I'm here to respectfully suggest that you should perhaps reconsider and re-assess your belief that your shoulder is finished - and with it, your cat sailing career. Maybe don't sell all your boats just yet if you haven't already. It's a shame to see someone who is obviously as into cat sailing as you are feel they are forced to bow out.
Obviously, I don't know you or your specific shoulder situation, and everyone is different; and by no means am I ignoring or minimizing the extent of pain you said your shoulder was in either. However, shoulders can get so inflamed and painful that they can make you believe you are finished and could not possibly recover without something drastic like surgery and/or stopping the aggravating activity forever - even though that may not turn out to be the case.
There's nothing wrong with going to an orthopedist, but unfortunately many of them are not necessarily that tuned into the details of what/how PT can improve your situation. They do usually refer you for PT though, which is good, and the question then becomes whether you get a PT who knows what to do with you.
I suggest you consider hanging from a bar. Maybe work up to it if you can't do it right away. See this video, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI9KZVdFSmQ. These guys are physical therapists, but they admit the bar-hanging suggestion comes from a book written by an orthopedic surgeon on how to recover from shoulder pain/injury and maintain shoulder health. I think they post a link to the book in one of their videos, and the doctor is John Kirsch, MD. He asserts that hanging can actually change, or "re-model," the structures in the shoulder, so that the shoulder joint opens up, reducing impingement and allowing more pain-free movement. Once you go to the video, you will see a lot of other videos from these guys and others also recommending hanging, as well as other movements that I found helped big-time.
When I bought my boat, the shoulder pain I got at the end of the day after having pulled really hard on the halyard multiple times was so bad I thought maybe I'd made a mistake buying it. However, I started hanging and it has helped me in a big way. It did take time (I've been doing it 2 years now), and my shoulders are not perfect, but I lost a lot of pain and gained a lot of shoulder functionality back. Also, it's important to get correct upper back and shoulder blade position, then only pull lines with your shoulders and shoulder blades well-retracted before you start of the pull.
I think this guy's video is good too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZEYZXcn-C4.
Well, hopefully some of this might be helpful. Wishing you good luck.
Edited by CatFan57 on Jun 12, 2022 - 03:22 PM.
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1998 P18.2
Sailing out of SHBCC, NJ
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