Shoulder injury.

[fastereddie]

I have been working for a great company delivering roofing supplies and shingles locally for about 1/2 a year. I drive a Moffet fork lift attached to the truck. In the fall I strained my shoulders moving shingles sideways and lately every once in a while the pain would come back. Yesterday I was heaving a heavy box onto the flatbed and really did my shoulder in. Pain lifting arm up and weakness in my shoulder. I had huge pain and problems shifting because the shifter is too far to the right (big stretch to right forward and back). Doctor says it's bursitis and to take 5 days off and take anti-inflammatories. Anybody ever go through this and I wonder about the age thing (me 58 ). I did all the neccessary paperwork and I hope compensation kicks in. I hope the great Canadian system of employee protection doesn't let me down.

[Sealord]

It's an age thing and previous strains and stretches on the bursa (a shock obsorber in the shoulder) helps bring it on. I injured my shoulder in the Navy playing softball and it lets me know, including recurring bursitis when it's overloaded or over worked. Know your limits. "heaving a heavy box", it's what forklifts, hand trucks, and co-workers are made for, work smart, not hard. Take your time off, go fishing, use the other arm to cast, and get some rest and get well. BOL

[Aligator]

I had an onset of bursitis when I was about 40. That kind of pain will really get your attention, won't it?

But I never went to an MD; I went to a chiropractor, and he adjusted the shoulder back into its proper spot. I get some immediate relef and the shoulder healed nicely. Seems like the healing took a while, but it did heal completely.

If you keep going to the medical profession, someone will want to repair your "torn rotator cuff"....then you'll have problems forever. Make friends with a chiropractor.

[Twilight Flyer]

Make friends with a chiropractor.

Amen to that.

[Oldernewbie]

From personal experience, it sounds more like a torn rotator cuff than bursitis. Regular GP's tend to take the easy diagnosis and think "over 50, must be bursitis". So unless you went to an orthopoedist and had an MRI, I'd question it. If it is the rotater cuff, neither anti-inflamatories nor (sorry guys) chiropracters will solve the problem. Cortisone may mask the pain for a while, but and the pain and lack of full motion will need surgery to fix permanently.

See a specialist if you havent, and Good luck

[Oldernewbie]

One more consideration, fastereddie...I'm pretty sure bursitis is considered degenerative, not an injury, so workers comp (at least here in the US) wouldn't apply. But if you tore the rotater cuff heaving that box, it would be considered an on the job injury.

[Aligator]

One more opinion...(it's not mine, but I buy into it)

Normal activities do not tear rotator cuffs. In fact, most people are not strong enough to tear a rotator cuff. But there's lots of money to be made doing surgery and very little to be made in adjusting shoulders...besides, the medical establishment hates chiropractors, who do the adjusting.

A major league pitcher can generate enough force to tear a rotator cuff. So could Arnold Swartzenegger (sp) in his prime. And you could generate enough force if you fell off a 2 story building and managed to grab hold of a limb with one hand just before you hit the ground. But unless something like that has happened, you ain't got a torn rotator cuff.

I have a dermatologist friend. He went in to have surgery on his "torn rotator cuff". How did he tear it? He doesn't know....just woke up one morning torn, I guess. And guess what?.....the surgery did nothing. It was expensive, very painful, and useless. Shoulder still hurt like hell even after surgery. He doesn't believe chiropractors do anything.

Just another opinion....

[Oldernewbie]

I don't want to get into a debate; just wanted to tell fastereddie to check it out more. I'm 59, and I can tell exactly when I tore my rotator cuff, and it wasn't pitching a 90mph fastball, I can tell you that.

The following is from the Mayo Clinic web site which says you can damage it just like fastereddie said:

Lifting or pulling. Lifting an object that's too heavy, or doing so improperly — especially overhead — can strain or tear your tendons or muscles. Likewise, pulling something, such as an archery bow of too heavy poundage, may cause an injury.

Anyway, nuf said on this topic. But if it is a cuff injury, I guarantee from my own injury that it affects your ability to shift, pull pins, and all that good stuff a driver needs to do, and it needs to be fixed.

