Hi, I am new here. I have only been practicing for two years so am shaky on a lot of the Sanskrit names for poses.
I will be having shoulder surgery this week and then will be in a sling for 6 weeks. My teacher is helping me come up with some yoga I can do even while recovering so I won’t be six weeks without ANYTHING.
I though I would ask here too.
Is there a series I can do with one arm strapped to my chest? I would especially like to continue with poses that strengthen my balance and my legs, and opening my hips, hamstrings and back, which have always been tight.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
[QUOTE=farmermama;70396]Hi, I am new here. I have only been practicing for two years so am shaky on a lot of the Sanskrit names for poses.
I will be having shoulder surgery this week and then will be in a sling for 6 weeks. My teacher is helping me come up with some yoga I can do even while recovering so I won’t be six weeks without ANYTHING.
I though I would ask here too.
Is there a series I can do with one arm strapped to my chest? I would especially like to continue with poses that strengthen my balance and my legs, and opening my hips, hamstrings and back, which have always been tight.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.[/QUOTE]
I hate to be the downer dog but speaking from my experience when I had a rotator cuff repair you won’t feel like doing any yoga for a while. It was 10 months before I was back to 90 percent and over 3 months before I could do anything besides my rehab exercise. The rotator cuff is such that you may rehab faster or slower. Just my .02.
Thats what i am worried about. The rotator cuff isnt torn but there is a bone spur that is sawing away at it so they will shave that off and also clean up the tendon for my bicep.
I have made so much progress and yoga has really changed my life, i hate the idea of losing it for so long! There has to be SOMETHING I can do.
I mostly agree with Daves007. I also had RTC repair a couple years ago. You really don’t feel like doing much for several weeks. I’m not too familiar with the down time for your surgery though. TBut for RTC surger, they have you doing home exercises several times a day to keep the arm moving to prevent scar tissue build up. And then it’s to PT 2x’s a week for additional strengthening and stretching. But after a few weeks, you can likely do just about any seated or standing pose that does not require use of your arm. I was probably 2 months out when the PT finally told me to try down dog. I thought I was in heaven! And to this day, practicing down down is what further facilitated my recovery. I was back to 100% within 6 months. (even at age 54)
And don’t worry about losing too much of what you gained. You’ll get it back. Better to allow yourself to heal. It is a great time to explore pranayama, mudra’s , meditation and to do some reading either on the poses or the yoga sutras.
Good luck with everything! Let us know how you’re doing please!
Thanks, its true that I can still study while I am not practising. I will talk to my teacher about some good healing mudras!
[QUOTE=farmermama;70415]Thanks, its true that I can still study while I am not practising. I will talk to my teacher about some good healing mudras![/QUOTE]
You may want to look at it as opportunity to practice patience and focus more on the other seven limbs of yoga especially pranayama which historically has helped many during healing processes.
I try to get to students with Yoga before they opt-in for surgical remedy. After they’ve been cut, sawed, scraped, and subsequent scar tissue has built, the process of yoga becomes more challenging.
When a student has mindfully chosen their path - holistic or alopathic, then I support them fully. However I’m not an advocate of pharmaceuticals and surgery unless they are absolutely positively the last possible resort on the planet. This is just me of course and you are not my student.
I would add that the body requires massive amounts of energy, nutrition, rest, et al when it is recovering from being cut and sewn together. Ergo an activity other than resting, meditating, and eating well is deleterious to the initial healing process.
Further, when a student has opted for the care of western medicine, I don’t interfere with that relationship at all. In other words, whatever you are told by your healthcare provider of choice comes well before anything I might offer.
I do not offer medical advice and none of my postings should be mistaken for such.
gordon
My other shoulder is also torn and am holding off of surgery. It seems to be getting stronger as I continue my practice and am hoping I can heal it this way. The last time I had the other one done, it got to the point of keeping me awake at night and that was that. I agree with the above, particularly sensitive to the shoulder surgery because the rehab is long, especially as we age. I’m 54 and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. p.s. stay overnight and take the morphine. I went home and had to sleep standing against the wall…
This surgery is as close to a last resort as I was willing to get. I spent eight years in the service and there is a bone spur slowly sawing away at the RTC. Yoga has helped me make it much stronger and also helped me create space in my joint so it wasn’t catching too often. But the weakness persisted and since we have a small organic farm I work quite hard.
They are estimating six weeks of hard recovery time. My PT is also a yogi and so is the PA at my surgeons office. It helps, there is nothing worse than a wall of western medical “no” when you get into holistic treatment!
I am almost looking forward to the “excuse” of resting quietly and focusing inwards. With a toddler and hopefully another adoption this year, I dont get a lot of me time. Yoga has helped with my PTSD symptoms and I am kind of excited about making more inner progress.
Hi Farmermama,
I’m sorry to hear that you have to have shoulder surgery. However, in light of the information you provided about PTSD, I would recommend, while you’re healing, restorative yoga, yoga nidra (try Amy Weintraub or Richard Miller), and calming pranayama techniques such as alternate nostril breath or 3-part breath. I think Richard Miller also has a yoga nidra recording specifically for healing. Good luck with the surgery!
hi everyone!
excuse the one handed typing-
surgery went well. Now I am in healing phase. I have found that my 3 part breathing has been very helpful. Also standing in a kind of mountain pose and really focusing on breathing. not so much deep breathing but really visualizing the spaces in my shoulder and my upper back and really focusing on relaxing muscles and directing prana in and around. (keep in mind I am a novice so all this is instinctive rather than knowledge)
This may be TMI- but the pain meds are extremely constipating and has a LOT of acetaminophen. So I am eating to protect my liver and my digestion as much as possible. My body is dying to do twists but I really cant engage my shoulder muscles or upper chest on one side yet. So I working on how to spiral my upper body without it- so far all theory and no success. Anyone have any advice on protecting/supporting my liver and gut during this without twists?
I realize this is months after your surgery, but I just saw your post. I had shoulder surgery on 7/2/12, due to a windsurfing accident which dislocated my left shoulder, tore my rotator cuff, and detached my labrum. Nine anchors were used to repair the damage, and the prognosis was not encouraging. I did the basic rehab (no yoga) for the first 4 weeks, then decided to start my own rehab program. I would get on my mat and go through an hour session of vinyasa, just doing what I could (which, admittedly, wasn’t much at first). I also began taking long walks to get my blood flowing. This past Friday (9/28) was 12 weeks post-op, and I am able to do 95% of my practice, including downward dog, chaturanga (sp?), all warriors, even crow. I practice 5-6 days/wk, and never take a chance at pushing myself too far. I also began to incorporate swimming - getting in the water makes your arm weightless and feels really good! Begin by doing gentle arm circles to improve range of motion and progress from there. My PT is amazed at my progress, and I feel really good about where I will be in another 3 months. Best of luck to you - remember that your efforts and mindset will ultimately be the key.
Well to update everyone- the recovery was amazing. I had a great PT who was very encouraging and had me back on the mat at home in 4 weeks and back in class at 6 weeks.
My surgeon checked me at 8 weeks and said the results were amazing. all credit to the yoga and to the breathing exercises I did even in those first hours.
Now I take two different classes including a power flow vinyasa and other than some behind the back motions I am in full form.