I’ve been experiencing pain in my left shoulder over the past month while working out with weights, after gravel cycling rides, and while sleeping. I suspected either a rotator cuff issue or a frozen shoulder, as I experienced rotator cuff tears in my 20s and 30s and a right frozen shoulder when I was 40. The pain with that frozen shoulder and related physical therapy was the most physical pain I’ve felt in my life (it brought tears to my eyes).
For now, I started with rotator cuff exercises, which were not difficult or painful. Then, I moved to the frozen shoulder exercises, which were more complex but still not very painful.
The next step should be going to an orthopedic doctor, but I’m in medical insurance purgatory. My group Cobra insurance expired on May 31, three months before I go on Medicare in September (finally!). In the interim, I purchased insurance via the Affordable Care Act on the U.S. National Health Exchange.
Going to the orthopedist would cost less on Medicare. Still, my experience with a frozen shoulder reminded me that it needed attention immediately, so I scheduled an appointment with a shoulder orthopedist practice.
Good thing.
After an X-ray and several shoulder and arm flexibility tests, the Orthopedist and Physician Assistant confirmed that my left shoulder was frozen. They wanted to do a steroid injection, but I resisted due to the elevated blood sugars (> 300 ) that lasted for days after my right shoulder steroid injection two decades ago. They understood, and we opted for physical therapy, daily exercises, and a daily 15mg dose of meloxicam.
The orthopedist said that while my diabetes likely contributed to the frozen shoulder (13.4% of people with diabetes will get a frozen shoulder, five times more than the general population. [< —–(insert a link to NIH article]. He also said that more frozen shoulders are being diagnosed now. The cause is uncertain, but COVID and the vaccines are considerations.
Like my diabetes, I don’t care why I have a frozen shoulder; I want the pain to go away and get my flexibility back. This shoulder is not as painful as my right shoulder was 25 years ago. My physician said that my workouts likely helped keep the shoulder more mobile. He also said the rehab may be painful, but most of the shoulder flexibility should return within one year.
I’ll have more on this later. For now, I’ll pause to schedule my physical therapy and start my daily exercises (*).
(*) I recommend getting help from an orthopedic doctor or physical therapist. The exercises prescribed two decades ago for my right shoulder were not right for my newly diagnosed left shoulder. The right shoulder required therapy to force the shoulder open, but the therapy on my left is concentrating on upper back flexibility.