Rejuvenating Rewards
Tom Cronkite’s Path To Overcoming Shoulder Pain At 70
“I like to think I’m pretty healthy, but I’m getting older, you know? I just turned 70 and I’m starting to feel my age a little bit. Particularly over the last few years, first one shoulder, then the other, started to bother me.”
“I started compensating for it in my motion when I had to reach out for something. I would hesitate, ‘Well, that’s going to hurt,’ and try something else. I was having difficulty even turning the wheel when driving or reaching up in the cabinets to pick out a plate… It got to a point where I couldn’t sleep on my side anymore. The pain wasn’t a ten, but it was enough to wake you up. I find that the older you get, the less sleep you need during the night, but the more important it is to get it. Does that make sense? It’s not like when I was younger pulling all-nighters. When I miss it, I feel it. I was slowing down…”
So I was complaining about this arthritis in my shoulders to my family doctor and was surprised when they said I should go to PT. I said, ‘What? Why? For arthritis?’ I guess I thought, maybe it could help a little, but not the kind of rewards that I got.”
“[At Cioffredi & Associates,] I started working with Marsha [Wykes, PT]. She had such a great depth of knowledge – really knew what she was talking about. She had me do a few things and I was amazed, in just like 20 minutes she said, ‘Yeah, you have some rotator cuff issues. We’re going to give you some exercises to take care of that.’ She got me into a PT routine that corrected it all. It was just no nonsense, right to the point: ‘Here’s the plan. This is what you got to do this week.’ Then the next week we review, ‘Keep this one, add this one. Do it every day.’ Just simple exercises… but it worked. She had me in and out of here in just handful of visits, just a couple months. I mean, I’ve had this for years. It’s amazing how in such a short period of time I feel so much better. I’m like 95% back to where I was years ago.”
“I was slowing down… I guess I thought, maybe [Physical Therapy] could help a little, but not the kind of rewards that I got.”
“As I’m trying to phase out a little bit of work, my goal is to travel, ski, bike, just live an active life. Probably in May, I’m looking forward to going to Santa Fe, get some mountain biking in [and] in March, we’re going to ski up in Mont Tremblant. I’ve been out skiing almost every day, totally enjoying it.”
“I’m sure glad I came in. It was getting worse, and I’m not sure if I could have got it all back if I let it go further. I just wish I’d done it sooner!”
“I’ve had this for years. It’s amazing how in such a short period of time I feel so much better… I just wish I’d done it sooner!”
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