A naked knee and a strange shoulder

Medical update; there is no tear in my rotator cuff. That’s the good news. The bad news; I still have this kind of painful, strange shoulder.

Medical update; there is no tear in my rotator cuff. Or at least not anymore. I just had the result of the echoscopy, and there was nothing to see. That’s the good news. The bad news is, my shoulder still hurts. I still have this kind of strange shoulder.

The advice of my general practitioner is to give it a couple of weeks, and see how my shoulder feels then. The thing is, I have already given my strange shoulder a couple of weeks. More than two months even, and it is still painful. I can’t even sleep on it.

RELATED: I have torn my rotator cuff

 

Bad recovery

I told you, I fell a couple of times on it. The last time was at the beginning of November during my 27,5 kilometers run. I admit those months were bad months for recovery, as I first had COVID, and then had to take care of our cat. But it does mean I’m struggling with my shoulder now for more than 8 weeks. I think that’s enough struggle.

I understand why my doctor is telling me to wait and see. Our body is amazing. It can solve most injuries and illnesses on its own. No outside help needed. It is called homeostasis. Maybe you’ve read about it in the article I wrote about what the effect of exercising is on your body. Yet, most things are solved in two to three weeks. If it takes longer, outside help can be helpful.

RELATED: Training is damaging your body and that’s good

 

Physiotherapist

So next week I think I’m going to look for a physiotherapist. Maybe he or she will know what’s going on with my shoulder. It could be just my muscles being very contracted. It’s hard for me to tell. I can’t really examine my shoulder myself.

As for my knee, I’ve taped it, after shaving it. I’ve got too hairy legs for tape. At least my knee is within reach of my hands, so I can massage it myself, and tape it myself. I like to work with kinesiology tape. Maybe you’ve seen it. It’s often the colorful tape athletes have on legs, arms or torso.

 

Trigger points

The idea is that the tape improves blood circulation and reduces swelling in my knee, and relaxes my Sartorius muscle, which in turn – I hope – will help me to get rid of the trigger points.

RELATED: My left knee is not happy

I learned to work with kinesio tape when I was studying to be a massage therapist. I used it a lot. For me it works. Especially when I have pain in my low back. So let’s see if it works on my knee as well.

Today's training

Morning
Elliptical
5 kilometers in 27 minutes and 50 seconds

Vinyasa Flow
40 minutes (using the elliptical as warming-up)

Morning meditation
15 minutes

Evening
Core strength - OMG Abs
15 minutes

Pranayama and meditation to calm the mind
15 minutes

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John Kraijenbrink

The Running Dutchman

I run. Trails mostly. I am Dutch. That makes me The Running Dutchman.

I am also a massage therapist, yogi, sports science nerd, and journalist/writer. Everything I learn and research about trail running, I share here, on this website, with you.

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