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Shoulder blade numbness due to marching band?

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  • Shoulder blade numbness due to marching band?

    Hi everybody,

    Haven't posted for a while. Things were going well. Then...marching band started.

    Bill who is 9 months post op started marching band last Monday. Yesterday I noticed he was sitting differently. When I asked him if his back hurt, he said yes (right below his neck and above his fusion) and that his left shoulder blade area was numb. I gave him tylenol and a muscle relaxant and that eliminated the pain. (Didn't hurt this morning either.) But, his shoulder blade area was still numb.

    We have a call in to his doctor (who is in the process of moving to a different state!) but would like to know if anyone has had this experience. He plays mellophone when marching (which is like a giant trumpet) so it's not a question of weight necessarily, but may be related to posture used when marching. I don't know. Would appreciate any input.

    Would also like to know how marching band is going for those who are also post-op and this is their first time since surgery.

    Thanks.
    Susan

  • #2
    Hi Susan,

    Just wanted to send a hello to you. You were such an awesome source of support to me when my daughter was having surgery 5 months ago. I hope Bill finds a simple solution to the numbness issue. My little couch potato is still extremely restricted, so I'm afraid I can't offer any help, but I will watch with interest the responses to your question.
    Susanna
    ~~~~~~
    Mother of a 17 year old daughter. Her "S" curve was 40 degree thoracic from T3 to T9, and a 70 degree rotatory thorcolumbar from T9 to L4. She was operated on March 9th, 2005 by Dr. Boachie-Adjei at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. She was fused from T11 to L3, using an anterior approach, and the major curve corrected to 20 degrees. She's doing great!

    Comment


    • #3
      Susan,

      I'm sorry to hear of Bill's problems. Is it just me or just when you start to relax, something else comes up to worry us?

      Jamie is 8 months post-op and should be at band camp this week. Her camp is 5 days long and 8 hours per day. I wasn't sure how she would do with such long hours considering how restricted she was up until the 6 month post-op point. Jamie is only doing concert band this year so she isn't required to attend band camp. She will start practices once school starts which buys her an extra three weeks.

      Have you talked to the band instructor? I made it a point to talk to Jamie's instructor at the end of this past school year to make him aware of her situation. He was not happy about her only doing concert band, but under the circumstances, he understood. Maybe Bill would be allowed to take extra breaks? Maybe march without his instrument for a while?

      Good luck and maybe try talking to the instructor.

      Mary Lou

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      • #4
        hi bills mom
        I have been thinking of you guys and wondered how things are going. It is good to hear from you. You see this is what i worry about something all of a sudden bothering them. Everything here has been going well with nicole. So far no complaints. Nicole is off to disney "YIKES" tomorrow with her friends family. I will be a wreck for the next 2 weeks, actually probably freaking out, but the surgeon gave her the okay to go with of course restrictions.
        Sorry that i don't have any answers for you about bill's numbness, but i guess like they say things are still healing. How heavy is a mellophone? Maybe he is not used to carrying the weight of it - just a thought.
        Jennifer

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        • #5
          Whenever my back gets fatigued, I get excessive numbness and the skin on my back feels like it's about 2 inches thick..... Holding up a mellophone and marching/maneuvering is certainly not a particularly easy task (it's been a while since I've had to go to any marching band competitions, but as I recall, it does put you in a slightly strained position to play one of those. My guess is that it's hard on his muscles and perhaps he is experiencing the sort of thing I get.
          Blair

          Dec 15th, 2003 @ age of 20
          Posterior Fusion and CD Horizon instrumentation T2-L1.
          Surgery by Dr. Herkowitz- Beaumont Hospital of Royal Oak, Michigan
          Excellent correction of 52 degree single left thoracolumbar curve. Slight curve remains in unfused lumbar region but seems stable.
          February 5, 2005- Failed Scar Revision Surgery
          September 17, 2005- 2nd Failed Scar Revision.

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          • #6
            hi, im shannon im like 2 1/2 monthsmonths post-op im in marching band too. i get a burning sensation over my shoulder blade...my moms a nurse she said it could be theres a nerve being pinched after his fusion thats causing it to go numb...idk well sorry couldnt be more help c ya
            ~Shannon~
            Surgery: May 25th 2005! Woot!
            13 months Post-op
            E-mail me!:
            starchild_81212@yahoo.com or Star_child_81212@msn.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks everybody for your responses. I appreciate the insights and I especially appreciate your understanding of the situation. Those of you who have had the surgery understand his situation better than I and I appreciate your insights. And, you other moms, totally understand the situation and I appreciate the support.

