Shoulder: something I just noticed

[redbird]

I was describing the stretches I do for my shoulder to adrian_turtle, and demonstrating range of motion, and discovered something startling: I have better range of motion in my right shoulder—the one that was damaged and I did all the physical therapy for—than in the left.

It's not a huge difference: something like 170 degrees versus 180 or 185. And once noticed, it makes sense: one of my stretches is done specifically with the affected shoulder, so I've spent the last two years doing more to benefit that shoulder than the other.

So I just did that exercise with both shoulders. I want to keep doing so (it's easy to let these things slide), and get that full range of motion in both shoulders.

Comments

[crazysoph.livejournal.com]

Even without the specific, injury-related exercise, I've experienced a certain asymmetry of several things like range-of-motion, flexibility, balance, etc., while doing aikido - we're pretty much reminded all the time to not favor our "good" side (which won't necessarily be the same one through all the various techniques) so as to not leave the other side less skilled. (Of course, allowances are made for injury time, to the point of wearing a bit of red ribbon on the affected limb, so our partners don't accidentally try to use, say, a slightly ouchy shoulder...) Using the asymmetry as a guide to direct my training sometimes, I still find myself cheered by how we're not quite exactly the same left-to-right.

Crazy(and hats off to your inclusive routine!)Soph