Know Thy Enemy. Meet, the Laberal Tear!

So I finally got the MRI images of my shoulder mailed to me.  I looked through the images until I found the one that the PA used to show me the tear. I've added the yellow arrows to help highlight the labrum and its tear.  It's actually really nice to finally put a "face" to the source of all of my neck/shoulder problems that I have had for years.

Again, the tear in the labrum seems to be unique for two different reasons. First, it was causes by just one case of blunt force trauma.  Back in high school I was thrown to the mat on my shoulder so hard I cracked my collarbone. Never knew about the tear in the labrum until 15 years later.  Second, the tear is near the back of the shoulder. It's not in the front or top, so it's not a SLAP tear, which is much, much more common.  It's funny, I never thought I had a tear in my labrum in my shoulder because I had a tear in the labrum in my hip. I figured the odds of having a torn labrum (some piece of anatomy I had never heard of until like 6 years ago) in two different joints was just too high.  I didn't want to be the guy who was seeing labrum tears everywhere. Guess I was wrong.

Seeing the damage has re-motivated me to get something done about it.  I've been training to get stronger using 531, a power lifting program.  I've noticed that no matter what weight/rep scheme I use my calculated one rep max is about 228. Perhaps this is as heavy as I can lift with an unstable shoulder. So given my success with prolotherapy for the hip laberal tear, I'm going to try prolotherapy for the shoulder as well. I've decided I will begin treatment in January, when my flex spending account is replenished.  Although I'm seeking the same treatment- prolotherpy- I am going to see a different practitioner, Dr. Fullerton down in Austin. Now that I've moved from Chicago to Dallas, I want to see someone who is within driving distance. Besides, I've always wanted to visit Austin.  So in about three months expect me to start blogging more frequently, documenting the recovery process.  I'm not looking forward to being unable to bench or press during the time of recovery, but if this is the only way to stop being in pain all the time, so be it.

Sprinting??

So right now when I start to squat heavy (front squat over 200#, etc.) I start to affect my groin. This has be kind of treading water, or making gains at a very slow rate. I’m also not too happy with the almost 20% body fat reading I had a few weeks ago, so I want to do something that will burn off some fat, keep muscle, and be fun.

I have decided to try sprinting.  I like feeling fast (whether I am or not is another story), and I want to be faster.  I’ve thought about trying out a soccer league or something, and it would be nice to not be that guy wheezing the whole time. I do like running, just in real short bursts. So sprinting it is.

Thing is, I’ve never done track sprinting in my life. Soccer was about it. So I have no knowledge of technique or training programs. Thankfully there’s ton out there on the internet, so I’ve been doing my research.  Since I’m such a noob I’ll be doing my sprints at 50% to start out with while I try to work out on technique. I also don’t want to overtrain. I’m squatting 3 days a week right now with starting strength. I’ve thought on switching over to 531 with legs so that I can sprint more, but first let me try this combo out and just see how it works, especially since with my lack of technique I can’t push myself THAT hard on the track.

This should be interesting to see how it plays out.

New Game Plan, Going to try Rolfing.

So I’m going to try dry needling less often, and I’m now going to try squatting to less depth.  I always figured that if I got everything in my hip working correctly then I would be able to squat as deep as I want. Problem is, I might never have everything in my hip working correctly.  I’ve done so much to address my issues, FAI, torn labrum, just instability in general, that I figure I should be good to go.  Talking to the PT, though, he does make a good case that perhaps with my issues I just might not be able to squat to depth.  Squatting as low as I am doing is putting a massive strain on my adductors, and that is why they are forming trigger points (at least that’s his thought).  I have my doubts, partially because everything everyone seems to tell me is wrong in one way or another.

My counter argument is that perhaps there is something off with my hips that is causing my right adductors to for trigger points.  I have also noticed that as I start to squat heavy my left knee starts to ache. Well, not the joint itself like the patella, but it feels like the quad/tissue just surrounding the knee.  Front squats require a lot of knee strength because you start off the squat with a knee break in an effort to keep the torso upright. (If this doesn’t make sense just ask in the comments), so I’m just chalked this knee discomfort up to learning the front squat, to getting my knee used to the movement.  But, perhaps this left knee discomfort is more than just getting used to front squatting, perhaps it is a symptom of some kind of twist in my pelvis. I still experience some sort of anterior pelvic tilt, although I recently got back to doing my PT exercises that help quiet down my spinal erectors.

So to test this theory, to see if everything is in its proper place, I’ve decided to go see a rolfer.  I almost went to one back in December of 2009 but the cost was a bit steep for me. Now that I’ve been promoted a few times, I am ok with seeing one.  I have offered rolfing as an option to people who come to me for help, so I also have that as motivation to try it.  I figured a good massage therapist was the same as a rolfer, even got into an argument with someone about it in the comments section.  My old massage therapist also told me the same thing, that all rolfing really is is steady applied pressure until the muscle relaxes.  Since he was so good, I was inclined to believe him.  But perhaps he was wrong, perhaps I there is still something off that hasn’t been addressed yet.  The only way for me to know is to find out, so I’m going to go see the rolfer on the 18^th.  I am very excited to see what he has to say.