☆☆Lessons Learned from Having a Frozen Shoulder☆☆

Frozen Shoulder Part 3 (^o^)v
(For the text and tweets from Part 1 and Part 2, see below ↓↓↓)

Today, I will write about “Frozen shoulder was tough, but here is what I learned from having it‼️”
✨

Every part of the human body is important.

You may have experienced feeling inconvenienced even from a small cut on your finger. You realize how important that finger was, something you hadn't noticed before, right?

This time, when I developed a frozen shoulder, I learned that the impact on the shoulder joint affected my entire arm.

When I tried moving my shoulder joint, I also realized how hard it works to support the entire arm.

When you have a frozen shoulder, the intense pain is in the shoulder joint (specifically the front side), but
it seems many people say, "It's my arm that hurts."

I am experiencing exactly that:
○ My elbow joint hurts too
○ My whole arm feels heavy

I feel this way.

When you injure a certain area, it's not just that spot; the related parts also feel painful or heavy.

It is the wonder of the human body that you discover through injury.

As I wrote in the tweet above,

I am right-handed, but when I injured my left hand, I learned that I actually use my left hand quite a lot to help my right hand move better.

I want to be grateful for every single part of my body ❤️

I sometimes think that maybe if I show gratitude to my body, it might think, "I'll do my best" (^^)/

I understood how it feels to be cared for!

One of the golden rules I learned when studying nursing care is “undress the healthy side, dress the affected side.”

I knew this as a lesson, but now that I am actually suffering from shoulder pain and finding it difficult to put on and take off clothes, I realize that the principle holds true.

I experienced firsthand that caregivers also need to properly understand this.

When I help my mother, she sometimes says things like, "I'll move at my own pace, so don't pull me," and I feel how difficult it is to help, but now I truly understand why.

At my worst, it's hard to put on or take off tight clothes, and I struggle alone like a turtle, wanting help, but if it's not done according to the principle, it's painful even if I am helped.

Also, I realized that it is difficult to pull up pants or trousers, and even fixing a collar or clothes that have become disheveled is a major task.

When I looked in the mirror after changing and saw that the shoulder part of my clothes was disheveled, I realized that it wasn't just a matter of attitude, but that I simply couldn't do it.

Even so, being told things like, "You're so sloppy," makes you feel sad and hurt... (I have never said it or been told it, but I have thought it in my heart 😅).

Through real experience rather than desk learning, my mindset when providing care has changed.

My own adjustments☆

Based on that experience, I am now making efforts to be able to dress and undress as much as possible on my own by:

1. Choosing clothes that are easy to change into (loose-fitting)
2. Being conscious of dressing the affected side first and undressing it last
3. Allowing plenty of time
4. Checking my appearance in the mirror after changing

and so on.

Also, to avoid severe pain, I am doing the following:

1. Being conscious of how I use both hands
2. Placing a towel blanket under my left hand (the painful one) when sleeping at night
3. Not avoiding use entirely, but training effectively even though it hurts (e.g., strengthening other muscles).

I am also doing this.

Furthermore, I have started using medication effectively as needed, while trying not to rely on it too much.

I have also come to think that perhaps humans are made to experience "frozen shoulder" before they are in a position to provide care (lol).

While living with a frozen shoulder is inconvenient, it is also important to learn ways to overcome it and make adjustments (*^-^*).

Further thoughts prompted by the two lessons above

Although my thoughts are not yet organized enough to write about it here,

I have come to realize that our existence within human relationships and groups is also something where each part is important.

At the same time, I am beginning to feel that my own qualities, talents, and strengths (and in a sense, my weaknesses as well) all have their own meaning.

I am currently learning about 'StrengthsFinder',
and I would like to delve deeper into this area in the future (^^)/

Thank you for reading again today <m(__)m>

#FrozenShoulder
#Caregiving
#UndressHealthyDressAffected
#StrengthsFinder
#DailyNote
#Gratitude