"baby, I'm on fire" - Bruce Springsteen
so I recall, reading about, either when I was growing up in the 60's or in a biography I read in the last 5 to 10 years, (I forget where I first heard about this - the mind is starting to go!) about what the great Sandy Koufax had to go through in order to pitch through the pain in his incomparable left arm.
Seems I recall hearing one of the treatments involved rubbing in an ointment called something like Butazolidin. It's primary use was in the treatment of thoroughbred horses and their legs. It was a simple theory really. If the aching in the horses legs (and Koufax's arm) was too intense, simply distract the body with a burning sensation so bad that it would make you completely forget about that throbbing pain that was threatening your livelihood! The equivalent to dropping an rock on your foot to make you care less about that headache.
One of the ingredients in this Butazolidin was capsaicin the same stuff found in chili peppers that gives it that lethal burn. The stuff they warn you not accidentally get in your eyes after handling the peppers. Or on your skin.
The story was told that one time a teammate of Koufax's accidentally put on Koufax's warm-up jacket or maybe it was a sweatshirt, but whatever, the "Bute" as it was called had leeched into the material of the garment so much that when it came in contact with the skin of the unwitting teammate, he about came unglued. He couldn't believe Koufax would put himself through that burning, blistering, searing pain, intentionally!
The saga of my injured shoulder continues. After about 5 plus weeks post-injury I returned to the doctor. My thinking was it had been misdiagnosed. Just couldn't believe that a bruise, even a severe one, would continue to bug me for this long. Still stiff and tight. Still aches. Not constantly, but sporadically. It was certainly better than it had been days after the foolhardy dive that caused the injury in the first place. But it seemed to have plateau-d after a week or so with little progress since then.
Still dropping my arm about 2 miles into a run because the ache was too pronounced. Silly sight. A man jogging along, his left arm pumping, but his right arm dangling at his side. Still didn't have full range of motion. Wasn't pain so much as just the tightness and stiffness that restricted some movements. I figured somehow the doctor had missed something in her original diagnosis. So I returned to her.
She was surprised that I was still dealing with it after nearly 6 weeks. She put me on a 6-day steroid treatment. Great. Now even if I COULD continue to play softball through the pain, all of my offensive statistics would no doubt be "tainted" by my association with "performance enhancing drugs"! Of course that would necessitate me actually HAVING some offensive statistics this season! Alex Rodriguez' cousin assistance was not necessary. I took them orally.
And she sent me to have the thing x-rayed. She really didn't think it would show anything, just possibly some calcification at the point of injury. Sure enough the x-rays of my shoulder (like my head) showed nothing. And she told me she wanted me to start on 3 or 4 weekly sessions of physical therapy and then return to her for re-evaluation. The physical therapist was booked solid so I had to wait almost two weeks before I could get into see them for the first time.
In the meantime I started to see some improvement! Incrementally small. Little things. I could run a bit further before I had to drop the arm. Little by little but before long I was able to complete my run without dropping the arm. Also I was able to stretch my oblique with my right arm behind my head. What was once too stiff and painful to do, was now do-able. Not without stiffness OR pain, but just not so bad that I couldn't tolerate it for a few minutes. So there was a little improvement.
Still there were self-imposed restrictions. Haven't lifted weights of any sort since the injury. And most frustrating of all I have not attempted to play softball either. This has it's benefits, though. The team seems to perform better without me in the line-up. (SURPRISE!) Sort of "addition" by "subtraction".
Another treatment I started, was taking Aleve. The doctor had recommended Advil as an anti-inflammatory. I did that for about a week or so, but then I happened see a commercial on TV about an old guy who took Aleve and it allowed him to continue to play basketball. Figured if it helped THAT old guy it might helped THIS old guy. So I took Aleve for a few weeks. Used to take it's prescription equivalent for my back in the late 70's early 80's so I figured I could handle it.
The "lovely Mrs." chipped in with her recommendation. Icy/Hot rub. Now growing up, our family always used Ben-Gay, and I'm loyal to a fault. I also had a coupon for Ben-Gay! Used up a tube of Ben-Gay in a week or so but then decided to give "the lovely Mrs." suggestion a try and picked up a tube of Icy/Hot. I should also mention that I was experimenting in WHEN I would apply these rubs. Before leaving for work in the morning and before bed at night. Thought it would help some if I applied it before a run, and I think there may have been some temporary relief. They all act about the same, warmth for 10 to 15 minutes and then it fades.
