Tendon Bad

It seems like my blogging in the last bit has been mostly about my injuries and this one will start with an update on my shoulder. I had an ultrasound done on the 31st and I am able to see my results online. It showed the following:

1) Subscapularis: Partial-thickness tear of the superior fibers measuring 10 x 8 mm.

2) Supraspinatus: Full-thickness, partial-width tear of the anterior/mid tendon measuring 17 x 15 mm.

3) Partial-thickness intrasubstance tear of the posterior tendon measuring 9 x 6 mm. Diffuse moderate tendinosis.

What does this mean? I don’t know yet but my doctor’s office phoned me to book an appointment right after the results were available. I am scheduled to meet him on Monday to go over the results and hopefully come up with next steps nit only for my shoulder but also my hip issues.

I am trying to remain positive but it is getting harder to do as it seems like it is one thing after another. I am also at a crossroads as how to accomplish some of my goals without causing more damage. I am going to have to evaluate this more now as I don’t think I have been doing myself any favors these past couple of months.

On a positive note , I may be able to make class on Monday depending on when I fly out out again. My work schedule is a bit crazy right now and I will be away for the next while except a couple of weekends in between. I will not be at the next live class as I will be away for work once again. The only day I know I will be home for sure is Saturday September 12th (the next live class after this one. I will give another update after my doctor’s appointment.

Form Grappling

So much going on and no time to fit it all in. That’s how I am feeling today as I may potentially be gone from this coming Saturday to Mid to late September minus a few Saturdays at home in between. This is not a surprise to me but it always affects so many aspects of my life. My family time, my projects at home and my training are what are at the forefront of my mind.

Working on the grappling sequence these last few days, I noticed that I felt more comfortable than I had in the past. Not comfortable in doing the sequence but applying them and moving between them. I am a big believer that this is due to my form reps that I have been putting in. I noticed this a bout a month ago when we were working with the big belly pads. While demonstrating a shovel punch, I really felt a strong connection with my six harmonies and my connection to the ground. I will have to ask Sihing Bauer how it felt to him.

Anyway, I think I am going to try and take my forms training further and see what affects it has on the other aspects of Kung Fu.

Out of Reach

I have been out of touch this last week and a bit as I have been working at some remote sites in the Yukon with my work days are pushing 15 to 16 hours. There is no service where I am at until I get back to the hotel and it is usually past 8 (9 Alberta time). Hence, I have not been able to view class and trying to keep up with blogs has been tough. I was supposed to be back but I am off to another site right away here and will be out of touch until later tonight again.

So I am working on what I can do which is push-ups (still modified), sit-ups and working through my form (although it is broken up due to space restrictions). I at least feel like I am making some progress and will continue this until I get back.

Speaking of that, I am supposed to be back in Whitehorse tomorrow and will then be driving back to Edmonton so hopefully be back by Saturday. That means I will be back next week so that will be good.

So Many Issues

This blog has a lot of information that I had to look up myself as I had no idea what it meant or how to treat it so some of this is directly from the internet.

So, this is what I know about my hip issue after my Ultrasound. Starting with the right side.

Gluteus Minimus Tendon: Mild tendinosis. Focally tender. No tear. Enthesopathic changes are noted. This means there is mild, chronic wear-and-tear or degeneration of the collagen fibers within the tendon, usually from repetitive use rather than a sudden injury. It is not a sudden, red, swollen "tendinitis," but rather a gradual fraying or weakening of the tissue. To recover from this, I have the following options.

1) Activity Modification: Temporarily avoiding the specific repetitive motions or heavy loading that triggers the focal pain. Already modifying but hard to modify walking, standing, and even sleeping.

2) Load Management: Gradually reintroducing movement to ensure the tendon adapts and grows stronger without being overloaded. Need to figure out how to do this so hopefully 3 below will help with this.

3) Physical Therapy: Utilizing targeted eccentric exercises (slow, controlled lengthening of the muscle-tendon unit) to help stimulate proper collagen remodeling. This is the path that will help the most I think and the one I plan to pursue.

