You know you’re getting old when sleeping causes an injury. Compound that by being your own doctor and playing tennis every week, and you’ve got all the makings of a chronic shoulder injury. This is how my painful journey of playing with an injury started.
For the past three years, my “self-prescribed” solution was to play doubles instead of singles, thinking less time hitting would help. Although my doubles game improved immensely, my shoulder pain and impingement did not. When second serves become your first serve, it’s time to seek advice from an actual medical professional.
First, I tried resting, ice, OTC pain, and anti-inflammatory medications, all to no avail. Next, I tried massage therapy, physical therapy, and cortisone shots. When all of these just became bandages, I finally got the X-rays and MRI that revealed the actual damage: bicep tendinosis.
Another six months go by, and I have shoulder surgery – subacromial decompression. Big words for shoulder surgery. My surgeon was great, and my 2-hour outpatient surgery was a success. Now comes the challenging part… physical therapy.
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I’ve been told that PT is the hardest part of recovery. To me, however, it’s being off the court for 3-6 months. That’s an eternity in tennis time! I just keep reminding myself that the BEST part of the recovery is coming soon when I’m back on the courts, playing pain-free tennis!
Have you also been putting off a needed surgery? Please tell us about it in the comments below!