[BigWheels]

...Doctor says it's bursitis and to take 5 days off and take anti-inflammatories....

You might want to get a 2nd opinion from a specialist. Might cost you $$ out of your own pocket and you might hear the same thing as what the 1st doctor said, but in the end your mind will be at peace with what is going on.

Best!

[kebo072]

Hey, I had an injury to my left shoulder last year that required surgery. So This might help.

The injury was labeled a "SLAP tear", and was a workers comp claim. The co. I woked for sent me thru alot of test, x-rays, and eventually an MRI, the last being the one that showed the tear. Symptoms were pain in range of motion, tiredness, and swelling. Couldn't even talk on the phone without giving my shoulder a rest. Also, the pain felt deep, so it is easy to misinterpret as a rotator cuff tear. Rotator cuffs are extremely pain full and tired all the time.

Told to me by my Chiropractor: " You have three tendons in the rotator cuff.Tear one and it is operable, tear two is still operable, longer heal time, tear three the shoulder is junk.

As far as the SLAP tear, get it checked as soon as possible. The tear is in the "labrum" area of the shoulder. This muscle connects the shoulder muscles to the bicep. If it is untreated the muscle will tear completely , seperating the shoulder and bicep ( use your imagination).

Heal time for mine was ( minor tear, caught it early) 2 months. If it is a SLAP tear, and left untreated, heal time could be 6-8 months.

SLAP tears are a result of repetitive motion, falls, and other traumas to the effected shoulder. Basically over use.

Now as far as Workers Comp. E-mail me and I will tell you my experience and why I am considering a career in truck driving.

Later, kebo072@hotmail.com

Don't let it go unchecked.

[BanditsCousin]

Once you screw up your shoulder its never the same again. I landed on mine bmx'ing and it pokes its head out every now and then to remind me why we dumb things when we're younger

[ssoutlaw]

I had the shoulders operated on 3 times, 1st 2 times rotator cuff and excess bone removal. The 3rd time, tore the shoulder capsule loose and had it repaired, now I am fit as a fiddle....lol


Well not really, I am still recovering from 2 knee surgeries in the last 7 months, but good news, I get released to go back to work on June 5th...lol

[BigWheels]

I had the shoulders operated on 3 times, 1st 2 times rotator cuff and excess bone removal. The 3rd time, tore the shoulder capsule loose and had it repaired, now I am fit as a fiddle....lol


Well not really, I am still recovering from 2 knee surgeries in the last 7 months, but good news, I get released to go back to work on June 5th...lol

:shock: Holy cow ssoutlaw! Did you play linebacker in high school??

Hope everything is mending well!

[ssoutlaw]

I had the shoulders operated on 3 times, 1st 2 times rotator cuff and excess bone removal. The 3rd time, tore the shoulder capsule loose and had it repaired, now I am fit as a fiddle....lol


Well not really, I am still recovering from 2 knee surgeries in the last 7 months, but good news, I get released to go back to work on June 5th...lol

:shock: Holy cow ssoutlaw! Did you play linebacker in high school??

Hope everything is mending well!

No, I was a tailback...lol
I drove a truck for little Caesars pizza for 10 yrs on the same route and all that humping freight earned me the 1st 2-shoulder surg. Then in Bowman SC at the pilot I slipped in diesel on the fuel island and tore the shoulder capsule grabbing the truck as I went down...lol Pilot paid dearly for that one...lol
Mending good, but at 50 I really need to slow down a little...lol

[silvan]

Once you screw up your shoulder its never the same again.

Ditto your hip. They say you're only as old as you feel, and if that's true, I'm so screwed.

I second what some of the people are saying about second opinions, and trying to avoid rotator cuff surgery though. I can think of three guys off the top of my head who had rotator cuff surgery, and none of them were any better off months after the surgery.

I know guys who tell the same story about knee and hip surgery too. It seems to me that unless it hurts so bad you piss your pants at the effort of trying to get out of bed in the morning, you're best off trying to follow up on every possible non-surgical alternative.