Saturday, February 1st, like all of our NYC winter, was brutally cold. I headed out to Randall’s Island to play football with some colleagues in my building. The quarterback threw me a pass I caught in the first down. I felt resistance as I extended my arm to reach out and then clutched the football back in toward my chest, but thought nothing of it. I was sufficiently layered and warmed up. I continued to play, stopping to examine a fellow teammate’s knee and to help carry yet another guy off the field after he rolled over his ankle. We managed to win the game 42 – 21.
When I arrived home, I peeled off my longsleeve layers for a shower, and Shannon’s eyes widened in concern. “What did you do?” I heard the alarm in her voice as she looked in horror at the black and blue marks on my arm.
I held my hands behind my head and my inability to flex my right bicep muscle revealed it had, indeed, torn off and snapped completely. The bicep is attached in three places – two at the shoulder, and one at the elbow. It had ripped at the elbow, was now resting 10 cm above where it should be, and it had taken the tendon with it. Surgery was imminent, and it had to be scheduled quickly, before scar tissue could build up and myoblastic and fibroblastic activity made it harder to pull the muscle down.
I had the MRI on Monday, February 3rd, and at 11:00am on Wednesday, February 5th, I had my surgery. Two and half hours later, I was able to give the literal thumbs up and open and close my fists, both signs the surgery had been a success. Aggressive physical therapy from the DASHA® Team combining ultrasound, cold laser light therapy, massage and exercises moving my arm through its full range of motion had my arm very close to 100% again at just 6 weeks following surgery. I am thankful to be treating patients again and growing more and more functional each day. I will also soon be incorporating some acupuncture to combat the slight numbness I have in my forearm, which is expected to go away.
It has been a while since the tables reversed and I became the patient. It was a reminder I am not invincible, and that nothing beats the hard work of following a rehabilitation program. When it comes to rehabilitation and recovery, you have to follow the natural course of things and do everything properly – it’s not worth it to try to speed things up by moving more quickly. You have one body to live in, and it has to last you many years. Slow and steady will yield better results over time than fast and rushed. I hope that my experience can be a lesson and reminder to my patients to treat your body well, to listen to it, and when you have an injury, follow the course of action recommended by your healthcare professionals.
DASHA® wellness & spa is a luxury lifestyle brand and New York City-based wellness center created to offer a truly holistic approach to wellness. To learn more, visit dashawellness.com.