Not sure why it took me so long to think of trying it, it was after I had used up the Ben-Gay and switched to Icy/Hot, but I decided to apply some after showering, post-run. Interesting. It seems that upon stepping out of the shower the pores in your skin are opened wide to take in whatever is on the skin. I rubbed it on my bicep and shoulder and then started to blow dry my hair. And here it came. It starts slow but builds. Growing progressively warmer and warmer. I remember thinking, "wow this getting sort of hot. I wonder how much more of it I can take?" Now I'm sure it didn't come close to what Koufax (or his unwitting teammate) experienced. About the time I thought I couldn't stand another increase in temperature, it seemed to ease. But it was definitely weird. After a few days I strangely looked forward to feeling that burn after showering. Not sure why but it doesn't seem to be as intense as it once was. Gotten used to it? Maybe. Maybe there is some sort of chemical "tolerance" involved.
Had my first session with the physical therapist today (Wednesday). He diagnosed it as something akin to "biceptal tendonitis". So I guess it has a name, at least. He manipulated and pressed and all (as the doctor had before him). He recommended I ice it about 15 to 20 minutes each evening. "Ice is a natural anti-inflammatory" he said and then cautioned "don't freeze it. Just cool to the touch, like glass."
And then he did something that has now put me on the cutting edge of sport medicine. He had me recline and he brought over a patch. He told me it was something that had just come out around the 1st of the year. It is a microprocessor which somehow "injects" an anti-inflammatory drug into the injured tendon at the point of injury without breaking the skin! He rubs a catalyzing agent on the skin, places the patch with the microprocessor (he beeped it to activate it) over the area of the tendon injury. He covered it with a cold pack and left me for about 5 to 10 minutes. He said I would probably feel a "prickly sensation" (which I did) as the drug moved through the skin. Told me to leave the patch on for 2 hours. When I asked, he said it would be no problem if I ran, sweated or showered with it on. Back for two more sessions next week.
Who knew I was so "high-tech!?" Chesed. Late.
Seems I recall hearing one of the treatments involved rubbing in an ointment called something like Butazolidin. It's primary use was in the treatment of thoroughbred horses and their legs. It was a simple theory really. If the aching in the horses legs (and Koufax's arm) was too intense, simply distract the body with a burning sensation so bad that it would make you completely forget about that throbbing pain that was threatening your livelihood! The equivalent to dropping an rock on your foot to make you care less about that headache.
One of the ingredients in this Butazolidin was capsaicin the same stuff found in chili peppers that gives it that lethal burn. The stuff they warn you not accidentally get in your eyes after handling the peppers. Or on your skin.
The story was told that one time a teammate of Koufax's accidentally put on Koufax's warm-up jacket or maybe it was a sweatshirt, but whatever, the "Bute" as it was called had leeched into the material of the garment so much that when it came in contact with the skin of the unwitting teammate, he about came unglued. He couldn't believe Koufax would put himself through that burning, blistering, searing pain, intentionally!
The saga of my injured shoulder continues. After about 5 plus weeks post-injury I returned to the doctor. My thinking was it had been misdiagnosed. Just couldn't believe that a bruise, even a severe one, would continue to bug me for this long. Still stiff and tight. Still aches. Not constantly, but sporadically. It was certainly better than it had been days after the foolhardy dive that caused the injury in the first place. But it seemed to have plateau-d after a week or so with little progress since then.
Still dropping my arm about 2 miles into a run because the ache was too pronounced. Silly sight. A man jogging along, his left arm pumping, but his right arm dangling at his side. Still didn't have full range of motion. Wasn't pain so much as just the tightness and stiffness that restricted some movements. I figured somehow the doctor had missed something in her original diagnosis. So I returned to her.
She was surprised that I was still dealing with it after nearly 6 weeks. She put me on a 6-day steroid treatment. Great. Now even if I COULD continue to play softball through the pain, all of my offensive statistics would no doubt be "tainted" by my association with "performance enhancing drugs"! Of course that would necessitate me actually HAVING some offensive statistics this season! Alex Rodriguez' cousin assistance was not necessary. I took them orally.
