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Shoulder Surgery
March 4, 2008 |
Tom Warden truly enjoys his fast-paced hobby of barefoot water skiing. “I
barefoot water ski a lot which involves high speed and of course when you fall
at high speed you get hurt a lot more.” But after 25 years of footing and
falling on the water, Tom developed a serious pain in his shoulder. John Kagan
is an orthopedic surgeon who says that type of pain is common in athletes.
“Sometimes we find athletes who have been particularly aggressive in their
sports over a many, many year period of time; later in life will have problems.”
Tom said his shoulder pain even made some daily tasks hard to accomplish. “You
can’t put your arm maybe behind your back or you can’t raise your arm above your
head. Have trouble putting a coat or a shirt on.” Tom and his physician decided
the best option for him was arthroscopic surgery on his rotator cuff. “He had to
pull some of the tendons back together and do some more repair work.” But in
order to get his shoulder back in barefooting shape, Tom made physical therapy a
main focus. He says, “Definitely go through your physical therapy. Listen to
your physical therapist.” In a matter of months Tom was back behind the boat and
on top of the water. “When I took off and got up on the water I just felt a
weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and I knew everything was right and I
was a happy man.” He was happy and healthy. Rotator cuff injuries are very
common especially in patients who are very active in sports and exercise. |
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