trying to compensate
Dec. 19th, 2007 01:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleI started work at my new job yesterday. I think it's mostly been going well, though I haven't really been doing much in the way of useful work yet. I'm working in such a regulated environment that I need to start by reading huge stacks of official company policies and signing official logs to document that I've had the initial training on the subject. I'm filling up my little notebook, trying to keep track of everything. (Writing from the front, I have notes about how to distinguish between Standard Operating Procedures, called SOPs, and Manufacturing Operating Procedures, called OPs. Writing from the back, I have notes about how silly it is that the [Manufacturing] OPs are more standardized than the SOPs, wondering why their identity as manufacturing goes without saying. Also a reminder to bring in my heatproof mug with the filter basket and cover, along with my electric kettle and some gingerbread tea, as the place has no access to boiling water.)
Last week, I talked to a new physical therapist about my shoulder. He wasn't a bit scary. (That's kind of weird, in retrospect, considering past experience and that he did end up hurting me a little. But he was really courteous, and I believe he did not hurt me more than necessary. Maybe I was just maxed out on fear at the time.) He told me I was using trapezius way too much, using it for motions usually controlled by other muscles in the shoulder and arm. Both of them, really. But on the left, I had done it so much that the muscle was in spasm. He recommended heat, and told me how to hold the arm that was supposed to make the trapezius unspasm. When I just sat still on the couch and did it, I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. Then I did the position thing at work, continuing to write with my right hand. Wow. After about 2 minutes, I could feel tension in my left shoulder decrease about 10%, while the pain in my right hand increased suddenly, dramatically, and much more than 10%. It's almost like the anti-ergonomic configuration of my left shoulder makes it more comfortable for me to write with the limitations of my right hand. My mother limped for 40 years because an old knee injury prevented her from straightening her right knee all the way (and she wouldn't wear orthopedic shoes with a lift, of course.) The limp threw her gait out of alignment, which damaged her left hip. Right knee to left him is not much closer than right hand to left shoulder, but it seems to make more sense. I don't know. I'm to see the PT again Thursday.
Last week, I talked to a new physical therapist about my shoulder. He wasn't a bit scary. (That's kind of weird, in retrospect, considering past experience and that he did end up hurting me a little. But he was really courteous, and I believe he did not hurt me more than necessary. Maybe I was just maxed out on fear at the time.) He told me I was using trapezius way too much, using it for motions usually controlled by other muscles in the shoulder and arm. Both of them, really. But on the left, I had done it so much that the muscle was in spasm. He recommended heat, and told me how to hold the arm that was supposed to make the trapezius unspasm. When I just sat still on the couch and did it, I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. Then I did the position thing at work, continuing to write with my right hand. Wow. After about 2 minutes, I could feel tension in my left shoulder decrease about 10%, while the pain in my right hand increased suddenly, dramatically, and much more than 10%. It's almost like the anti-ergonomic configuration of my left shoulder makes it more comfortable for me to write with the limitations of my right hand. My mother limped for 40 years because an old knee injury prevented her from straightening her right knee all the way (and she wouldn't wear orthopedic shoes with a lift, of course.) The limp threw her gait out of alignment, which damaged her left hip. Right knee to left him is not much closer than right hand to left shoulder, but it seems to make more sense. I don't know. I'm to see the PT again Thursday.
