: My shoulder made big progress
: since the accident 2.5 weeks ago. I have almost full range of motion, the
: pain is much less, and much of the strength returned. The only thing I
: still cannot do is to reach high overhead with my left arm, but even this
: is improving.
: I am concerned about this statement you've made: I wonder if good program of
: strengthening exercises and physical therapy might help in this area?
:
While I am not a doctor, nor a physical therapist (and I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), I DO have experience with shoulder problems. I had surgery many years ago and have managed to keep things together since then. BUT (and it is a big one), the key to managing things has been to keep the shoulder in shape. As others have said, the shoulder joint is a bit tricky. If it gets unbalanced, there is the potential for longer term consequences. I would advise you to bite the bullet and go to a good physical therapist -- one who is used to seeing active people and sports injuries -- and get advice on a long term program for your shoulder to keep all of the pieces in shape and in balance (there are many muscles at play and keeping them coordinated and in appropriate balance to each other is important). My personal problems usually come from my scapular muscles. I sit in front of a computer for work and that tends to cause issues with posture that exacerbate tightness in my pectoral muscles and weakness in my scapular muscles. I've found that if I keep up with my maintenance program, I do OK. When work gets the better of me and I get lazy and go off the program, or when I spend too much time in front of the computer and lose the bubble on posture, bad things result. Your situation is obviously different, but making sure your shoulder is strong AND in balance sounds like something you might want to investigate.

Mike