Six Weeks out After Third Prolo Treatment

Well it's been six weeks since my third prolo treatment.  I have again been seeing a lot of results/improvements.  When I try to decompress my ears, it actually works on both sides! This has been a huge annoyance and I'm really happy this is no longer the case.

When I used to overhead press, I would feel one of my muscles snap over the other. It was super uncomfortable, and it told me that they were really tight and there wasn't anything I could do about it. No matter how much I foam rolled I couldn't get the knots to release.  Now there aren't as near as many knots.

I also used to crack my neck all the time, and really only on one side. It was the only thing I could do to get some relief (I've been told cracking will sometimes cause loss of muscle tone, which makes sense since that was the only way I could get the muscles to relax a little).

I also no longer have pain in my back/side, the lateral part of my QL. And I still feel muscles in my back working in ways they are not used to. They are starting to work correctly, I can tell because it's getting easier to keep my abs/core tight when I run, stand, lift, whatever.

So a week after that second dry needling session I went back (I mean, a visit is only $25 with my insurance plan) and told him how it tightened back up only after like six hours of relief. I also informed him about some pain in my mid-lower back, like right underneath the rib cage next to my spine.  I chalk this up as the result of becoming more active.  Concerning the infraspinatus, he tried addressing not just the muscle, but the nerves that control the muscle.  This was done by sticking needles in both the muscle and around my spine (c5 joint).  He left them in there, and then had some electrical pulses go through them. the idea is to address and calm down the nerves telling the muscle to fire.  Afterwards I felt.... different, and in a good way. It was much more subtle than when he addresses adhesions. But in this case it doesn't seem like I have adhesions, here I have a muscle that is too tight all around.

While he left the needles in my neck/shoulder, he then addressed the adhesions in my lower back. Dear Lord those were sensitive, and when he was done I felt so much better, I hadn't even realized how much discomfort they were causing.

I decided to do some Pilates that day, and that may have been a mistake. Afterwards my lower back started tightening up. My shoulder didn't feel worse, but I think I pushed it too hard with my back.

Fast forward another week and I'm at the fourth visit for dry needling.  I get the same thing done to my shoulder/neck, and then he addresses my lower back.  Holy hell did that hurt!!!!  Once when he poked me he "Gah!" type sound in surprise as my spinal erectors freaked out.  It was probably the most intense session I've had yet, and that is including the times they kept bending the needle in my groin because the muscles were so tight.

So yeah, here I am today. I've definitely made some gains in healing, but now as some muscles start working again it's revealing that other muscles are not healthy either.  It kind of feels like whack-a-mole: every time you nail one thing two others pop up.

So all kinds of muscles in my back/shoulder are feeling better, but right now my infraspinatus and some spinal erectors are clearly not right.  I imagine the spinal erectors will be an easy fix for Dr. Fullerton when I see him in a little over a month.  However, I'm concerned about the infraspinatus.  I think Dr. Fullerton has already addressed this muscle. And if it proves to be sound underneath the ultrasound then this might portend further damage that needs to be addressed.  My fear is that the instability in my shoulder joint caused by the tear in the labrum is causing my infraspinatus and tricep to tighten up in order to protect the joint.

If this is the case I'm going to be pissed.  Like, really mad.  The torn labrum is the whole reason why I started going to Dr. Fullerton, and he decided that my issue is not really the labrum but all the damage to the muscles around the shoulder.  If I do have to have the labrum treated this means I will have to pay for maybe three more sessions. Not only that, it means I will have to continue this cycle of two months on, one month off for perhaps six months, even more.

I just pray to God that the problem stems from the muscle being damaged, not the labrum.

Concerning the whole one month off, two months on thing, I think this time I was a little too aggressive in coming back.  I only did like three days of rehab before coming back to sprinting, and I don't think my body was ready for it.  I think I'll wait at least a week of doing phase 2 type stuff until I go back to sprinting.  So that means I'll only get like 7 weeks of sprinting every three months, and that makes me sad. But again if this is what I have to do then I'll do it.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself once I'm pain free.  I've made this journey such a part of my life, such a part of my self-identity, that I'm not sure what'll I'll turn to next after this whole mess is cleaned up.  I realize I might be worrying about nothing, that I'll always be dealing with this, but I wonder what I'll do when I will suddenly have so much more free time and money to spend.  Also, I'm really interested in what it will be to exercise with a body that is working correctly. How will it feel to deadlift with my spinal erectors working correctly? How will it feel to overhead press without pain in my shoulder/back?  How will it feel to be able to raise my right knee without discomfort?  I'm excited to find out.