The doctor says I shouldn't raise my hands much above shoulder level, with the specific warning against trying to change a light bulb, as an example of what not to do. This is part of the results from yesterday's meeting with a new physical therapist. My shoulder challenges (pain, reduced range of motion, etc) were not getting much improvement with the previous therapist, so I decided to get a second opinion with full-on medical evaluation with an orthopedic surgeon. The new doc prescribed the new therapist.
He also prescribed an arthrogram, a special form of MRI which produces an enhanced image after special dye is injected into the shoulder area. And before they do that, they need to determine, via blood test, if my kidneys can handle the dye. Hold on... this is sounding radical, especially with all the sticking of needles, etc. I'm going to wait a bit and see if the new therapy can help.
Of course, now that he mentioned it, I have noticed that there are about 5 lightbulbs that have gone dark at the Fun House, so I guess I'll have to delegate the changing of the bulbs. Or, as the Chinese proverb says: 'Tis better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
All of this relates to pool because jump-shots are an absolute NO, and masse' and break shots need to be dialed way back. In fact, I think it was a jump shot that further damaged my right shoulder supraspinatus muscle. Who knew pool could be so rough on the bod?
In other news, I didn't make it to the finals in the Thursday afternoon 8-ball tournament, but I did play some really nice pool, including one runout that featured two bank shots and one carom. And in other games I did some really nice shots and lockup safties. I have been focusing more on playing well and less on winning, and I seem to enjoy it more. Gunny made it to the finals again, all the while complaining that his vision was real bad. (How do you get to the finals if you can't see?) When he gets his eyes fixed he's going to be a serious competitor! But it was John who prevailed for his first win in the 3+ months I have been going there. Congratulatons, John!
2 comments:
The way I see it, your bridge hand may as well be screwing a light bulb on every shot. It may not be above your head but if your bent 90 degrees and with your arm straight out, isn't that the same movement?
You are absolutely right. I was only playing for about half an hour and noticed some nasty pain in my left shoulder, and that's when I got the picture! So, I'm taking a break from pool for a while to see if the new therapy is doing me any good.
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