulder and am having a terrible time recovering. Today I found out the results of an MRI–no tears in my shoulder, but some wear is visible in my rotator cuff. The official diagnosis is shoulder bursitis, which is chronic (and painful!) inflammation of the shoulder bursa, a sack of synovial fluid that is supposed to reduce friction and help joints move smoothly. When the bursa becomes inflamed, though, it actually increases friction and can even cause the surrounding tissue to wear and tear. The swelling also results in a painful locking sensation in the shoulder when you try to lift your arm into certain positions.
I’ve been doing physical therapy and have taken ungodly amounts of Ibuprofen, but none of this is really helping. If anything, the pain, grinding, and locking in my shoulder has gotten worse in the last two months. I tried doing some yoga, thinking that it might help, but it just made things worse. So, needless to say, my yoga practice and rock climbing are both on indefinite hold right now.
Instead of climbing and yoga, these days I’m doing a lot of running. This is not my usual activity, and I’ve found myself struggling to get into it. One reason it’s been so difficult is that my cardio-vascular health is probably not all that great. Yoga and rock climbing just don’t get your heart rate up high enough to deliver serious cardio-vascular benefits. So, in a strange way, this injury might be doing me a lot of good, since it’s getting me to run a lot. I’m running 3-4 miles, about 5 days a week. For me, this gets my heart rate up, keeps me from going totally stir crazy, and actually is helping me to improve my fitness in ways that yoga and climbing never did.
I don’t want this to turn into a running blog, or a blog about whatever I’m up to, so I decided to take a hiatus until I can get back into my yoga practice. Hopefully, my shoulder bursitis will resolve itself pretty soon, and I can get back onto the yoga mat. Most likely, I’ll be practicing at Dhyana Yoga in Philadelphia this next year. (Thank you to everyone who sent me studio recommendations!) Once I get back to my practice, I plan to start posting on this blog again. Until then, Namaste!
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Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Comment by Adam R. Paul July 1, 2010 @ 10:29 amReally sorry to read of your injury! I hope the pain gets better – ICE it for sure, very, very regularly.
Comment by Susan July 1, 2010 @ 6:53 pmDon’t stop doing yoga just because of your shoulder. Seriously, that’s a recipe for disaster. I broke my wrist in half a dozen places. I kept up my practice by just not doing anything on my hands. Do all your standing postures (look at Erich Schiffman’s book for good alternatives for where to put your arms instead of up.)
If you stop doing yoga, your prana will not move powerfully through your injury. I healed so much faster than the other people I saw at my PT office. My surgeon was totally impressed.
Do pranayama, do seated postures and standing. Work with your back to maintain flexibility so the connective tissue doesn’t shorten up and make your injury worse.
You’re a yogi! Don’t abandon your practice at the moment you need it most.
Very sincere wishes for recovery and thriving!
Susan
Hope your recovery is going well. Have you tried Myofascial Release? All the best for a speedy recovery.
Comment by yoga business July 5, 2010 @ 5:59 amdon’t. stop. yoga.
Comment by Tommy July 5, 2010 @ 8:16 amThat sucks. I’ve had a similar situation — hamstring tear and shoulder tendonitis have hampered my blogging, too… it’s hard to recommend that people do an activity that’s contributed to your own ill health. Even if you know there are millions of injury-free paths, it seems inauthentic and uninspiring to talk about it.
But, this weekend I found hope! I went to a workshop called Yoga Tune Up, with Jill Miller, and I cannot recommend her more highly. It’s basically physical therapy meets yoga: deep tissue massage plus hatha yoga plus no-impact cardio. My shoulders no longer sound like gravel, my hamstring “tear” disappeared after we worked out the glute! She’s on the east coast for the next few weeks, highly recommended. She’s one of two teachers in the last ten years I’ve felt so happy to meet. In any case, good luck with your recovery.
Comment by Erica July 5, 2010 @ 4:02 pmI can empathize, having torn two tendons in my rotator cuff (fluke accident). Now, after successful surgical repair almost 3.5 years ago, I’ve more or less regained my ROM (thanks both to PT (necessary when I couldn’t even lift my arm) and yoga (necessary to take the shoulder joint into extreme ROM, especially internal and external rotation).
The scar tissue is susceptible to flare-ups (less so as time passes), which might feel akin to bursitis. It just feels “congested” (and painful) inside. I’ve occasionally tried to “work through” the pain and learned my lesson: On days that you feel either marked discomfort or extra “crunchiness,” lay off. Better than instigating a flare-up that will take time to subside.
But, ultimately, the body does heal. Take it from me. You are wise to shift to another pursuit, such as running, for now. In fact, I am trying to shift my routine to meet the seasons and other factors, including injuries.
A while back I read Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Simple and compelling, with a memorable life lesson or two.
