Archive for April, 2015
Thanks, Crossfit.
by codemonkey on Apr.16, 2015, under Dave's Rants
First off, before I tell you what happened, I want to point out that the title of this entry is meant to be funny. I only blame Crossfit about 25% . . but . . more of that below.
Surgery
I just got the news that I’m going to need surgery. I have a labral tear, sublabral tear, and a small tear in some tendon that I don’t remember. (Wasn’t the rotator or the biceps). The MRI showed the new damage to my cartilage and, some old damage that was partially healed (as well as my old class 3 AC separation).
They’re going to repair the damage by re-attaching it all to the bone.
History
So, how did it all happen? Here’s some history of my shoulder(s):
First, a while after starting CrossFit for the first time, I started getting pain in my right shoulder. The pain started after a visit to my in-laws’ lake house. I assumed it was from sleeping wrong. When I got back to SLC, a shot of cortisone fixed it right up. (This was probably my first cartilage tear)
Later on, my left shoulder started hurting. I suspected it was from doing snatches, since that was a relatively new olympic lift for me. Cortisone did *not* fix the problem, so, I found an orthopedic doctor instead of my DO. He prescribed PT, which fixed it right up. I am a BIG fan of physical therapy.
The following summer, while trying to show Brad how easy a mountain bike path was, I fell. Now, I need to put this fall into perspective: I had fallen 6-7 times already. Several of them were endos (where I flew over the handlebars). I had a few bruises and scratches, but I was fine. This fall was minor in comparison. I fell off my bike sideways, from a bridge about one foot over a dry creek bed. But, when I landed, all of my weight and momentum was stopped by a rock protruding from the ground. Brad said the earth moved. After several weeks, when it still had not fully healed, I went to my orthopedic doctor: class 3 AC separation. Again, physical therapy healed it fully. I still have a lump where the joint healed back askew, but, I have good (not perfect) mobility, and full strength.
Enter CrossFit (again)
Then, the final straw . . .
I had previously suspected that snatching had caused (or been a factor in) some of my previous injuries. So, when I restarted CrossFit, I did not do snatch for a very long time. I also took it easy with dips, since those are bad for shoulders. But, after no injuries, I started adding snatches back in.
Light weight snatches didn’t seem to aggravate my shoulders. And, I was doing my PT exercises several times a week. So, I started lifting heavier. And, it happened.
I had been trying to catch the bar back a little. From watching others, and the instructors, it looked like they were holding the bar slightly behind their heads. I caught a heavy one a little farther back than that, and it didn’t feel right. It didn’t hurt, but, that week, my shoulder got more and more sore. Eventually, I couldn’t do bench or snatch.
Fast forward six months
I stopped working out, because I couldn’t do anything upper body. Even after six months of rest, my shoulder was not better. It seemed to heal for a while, but, in the last month, it has gotten worse. Weird things hurt it. There were a couple of movements that made it sore, but, mostly, it hurt when sleeping (rolling over), putting on T-shirts, and shaking. (Any time I fall on a snowboard, or jump on a trampoline, it hurts — bad)
Finally went to the orthopedic . . and the rest is history . .
Conclusion / Blame
But, as far as the title goes, and the blame: I really only blame CrossFit about 25%. (and myself the rest).
I fall into a strange category that seems to be injury prone when it comes to CrossFit: I’m relatively strong.
So, bad instructors (or even some good ones), may not notice when form isn’t perfect, since the bar is going up. And, when the bar gets heavy, the bad form can cause injury (obviously). If I was weak, I would have to do the movement perfectly to even be able to lift the bar.
Wish me luck . . . should take me six months for full recovery 🙁