Hey, Hari. You’re in the running for oldest Doper. Congrats.
I’m only 65, but I have rheumatoid arthritis. When the medication works, I’m a pretty normal human being. When it doesn’t, hurts like hell.
My neck’s evil; when I don’t set the alarm, it’s my neck that gets me up in the morning. I take 6 Naproxen a day for it. Had 3 vertebrae fused, and the next one will need doing some day.
My back’s sore most days. One surgery, which helped a lot.
One shoulder hurts almost constantly. My GP says it’s just old. I want him to make it more like the other one, which never hurts at all. They are twins, born at the same time.
Other joints stiff and sore, but not so as to stop me doing things.
Shoulder. Arthritis. Similar exercises as you described.
I weight train, and once I got off the NSAIDs, like Ibuprofen and even some precrips, I started to progress – FINALLY.
The keys:
>diet and nutrition
>sleeping on my back
>training so that my arms are positioned in a way that keeps the arm from being extended too much (Sort of like using your legs and back properly so you don’t throw your back out, there are ways to use your shoulders/arms/elbows properly so as to not strain the shoulder)
The shoulder is complex and takes on huge loads in a variety of positions… contorting, twisting, flexing, carrying. It is a very interesting joint. You need to learn how to sleep, how to eat/diet/exercise, and how to use the upper body wisely, just as you would with a back issue.
I’ll get to my joints in a sec.
When my wife’s shoulder was talking rudely to her, the doc gave her the same two exercises in the OP. She calls them the Spider and the Elephant. After a few weeks, the shoulder got better, and it’s fine now.
I had one knee 'scoped and cleaned up decades ago. Now and then, both knees make walking very unpleasant. I get bursitis in one hip, from tight muscles pressing on the bursa. A special set of stretches loosens them up.
One shoulder is beginning to give me trouble, and aside from some stretches, I’m trying to ignore it.
My fingers and thumbs hurt from 34 years in the factory. The PT says it’s the tendons.
Over the course of a day, I take 2 or 3 Naproxen. I tried several NSAIDs, and this is the one my body is least unhappy with.
I’m 60.
By the way, is your mouse on your bad-shoulder side, and does it get better after a day or two away from the computer? Hmmmm…
The pain is on my mouse shoulder. Since I’m a computer programmer, I’m never away from my computer for that long. I’ve tried using my mouse with my left hand but it hasn’t made a difference so far.