So Freaking Close

So after this third treatment of my back muscles things are feeling really good.  A couple of days after the treatment I got my back dry needled to address the adhesions that happen in response to the prolo injections.  That really helped but I still felt something not right, so a week later I scheduled another dry needling appointment and told the PT that I still felt knots in my back, right on the inside of the shoulder blade.  He checked it out and found out that the knots were in my rhomboids. ...I thought this is wasn't news, that I always thought my rhomboid needed to be addressed.  Apparently this was new to the PT because the rhomboid is almost never the culprit for knots in that area.  Doctors will often see that the pain is in that area and say "oh hey, strained rhomboid", when in fact is the upper trap almost all the time.

So yet again my issues are more unique/rare. And this is yet another example of don't just take what the expert gives you. You need to stand up and say "No, I don't think the problem has been solved" and still advocate for yourself.  If I hadn't spoken up I would still have knots in my rhomboid.

So having the rhomboid released, when I walked away from PT office I was feeling amazing, I had no pain in my back at all.  When I swallowed, my left ear decompressed like the right one.  It was so satisfying. It was like an itch had finally been scratched.

But later that night, I felt another muscle spaz and freak out.  It was a muscles that came down diagonally from my shoulder to my spine.  The next morning I was feeling almost the same.  I still could decompress my left ear like my right, but when I tried rolling around on the lacrosse ball I found some knots that would not release no matter what I did.

So one week later I saw the PT again, and when I gestured which muscle I felt tighten up he said that was pretty much exactly where the infraspinatus is and he checked that out in addition to all the other muscles around there.  When he stabbed the infraspinatus omg it was soooo tight.  Getting up off the table I had a real hard time using my arm at all, it was that affected.  Again though, it felt amazing in that my back was no longer in pain.

Now, as I write this, it's been one day since that session and my infraspinatus has already tightened back up.  The only other time I've had a muscle tighten back up this quickly was my psoas when I had the tear in my labrum.  I've been told I have a tear in my shoulder's labrum, so if this is the case I'm going to be pissed.

Why would I be pissed? I'd be pissed because a torn labrum is the whole reason I went to see Dr. Fullerton in the first place.  When I asked him about it he said it didn't seem to be an issue, that all the fraying in the muscles in my back seemed to be the issue.  Well, the infraspinatus proves to be structurally sound then I'm going to give him hell for not addressing it earlier.  I know I was giving myself by the end of this year to be patient with the treatment, but damnit I'm tired of taking these months off of my training.

Speaking of training, I get to go back to resistance training/sprinting in two days, and I'm super excited.  I will be doing like 3 days of the rehab and then it's back to squatting and benching with some sprinting mixed in.

Dry Needling Update and Shoulder Treatment Decision

Ok so I’ve been trying out dry needling, four times so far, and it seems pretty legit.  The process is a very strange sensation, and not at all comfortable, but it seems to work, so I’m all for it.  Each needle feels different, and the bigger the trigger point, the bigger the response. For example, yesterday when he addressed my sartorius (which makes a lot more sense than what I thought it was: my rectus femoris) it wasn’t really a big deal, didn’t really feel anything.  Then the PT worked on my adductor magnus and wow it was sensitive.  Each needle prick felt different. One time when he put the needle in it felt like I was hit by a Taser in four different places on the back of my hamstring. Another needle and it felt like a hot wire of pain up my leg.  Each one was different, and each one was significant.  Thankfully, the pain/discomfort is very brief.  He also worked on my tensor faciae lata, and that almost felt like nothing.

The Physical therapist really worked me over yesterday, and when I got up off the table I walked with a bit of a limp I was so sore. But I also felt better, strangely.  Now a day out, I feel much, much better. I will also be seeing him on the Fourth, two days from now.  Based on how I feel from that we’ll decide to keep up the twice a week or go down to once a week.  This guy I’ve found though is amazing, like he is hitting exactly where I’m feeling the pain.

Oh yeah, I’m still squatting. Yesterday before seeing the PT I went and front squatted 170 five times for three sets.  My ultimate goal is to front squat 315 without pain.  If that happens, not sure how I’ll celebrate but it will be awesome.

Concerning the tear in the back of my shoulder’s labrum, I’m going to see if I can convince the guy to needle my tricep, and just keep lifting.  I am in some discomfort, but for the past two weeks or so it has been really, really tolerable. I would be tempted to try prolotherapy, but it means I would have to give up pressing for like 2 months at least.  I’m still making some good gains on my lifts, and my neck/shoulder is feeling ok, so I’m going to just wait.  Maybe if I start benching 300 and then stop seeing gains I’ll consider prolotherapy, but right now there’s just not enough upside for me to try it right now.  …Although I do have to say, for the record, that there is a big part of me that wants to treat this injury.  I am so damn close to being whole, to no longer having these lingering issues, that it is tempting to give up pressing for two months just to be no longer injured.  Anyways, I’m going to keep lifting.

[UPDATE: I've started prolotherapy for the torn labrum, and am now doing PRP injections as well as continuing to see a PT for dry needling. Here's my Vlog entry:]

Needles, Needles, Needles!!!

Ok so yesterday I had an arthogram on my shoulder. Right now, my shoulder is feeling… different, and not in a good way. Maybe a little looser in the socket? It’s like the arthogram awoke something wrong in my shoulder, now it clicks every once in a while when it didn’t before. The joint is super sore in the back area near the lat, completely opposite of where the injection site was. I cannot wait to see what the results will tell.

So I got a big injection yesterday, and today for my groin I tried dry needling for the first time.  Dry needling is similar to acupuncture, except they just stick the needles where the knots are.  Going in my hip/groin was feeling better than it ever has, so I was a little worried I was just wasting my time.  That turned out to be a needless concern.  When he worked on my groin it caused all kinds of… sensations. Like it felt kind of like a cramp, kind of like a shock of electricity. It was also an extremely specific like it was just a single strand of pain, the diameter of a iPhone connector cable, shooting up from my knee to my hip.  Highly foreign, and highly uncomfortable.  The PT told me that the sensations indicate that the procedure is being effective.  If that's the case I really needed this.

Afterwards it still felt like there were needles in me, but when the PT tested my range of motion it was pretty ridiculous how much more I could open my leg.  It still feels... strange, but I am to keep stretching it and hopefully it will get a whole lot better.

I also got my allergy injections today, so there’s another case of me being stuck by a needle.

Also, if this shoulder thing proves to be a torn labrum, I’m probably going to go the route of prolotherapy again.  That, as you know, means even more needles.  I wish I were more comfortable around them, but even if you’ve been stuck as often as I have, it’s still no fun. But if it makes the pain go away, then I’m all for it.