Comment by YogaSpy July 31, 2010 @ 11:08 pmBest of luck on your recovery! I just wanted to say to really be wary of the ibuprofin, its not a good thing to take regularly for chronic conditions and it will mess with your digestion. I highly recommend going to see a naturopath or researching herbs and supplements that fight inflammation. They are much more effective than ibuprofin. I suffer(ed) from two chronic inflammatory immune diseases and some of the most reliable relief has come from the health food store!
Comment by ashtangalover August 2, 2010 @ 7:09 amHope you are recovering well, it’s been a while since you posted?
Christie
Comment by Colonic Hydrotherapy August 4, 2010 @ 7:24 amYour blog is great. Keeping posting thoughts even if u can’t bust those tough poses. Loved ur Ashtanga Nazi post.
Comment by David Randolph Smith August 16, 2010 @ 6:47 pmGood luck with the recovery! Hope you’re back at it in no time.
http://placestoyoga.com/yoga-for-runners/
Comment by Shawn Paul September 3, 2010 @ 9:40 amWelcome to the club! Osteoarthritis was diagnosed in my right shoulder last year. A surgery followed and was successful for the time being – this shoulder is working all right by now. But in the meanwhile my left shoulder has been hurting for months and in this case I will have to cope without a quick (surgery-)solution. So – to make it short – I have not been able to go on with my usual tough yoga routine for 1,5 years now. But I definitely have to agree with Susans post: No reason to stop doing yoga. Experiment and find out those poses that wont get into conflict with your physical condition. And shift your attention to pranayama and meditation. At least that’s what I have done to change my way of yoga. It’s become less physical, but it has helped me to move my attention more from the outside to the inside. And maybe this is the lesson my body has been teaching me the hard way…
Comment by Michael September 13, 2010 @ 10:16 amSometimes time off is good. Taking a few weeks off can heal things that you didn’t know or can’t feel are broke. But I can understand the need or urge to do yoga!
Comment by Yoga Bags September 16, 2010 @ 2:32 amVery informative!!!
Comment by Pragya Gupta September 22, 2010 @ 7:50 amInnovative blog.. Really nice..
Comment by yoga holiday india November 16, 2010 @ 6:29 amYoga in it self will not help. But a breathwork foundation is critical. It is critical to breathe fully, sometimes very slow.
Rehab as well as in general. If you feel any pain whatsoever: BACK OFF You back off until you can feel a slight change , but no pain… breathe through that. Do any less it will not help.
Ego can interfere, breathwork is the foundation, no matter how simple a pose you must go back to. That is even true if you can do some poses at their fullest with breathwork
Comment by Bill Kline December 6, 2010 @ 2:16 pmGreat Yoga Blog.
Comment by YogaausHamburg December 7, 2010 @ 5:06 amBest wishes from
YogaausHamburg
Hope you are healing! I look forward to (and do miss) your blog updates.
Comment by YogiRavi December 16, 2010 @ 1:46 amI wish you a speedy recovery! I have a yoga studio at http://www.grassvalleyyoga.com/ and I love reading your blog.
Comment by annie December 19, 2010 @ 10:14 pmPeace,
Annie
I’ve been going through old blogs I’ve read so this is a little late.
But, you might only need to back off asana practice…or just your practice that hurts the shoulder.
You can still do (as I’m sure you are aware) your breathing and meditation practice.
Keep up the blog and your practice. Hope your recovery is going well.
Comment by George December 23, 2010 @ 2:49 pmI hope your shoulder is healing well. How about some Iyengar yoga?
Comment by Crystal December 28, 2010 @ 1:09 pmPeace and light,
I enjoy your blog site.
I hope all is unfolding in your life in ease, joy, harmony, and abundance!!!
Have a great 2011!!!
Bright blessings,
Ten Nebula
Comment by Ten Nebula January 9, 2011 @ 12:35 pmhttp://www.Tennebula.Wordpress.com
i hope your injury is almost healed now and you would be coming back to the blog and also back to yoga.
Comment by Yoga expert January 13, 2011 @ 5:02 amwe are missing you here!!!
good luck for your recovery
We will be waiting for you blogs here!!
Comment by yoga expert January 19, 2011 @ 6:58 amWishing you peace, health harmony and happiness and a speedy recovery.
Namaste
Comment by Susan Martinez February 6, 2011 @ 8:55 pmSusan Martinez
Healing Lotus Yoga & Reiki
Sorry to read about your injury; I myself sustained a rotator cuff injury in my late teens; When I began practicing yoga, I found this old injury rearing it’s head in uncomfortable ways, mainly in limiting my range of motion and being very weak, compared to the other side. I’ve also found my shoulder opening and relaxing the “scar tissue grip” as I call it, so, I continue to gently work into my shoulder while being careful to push it in harmful ways…easier said than done! I wish you a peaceful recovery and love to your shoulder!
Comment by ACM July 31, 2011 @ 3:11 am