Now the left side is where it gets interesting as I already have a shortened femoral neck which can cause pain and issues on both sides. This is an issue that will have to be dealt with seperately. There was no anterior joint effusion. Labrum sub optimally assessed sonographically. Which means the ultrasound was unable to provide a clear, conclusive view of the tissue to rule out a tear or degeneration. So I would need an MRI or something similar to view this. On top of this I also have the following:

1) Dystrophic mineralization is noted of the labrum. No paralabral cysts. This means that calcium has been deposited into damaged or degenerated tissue in the rim of fibrocartilage (the labrum) that lines my hip joint.

2) Direct-Rec Fem: Intrasubstance calcification measuring up to 4 mm. No tear. Which means there is a small calcium deposit within the upper tendon of your quadriceps muscle (the rectus femoris), with no evidence of a tendon tear.

3) Gluteus Minimus Tendon: Mild tendinosis. No tear.

4) Gluteus Medius Tendon: Mild tendinosis. Focally tender. No tear.

So treatment for these would be the same as for the tendinosis above. For #1 it may involve arthroscopic surgery to remove the calcified deposits, repair the torn labrum, and reconstruct the tissue. For #2 it may involve ultrasound-guided needle therapies to break up the calcium. This is all speculation on my part for now, but I think next steps may be an MRI and a referral to an orthopedic specialist, It feels like a lot of things going wrong and I wish I would have looked into this sooner but at least I am working on it now. I will not be talking about my shoulder.

Back To Work

This has been a fairly good week for me. I am continuing to work on being able to do more full push-ups without causing any severe pain. I am able to do 10 consistently and can push up to 20. This may not seem like a lot but to me it is a massive amount.

I also found out that I will be leaving for work on Monday so last night was my last classes I will be in attendance except for Saturdays Kao Shi. I will also be = there for open training and then that will be it for a while. As of now, I don’t know when I will be back as of yet but it will be by July 31st as I have an ultrasound scheduled for my shoulder on that day.

Speaking of the ultrasound, I have one on my hips on Monday before I leave. I am hoping by early August, I will have an idea on what my next steps will be for both. What that means, I am unsure but at least it will be something.

Demo and Life

Yesterday was Canada day and I was able to perform in a demo outside of the banquet for the first time in quite a while. I wasn’t where I wanted to be physically but it still felt great to be part of it. I also would like to say great job by the rest of the team and also to the Dragon and our newest Lion Dance team.

My work situation is a little up in the air right now as there have been some coordination issues with my next project. This has led to me not knowing when I will leave next so it could be anytime soon or not for another couple of weeks. I normally have some idea of when I will leave but I also sometimes get asked 2 days before. This makes planning sometimes very hard to do or it leads to changing or cancelling plans sometimes.

The shoulder is feeling a bit better and I can do some more things with it but I am at a stage I don’t know how far I can push it. I have been careful with it and not tried to aggravate the injury. When I do push it a bit it seems okay but later or the next day I can feel it. The problem is I don’t know if it’s aggravating the injury or if it is just sore because I haven’t been using it. I have an ultrasound on the 31st so I think I will wait for that to see what it shows before pushing it to hard but I will continue to try to do more with it as well.

Working On the Dance

I am at a point with my shoulder where I start to feel I can push things a bit but then I am reminded that there is still something very wrong with it. So, although I am doing more, I still have to be aware of what I can and what I can’t or shouldn’t do.

One area I am focusing on and have been working closely with Sifu Brinker on is the Lion Dance. Most of our one-on-ones have been focused on this. We are discussing techniques, strategies and aspects within the dance to focus on. We have had some great conversations and I am trying to pass this on to our current and future Lion Dancers.

My main reason for this and I have stated it before; is the major benefits you can get from practicing your lion dancing. A good example came from Saturday’s open training where Sifu Brinker was explaining a technique in a form and it was so similar to the wave in the Lion Dance. Just by practicing this, you would be practicing a part in the form. Anyway, I think it is important and I am hoping to get healed enough soon to start working more on my own Lion Dancing but until then< I will try to help our current dancers as much as I can.