I’ve had three broken shoulders and two shoulder surgeries. Because of this, I’ve learned a great deal about shoulder rehabilitation, the pain involved, and the effort required to have a successful recovery.

Motorcycling Racing Results in Shoulder Injuries

I race motorcycles and as a result, have had my share of broken bones, many of which required surgical repairs. I’ve come to know pain intimately. Some body parts are more painful when injured than others. Some body parts take longer to heal. From my experience, broken ribs are tops in the pain department, while shoulders take the longest to heal.

A long post-operative wait leads to lengthy rehabilitation

One of the reasons that post-operative shoulders take so long to heal is that there is a lengthy waiting period following surgery. You simply must wait for the shoulder to heal properly before you can begin rehabilitation. By contrast, after knee surgery, you can start rehab rather quickly. Although if you’ve had knee surgery, then you think that whenever rehab starts, it’s definitely way too soon. But after shoulder surgery, you wait and wait.

Long Wait leads to a Stiff Shoulder

By the time you actually begin rehab, you have probably developed adhesive capsulitis, or as it is more commonly known - “frozen shoulder”. This limits the range of motion to the point that you can’t do most of the things that you normally take for granted. The things I noticed most were:

• shaving
• combing my hair
• tucking my shirt in
• putting on deodorant
• going to the bathroom.

Most prescriptions for physical therapy allow three visits to your therapist per week, with the ideal situation being that your scheduled visits are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

There were things that I could do at home that helped, during the non-rehab days. I had dumbbells, Thera Bands, and shoulder pulleys. I used all of these items to accelerate my rehabilitation. These products and devices all did what they were designed to do, but they do not address the issue of internal and external rotation. I was very limited as to how I could increase the internal rotation and external rotation of my shoulder.

Internal and External Rotation - A Problem

I know for a fact that this (the inability to effectively self-stretch the shoulder’s internal rotation and external rotation) has been an issue for others as well as myself. This inability to effectively self-stretch the shoulder is one of the reasons that shoulders take so long to heal.

The Rotater: a way to stretch Internal & External Rotation at home

This is where the Rotater came into play. It allowed me to:

• passively stretch the internal rotation and external rotation of my shoulder
• stretch with or without the assistance of a therapist (during my “off” days)
• stretch in the comfort of my own home
• participate in the healing process

By using the Rotater, I put myself in a position, to assist my physical therapists with my recovery, resulting in a reduced recovery time. If internal and external rotation are a problem for you, check out the Rotater. You deserve the same benefits that I received.

Scott Kay
Joint Mechanix, LLC
www.therotater.com
skay@therotater.com

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