And she sent me to have the thing x-rayed. She really didn't think it would show anything, just possibly some calcification at the point of injury. Sure enough the x-rays of my shoulder (like my head) showed nothing. And she told me she wanted me to start on 3 or 4 weekly sessions of physical therapy and then return to her for re-evaluation. The physical therapist was booked solid so I had to wait almost two weeks before I could get into see them for the first time.
In the meantime I started to see some improvement! Incrementally small. Little things. I could run a bit further before I had to drop the arm. Little by little but before long I was able to complete my run without dropping the arm. Also I was able to stretch my oblique with my right arm behind my head. What was once too stiff and painful to do, was now do-able. Not without stiffness OR pain, but just not so bad that I couldn't tolerate it for a few minutes. So there was a little improvement.
Still there were self-imposed restrictions. Haven't lifted weights of any sort since the injury. And most frustrating of all I have not attempted to play softball either. This has it's benefits, though. The team seems to perform better without me in the line-up. (SURPRISE!) Sort of "addition" by "subtraction".
Another treatment I started, was taking Aleve. The doctor had recommended Advil as an anti-inflammatory. I did that for about a week or so, but then I happened see a commercial on TV about an old guy who took Aleve and it allowed him to continue to play basketball. Figured if it helped THAT old guy it might helped THIS old guy. So I took Aleve for a few weeks. Used to take it's prescription equivalent for my back in the late 70's early 80's so I figured I could handle it.
The "lovely Mrs." chipped in with her recommendation. Icy/Hot rub. Now growing up, our family always used Ben-Gay, and I'm loyal to a fault. I also had a coupon for Ben-Gay! Used up a tube of Ben-Gay in a week or so but then decided to give "the lovely Mrs." suggestion a try and picked up a tube of Icy/Hot. I should also mention that I was experimenting in WHEN I would apply these rubs. Before leaving for work in the morning and before bed at night. Thought it would help some if I applied it before a run, and I think there may have been some temporary relief. They all act about the same, warmth for 10 to 15 minutes and then it fades.
Not sure why it took me so long to think of trying it, it was after I had used up the Ben-Gay and switched to Icy/Hot, but I decided to apply some after showering, post-run. Interesting. It seems that upon stepping out of the shower the pores in your skin are opened wide to take in whatever is on the skin. I rubbed it on my bicep and shoulder and then started to blow dry my hair. And here it came. It starts slow but builds. Growing progressively warmer and warmer. I remember thinking, "wow this getting sort of hot. I wonder how much more of it I can take?" Now I'm sure it didn't come close to what Koufax (or his unwitting teammate) experienced. About the time I thought I couldn't stand another increase in temperature, it seemed to ease. But it was definitely weird. After a few days I strangely looked forward to feeling that burn after showering. Not sure why but it doesn't seem to be as intense as it once was. Gotten used to it? Maybe. Maybe there is some sort of chemical "tolerance" involved.
Had my first session with the physical therapist today (Wednesday). He diagnosed it as something akin to "biceptal tendonitis". So I guess it has a name, at least. He manipulated and pressed and all (as the doctor had before him). He recommended I ice it about 15 to 20 minutes each evening. "Ice is a natural anti-inflammatory" he said and then cautioned "don't freeze it. Just cool to the touch, like glass."
And then he did something that has now put me on the cutting edge of sport medicine. He had me recline and he brought over a patch. He told me it was something that had just come out around the 1st of the year. It is a microprocessor which somehow "injects" an anti-inflammatory drug into the injured tendon at the point of injury without breaking the skin! He rubs a catalyzing agent on the skin, places the patch with the microprocessor (he beeped it to activate it) over the area of the tendon injury. He covered it with a cold pack and left me for about 5 to 10 minutes. He said I would probably feel a "prickly sensation" (which I did) as the drug moved through the skin. Told me to leave the patch on for 2 hours. When I asked, he said it would be no problem if I ran, sweated or showered with it on. Back for two more sessions next week.
Who knew I was so "high-tech!?" Chesed. Late.