The shoulder seems to be fixing itself pretty well. The bone is doing its own thing as bones do and Gareth at Swansea Health Solutions has been stretching & working on the muscles in my necks and shoulder to get some mobility back after a couple of weeks of immobilisation. It’s amazing how much your muscles shorten, not just to deal with the broken clavicle, but with the fixed position in the sling. A lot of the pain and discomfort has been in other parts of the shoulder than the bone and Gareth has really helped with that. After about 4 weeks or so I started to get some good nights of sleep again.
I started running again 3 weeks post-fracture, cycling at 4 weeks, and got back in the pool at 5 weeks. I’m not swimming as such, as I’m not allowed to raise my arm above my shoulder yet, but I’m doing some kicking drills and have been sticking some short fins on for single arm and sculling drills. After watching the Paralympic swimming I realised that I didn’t have any excuse for not getting back in the pool, and it feels pretty nice to be back in the water. Each of those sports started off a little sore but without pain in the bone, and after a few sessions each one got better & helped get some strength and tone back into the shoulder muscles.
It’s slow going getting back into running again, and I did as much walking as I could but my muscles are short, tight and the tendons are unhappy again. With 2 weeks of daily stretching I still can’t touch my toes! There’s no hurry but it would be nice to be able to start building the mileage soon without too much Achilles tendon soreness. Cycling has been a lot easier & I’ve restricted myself to my fixie, partly because I’m repairing my training bike and using this opportunity to get the frame resprayed and freshen up some parts, and partly because it’s still tricky moving quickly from the tops of the bars to the brakes. With the fixed wheel I can control my speed with my legs, which is easier and safer, and good for keeping my pedalling technique smooth. It’s a good excuse to explore the cycle paths too.
I’m due back in the fracture clinic next week, and I’m hoping to get the ok to start swimming freestyle again. That will probably feel nasty at first but it will be important in getting the strength and fitness back into my right side. Winter is coming; the season to spend lots of hours in the pool.