I’m not known for writing
blogs at the drop of a mouse but if someone can motivate me to do that,
he’s got to be pretty special. Right? And a blog on medical issues? Nah- not
me. I belong to that tribe which believes one’s medical issues are best kept
between oneself and one’s doctor. I’ve seen too many rolled up eyes and the facial
expressions which says “there she goes again, all I did was ask how are you? Do
I really need to know her blood pressure and the latest blood
sugar value?”
Anyway, the cause of my uncharacteristic behavior this time
around is the earth shattering, can-conquer-the-world, born again feeling-
after being relieved from the excruciating experience of a frozen shoulder!
It doesn’t sound like much, this frozen shoulder. You just
can’t move it a bit, the blissfully thawed shouldered would say. But for
someone with a frozen shoulder, the excruciating bolt of 1000 volts which
shoots from the armpit to the ends of the fingers when a simple un-thinking
action like stretching for the towel on the bathroom rack, sends one into
spasms of seeing stars and planets and all the whirling rocks in the cosmos, is
something only a fellow sufferer would understand. How difficult can slicing
mushrooms possibly be? Or stirring your coffee? Or scrubbing your toes,
powdering your under arms, adjusting the rear view mirror of your car? Driving?
Unthinkingly, shaking my hand to flick off a bug or pulling a chair towards
me would bring on the electrocution. Not being able to do these simple everyday
things which needed no effort a few months ago, takes a huge mental toll.
There’s a plus side of-course. The other arm, which was more
or a spare part (somewhat like the spare heir!) starts feeling important! I
never before tried to brush my teeth with my left hand but now I can. I can also comb my hair, stir
the ladle in the cooking pot, and sweep using my left, hitherto non-dominant
arm! The only thing which I can be thankful for is that only one shoulder was
affected. I cannot imagine how bad it might have been if both had been
‘frozen’.
I went through the gamut of doctors, physio therapies
including acupuncture, exercising with bands and yoga but every day the
stiffness and pain was increasingly worse. It came to a point when sleep was
difficult because I couldn’t turn on my right side and the constant dull,
nagging ache in my arm was literally a pain in the A (arm!). One doctor I went
to said surgery is the only option if physiotherapy doesn’t work. Another said
they could try a steroid injection. A third one said he could try injecting my
own blood into the joint which ‘sometimes’ works but no guarantees. Finally I
went to this doc (may god bless him!) who said something to the effect that
he’d hit me on the head with a frying pan and while I’m kayoed and insensate,
he’d basically twist and tug and pull my arm practically out of its socket.
This was fine by me as long as I was actually kayoed. So this is exactly what
he did. Though of course he used anesthesia instead of a frying pan!
Less than 12 hours later, it is difficult to put into words,
the incredible feeling of being 90% pain free and being able to do all those
things with my right hand which I was not able to for so long. Hesitantly, I
reach out for that towel with my right hand, expecting the old familiar
electric shock. It doesn’t come! I sliced up all the tomatoes and onions in the
house just out of the sheer joy of being able to do it! I take a scrub to the
kitchen sink and make it sparkle, just because I now can! I’m born again! I
would do handstands it in a heartbeat if I could. It’s just been five days
since the procedure and the 95% return of range of motion to my arm is just
mind blowing.
So, for those millions suffering from a frozen shoulder,
please consider this option of ‘manipulation under anesthesia- MUA’. It is not
a heavily advertised process for obvious reasons but as a patient who's been through it, I would
certainly plug its benefits. Conservative in approach, only one day in hospital
and immediate relief. No expensive follow up physiotherapy, just ice pack
applications and a few simple do-at-home exercises.
