Loosey Goosey

Nelson has been having some pain in his shoulder joints when he does his head-over-heals tumbling runs and he-man girl-catching during cheer practice. We visited our favorite Orthopedic Surgeon for advice this week. She went down the list of questions you would expect: when did the pain start, where does it hurt, is it one arm more than the other, and so on. He'd been through these same questions a few times with us, his coaches, and the family doctor so was pretty much bored with the whole process by then. The doc told us how the shoulder socket works, how the muscles and ligaments hold it together, the kinds of problems that can cause this kind of pain, how we need to get xrays to see if there is any damage around that area and such.

She started talking about how sometimes the ligaments can be somewhat loose and allow the ball in the socket slide up to the edge and sometimes out of the socket which is the big concern and what we have to guard against. Then Nelson says, "You mean like when I do this?" and raises his arm, does something that causes his shoulder to move so a visible gap forms at the end where his collar bone stops. The doctor pauses in her talk about tests and possible issues and says, "Well that's the problem. He shouldn't be able to do that. He is just all Loosey Goosey in his ligaments. We need to get him tightened up."

Now it's off to physical therapy so he can learn the exercises that will tighten up the muscles that will keep his joints from moving around and causing pain and will maybe also keep his shoulders from dislocating in those high stress stunts and catches.