              Shannon - I cannot believe you are marching already. Thank you for letting me know about your burning feeling. That does make me feel better about his pain and numbness.

              blairf83 - Thanks for your input about numbness. I don't think his horn is necessarily too heavy, but you are right about the posture. He has to keep his arms bent and elbows out. I tried doing that last night for a few seconds and I could feel the strain on my back. So it's really no wonder that he is feeling it after having to do that for hours each day.

              Jennifer - Hi. I can't believe she's gone for two weeks. (I have read many of the posts where you've been discussing it though.) I would be a nervous wreck also. (I think I'd be a nervous wreck even if she hadn't had the surgery! The surgery just adds an additional element.) Try to not freak out too much. I'm sure she'll have a blast and there will be no problems. As for us, I mentioned to blairf83, I don't think necessarily it's the heaviness of the horn as much as the posture - or perhaps a little of both. It's just a new problem and as a result worrisome, but I appreciate your helpful thoughts.

              Mary Lou - This is his second week of band and it is a long day for him - 7:30 to 3:00 with a break for lunch. He has spoken to one of the directors already since he can't do all of the warmup stretching exercises and they are well aware of his back since he missed so much of last marching season and some of concert. The problem is that he really wants to participate. At the start of last season he had a note from the doctor that he might need to sit out due to pain (prior to surgery). He had pain every day (mostly, I assumed, due to the curve but maybe it's just normal to have pain due to the whole marching/carrying instrument thing) BUT he never used the note! I think some of the problem is BECAUSE of the surgery and instrumentation but not necessarily a problem WITH his spine or instrumentation. You know? I'm glad for you that Jamie gets to miss it this year. One less thing to fret over!

              susannajon - It was nice to hear from you. Thanks for your encouragement. Glad that your couch potato is doing well. There's a lot to be said for restrictions!

              OK. I think that's it for now. We are in the process of trying to get in to see a different doctor in the same practice as his doctor who is moving. (He has let his malpractice for Texas lapse, so he can't see any patients. He won't even consult.) They don't seem overly concerned at the office which is irritating and reassuring all at the same time!

              I'll let you know if we get anywhere with the medical profession. And, again, thanks to all of you.

              Susan

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              • #8
                I play Alto Saxophone......., and I find at at the end of a long march (not marching band formation kinda stuff, more the marching in parades/Christmas Pageant etc) everything's sore...the neck especially from the weight of the sax, as well as the back muscles from holding up the silly thing lol.

                I think most people (except the really tiny instrument players :-p) get soreness from marching, but with the extra bits of the surgery and the instrumentation in your back, the muscles are working more having been cut from surgery and not being in the quite the same spot before and not quite having the same 'room to move in' :-p

                This might sound a bit strange, but if Bill continues to feel soreness from his marching band playing.....perhaps consider some physical therapy. Take the mellaphone and get the physical therapist's brain working to see what muscles are being used whilst he is playing; and work on strengthing the muscles that are being used and the ones around the muscles.

                Regards

                Alison

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                • #9
                  Just wanted to give everyone an update on Bill.

                  We finally got in to see a new doctor last week and she said that his x-rays looked great. She thinks that the numbness is related to muscles, so she has prescribed physical therapy although he hasn't started that yet.

                  After she checked his back, Bill mentioned that he's been having a lot of pain in his foot. She ordered foot x-rays and turns out he has a stress fracture! So he has a cast on his foot for two weeks.

                  The good news is that the doctor did not seem at all surprised that going from doing nothing but sitting to marching 4 hours a day could cause back and foot problems. (You know, as a mother, I always wonder if something else is going on...) And, since he's in a cast for at least two weeks, he can't march for two weeks. (Of course NOW I worry that, thanks to the walking cast, he's sort of lopsided when he walks. I wonder how his back will handle that.)

                  I guess it's always something.

                  Thanks, again, for all your good thoughts.

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                  • #10
                    hi bills mom
                    i'm sure you are relieved that it isn't anything to worry about with bill's back. I'm sure the physical therapy will help. I can't believe that he had a stress fracture and didn't even really know it. Unbelievable!
                    See always something to worry about.
                    Jennifer

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                    • #11
                      hey, i've been marching for about 2 months now 1 1/2 each day and 2 hours after school on monday nights...it could possibly be the strain of the muscles pulling because even months after surgery your muscles still dont have all the strength they used to have. i play flute and with the front face with ur hips a diifferent way it can ba alot of strain on you back after surgery...also kepping ur arms at a certian angle can be difficult and hard on someones back with or with out the surgery....it does get better...i had most of the felling in my back well back but then alot of it went numb again its just a matter of trying to be was to active and like "normal" then ur body wants tell him to take it slow it helps hope this helps ~shannon~
                      ~Shannon~
                      Surgery: May 25th 2005! Woot!
                      13 months Post-op
                      E-mail me!:
                      starchild_81212@yahoo.com or Star_child_81212@msn.com

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