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.

Moving Forward

First an update on my doctor’s appointment. I have an ultrasound on my hips on July 13th and my shoulder on July 31st.I don’t expect much from the one on my hips beyond what the x-ray shows but hopefully from there, I can get in to see an orthopedic specialist to figure out a plan forward. The shoulder one is more frustrating as it will be over 10 weeks from the injury to the Ultrasound. And then there is still what the next steps are. However, I am trying not to dwell on it and continue to move forward.

I feel like as a team this year, we have quite a few members struggling with some fairly significant injuries. In the past I have sometimes not done as much as I should because of an injury but this year I am modifying what I do so I can continue to work on things.

Even in the past when I did modify it was to the extreme of eliminating certain things entirely. This time, I am still doing as many things as I can but smartly and safely. This includes still using weapons, still doing forms and still doing techniques. I am however unable to do my bench form due to the amount of strain it puts on my shoulder. However, I am still working on the sequence without the bench. Is it the same? No but it is allowing me to continue to work on it.

I still get frustrated sometimes as I can’t do certain things when I try them, but I am getting better at adapting and modifying how I do them so I can continue to work on it. It is not perfect but it is what I am able to do and what I will continue to do.

Numbers

I have a follow up appoitment with my doctor tomorrow to see what the next steps are. I will blog about this later but until then I am going to post my numbers to the end of May

Push-Ups and Sit-Ups - 14,980 (2,520 of the pish-ups are modified due to my shoulder)

KM's - 444

Sparring - 174

Lao Gar - 245

Bench - 60 (have not been able to do since injury - still working on the footwork but not counting these reps)

Blog -14

AOK - 387

An Answer Hopefully.

I finally was able to see a doctor about my hips and shoulder. Of course, the first thing that was scheduled was x rays. I didn’t thin k this would show anything but it was the first step he said and we would then go from there to an ultrasound most likely. I received my results yesterday and the results were eye opening to say the least.

First the shoulder, not much to report there except some mild osteoarthritis in the AC joint. Not surprised by this but it doesn’t explain my sudden problems so waiting for follow up with the doctor for next steps here as it is still painful and nit right. The hips are where it gets interesting. The thing that stands out here is I have a shortened left femoral neck which is either congenital or posttraumatic and it could be either as I did some things when I was younger that could have damaged it (involved a springboard and a hard gym floor).

To be honest, I had no idea what this was so I had to look it up. The main symptoms are limping, pain and limited mobility. The pain can radiate down to the knee and it worsens with repetitive exercises. It also weakens the hip abductor along with the hip joint itself. A shortening of 5mm or more is associated with inferior hip function and chronic pain. Pretty much everything that I am feeling is here.

The treatment at this point is unknown as I will have to follow up with an orthopedic specialist and see what my options are. There may be physical therapy options, orthopedic devices or in extreme cases, surgery. I have no idea where I am at and what my options are, but at least I feel like I am finally on a path to getting some kind of a solution at least.