Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH>  I had been pushing my physical limits for some time...   
   AH>  but until the pain settled in I didn't consciously add   
   AH>  everything up.  Seems to me you know when you're overdoing   
   AH>  it.  I'll know better in future (maybe).  :-)   
      
   JB>  Good luck with that!    
      
      
             Thanks... I may need it!  Digging down to the next layer, as NT's   
   are wont to do, I recognize that I come from a long line of people whose   
   philosophy Elizabeth the Queen Mother explained quite succinctly (IIRC) as   
   "You just carry on."  She carried on, in reasonably good health, for more than   
   a hundred years. My family didn't quite match her record, but they defied the   
   odds as well.  One of the ideas I've been working on is figuring out what they   
   did right.  Another is learning to acknowledge what my body is trying to tell   
   me.  If it hurts when I try to do such-and-such, maybe I need to back off for   
   the time being....  :-)   
      
      
      
   JB>  Did you - in retrospect - see signs that you should   
   JB>  slow down with the rotating at the cuff, or did you   
   JB>  just wake up with it?   
      
      
             Yes, on both counts.  I did receive a few warning signals.  I   
   ignored them because they seemed to be temporary.  That's what I'd been taught   
   to do... but then, as I said, the pain "settled in".  I woke up one morning   
   when we were getting ready for a camping trip & expressed some concern over   
   the packing etc. which had to be completed within forty-eight hours.  Dallas   
   understood what was involved & suggested we postpone the trip.  In retrospect   
   I'm quite glad we did because otherwise we'd have been away when the pain hit   
   its peak... [wry grin].   
      
      
      
   JB>  As you know, I have such a nerve deficit from surgical   
   JB>  damage, it took me forever to recognize my boundaries,   
   JB>  and another eternity before I *started*  to respect them.   
   JB>  I still often need to cue into secondary symptoms to   
   JB>  realize that damage has occurred, and those often show up   
   JB>  days later, so....   
      
      
             I don't completely understand your problem, but I understand that   
   you may be receiving confused signals from the nerves.  FWIW I also understand   
   that the "no pain -- no gain" theory has beeen disputed in professional   
   circles.  It seems to me that if you have a problem which is rather unusual   
   you must rely on your own intuition.  So you're bucking the tide?  SURVIVORS   
   often do that.  ;-)   
      
      
      
   JB>  Seriously, this isn't the first time it has given you   
   JB>  trouble, right?   
      
   AH>  You're thinking of the other shoulder... [wry grin].   
      
   JB>  I trust you'll forgive my ignorance?    
      
      
             Of course.  You tolerate mine in good spirit....  :-)   
      
      
      
   JB>   Seriously, I suppose exercise is in order once you   
   JB>  have the pain under control?   
      
      
             Yes, I think that is often the case.  I once felt women got plenty   
   of exercise doing routine housework... until a chiropractor pointed out to me   
   that women often have weak muscles at the back of their shoulders because they   
   spend so much of their time changing diapers, looking down at small children,   
   washing various items in sinks installed at the ideal height for a previous   
   generation, etc.  All these activities involve bending forward... and I do   
   more of the same when I'm crawling around on the floor helping our daughter   
   put on her splint or retrieving something she's dropped under the bed!  My   
   usual exercises provide a balance which I don't get in the course of my daily   
   work.  You may find you are using certain muscle groups unevenly as well.    
   People tend to do that when some part of their body hurts.  The burden falls   
   on the parts which don't hurt.  ;-)   
      
      
      
   JB>  Coincidentally - *maybe* sympathetically |-) I woke   
   JB>  in the middle of the night to what I imagine was rotator   
   JB>  cuff "inflammation". I guess my gland drained itself,   
   JB>  because it was mostly gone by morning. But, back to you....   
      
      
             That was my reaction at first... the pain was mostly gone by   
   morning. Now's the time to ask yourself, "What have I been doing (or   
   overdoing) recently which involves that particular shoulder?"  You may be   
   surprised when you add it all up.  But in my experience, the sooner you add it   
   all up the better....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)