Shoulder injury from windsurfing

[isobras]

I'm glad you saw a doctor and a PT, got a diagnosis, and are taking it seriously. Each of those puts you well ahead of the legions of studs too studly to do the same. I "play through" tweaks only if I know what they are and that they will not be harmed. Too many macho (Spanish for "stupid", IMO) guys tough it out and/or cover it up with pills, with long-lasting impact.

Tip: ask your PT for shoulder stability exercises you should perform most days for the rest of your life. They take only minutes, are deliberately low effort (you can do them in your coat and tie at the office), and can keep your shoulders healthy until you outgrow WSing ... heck, even 'til you get too old to play golf ... even to KITE! Some shoulder stability cuff muscles can atrophy to the point they no longer exist if not expressly and deliberately exercised, from which our shoulders will never fully recover. WSing will not necessarily keep those muscles strong, because it emphasizes other muscles.

Another tip: change your boom grip often. Gripping it the same way all the time, even if it's your own optimal way, is just another form of repetitive stress, the stuff that long-term debilitating pathology (physical damage) comes from. When I'm just going somewhere on my board, rather than performing specific maneuvers demanding a certain grip, I change grips and hand placement often and emphasize anything different from my "maneuvering" grip and placement.

Tip 3: I also always balance my harness lines within a cm of "perfect"; if I find myself using one arm more than the other for more than a couple of reaches on it, I drop in and adjust them. My objective is to use my hands and arms only when I must exert a rotational force on the booms, such as in a jibe or a maneuver; all motive power should flow through the harness lines whenever possible. And it's not just an age thing; this helped even back in the '80s when I was just a kid of 45 fighting WSing elbow in both arms. Very few senior citizens are going to put in 10 hours of maxed-out 3.7 Gorge sailing in one day ... and not be sore the next day ... without that.

Mike \OO/

[surfersteve]

being a PT for 19 years now I have to say the experienced responses are pretty accurate. The only 100% way to get an accurate diagnosis unfortunately is to be in there with a scope. Even MRIs miss things. If it just a tendon injury you are probably in luck. If you somehow tore the labrum which is the meniscus of the knee that may be a much more problematic thing. It may pop or click with certain movements. It is not always the end of the world though nor does it always require surgery. You will have a pretty good idea what your rehab prognosis is within 3-4. Rehab is just what your PT said - getting the blood flowing to speed up recovery. You didn't hurt yourself because you are weak, it was an overstretch/tear which can happen to anyone no matter how strong. Don't believe that simply by doing some strengthening exercises that that will fix the problem. It needs time to heal - like the rest of the season. The likelihood you will reinjure yourself and be rehabbing until the spring next year is pretty great if you don't follow your PT's advise. Remember what Baptiste said in Windsurfing Movie II "If you get injured and have to be out of the water for 3 months, don't worry about it. You will come back stronger." Sound advice!