Injury: Working Only One Side?

[Malinda]

My DH has an injured shoulder/biceps tendon . He has been in pain and trying to find out what the problem is for over three years now. He had rotator cuff surgery two years ago, has gone to several PTs and Airrosti with varying results, and is seeing another surgeon tomorrow.

Like me, his workouts are his sanity, so he simply must do some sort of workout most days of the week or depression will start to set in. He's a cardio junkie, and he is still able to run and modify a lot of DVDs. He's recently started some strength training as well, which is great, but at present, it's not an option for his right shoulder. He is wondering if there is any harm in working the muscles of the left side of his upper body (the uninjured side) while he is unable to work the right side. I'm not sure, so I thought I'd bring the question to you guys.

What do y'all think?

[luvcritters]

I'm not an expert. A very long time ago someone qualified to answer told me that working the opposite side from an injury will help the injury heal. It probably won't hurt. Blood flow heals. Good luck to you and your dh. I hope he gets some answers from the new doctor.

[deineira]

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's injuries. I think things like this are very individual and he should solicit input from his surgeon of a PT that he trusts. I think it would be difficult (and maybe even unwise) to solicit advice from the VF board about how he should move forward based on his injuries.

I'm sure this is not what you're soliciting for advice, but I felt compelled to share that with you. Just my two cents.

[bfit]

I agree that he should seek some expert advice. In my experience physical therapists are more helpful with questions like this than surgeons. For what it's worth, my sister-in-law rode a stationary bike with one leg because she had had foot surgery on her other leg. After six weeks of that she had major back and hip problems on the leg she was pedaling with.

[Lannette]

It is true that about 20% of the benefit of what you do on one side crosses over to the other side. However it's important that he get input from his medical/rehab team BEFORE he undertakes this kind of place.

Also, exercise that will keep him sane sounds too intense to do one sided. Like the example of the one legged bike pedaling it would probably mess up more than it helped.

I would strongly recommend he seek professional input for any exercise plan in part because it sounds as though he's been attempting to exercise around pain for some time.