Taping #3 definitely helped a lot with my shoulder instability. Apparently my left shoulder blade deviates from the spine more so than the right one and that instability contributes to problems with my shoulder itself. I can't do any more taping for a while because the skin on my shoulder is raw to the point of peeling. I think it's been two weeks now since I took Tape #3 off and my skin is still irritated. I definitely don't recommend taping for some one with classic type unless the person is very specialied in tissue fragility! Gotta love EDS!
We're working on shoulder stabilization exercises in PT. The trick is to do so without engaging the neck muscles - see below!
My PT has been doing some intense work on my neck due to its noticeable lack of mobility - who'd a thunk?! After treatments of deep massage on my trapezius muscles (ones running across base of neck out to shoulders), I tend to be really spaced out and a bit confused for the rest of the day (or a few days thereafter). I came home early from work the other day because I was sooo fatigued and couldn't concentrate (more so than normal EDS); just wanted to sleep for a few. I laid down on the couch, got comfortable and didn't wake up until my husband came home 2 hours later. I was really confused about dinner and couldn't figure out how to put things together. It was very strange. This all has something to do with the nerves being stimulated in ways they haven't been in decades! Not kidding - that's how bad the hypertonia is!
We've been doing some neat exercises on the floor to help my core and shoulder muscles without engaging my neck muscles in a way that causes problems. I basically roll/flop around on the mat (floor mat, not my PT Mat)! I have to go from facing up to facing down without moving either my upper body or my lower body. It is sooo hard and I have much more trouble rolling my upper body from left to right due to weakness in that sohoulder. You'd think rolling on the floor would be easy but trying to use only the upper body muscles or lower body muscles to move is sooo darn hard! Wish I could describe this exercise better.
Hi, I have EDS too, and I'm allergic to the adhesive on most bandages and tape. Ask your PT if he can try different brands of tape, or if it would be possible to do something similar with vet-wrap.
ReplyDeleteHi BG,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I am allergic per se. When he took my last batch of tape off (Mon 2/9, applied 2/6), I had a long red line where there had been a crease in the tape. Also, the peeling I get after tape seems to be more from pulling many layers of skin off - an EDS thing, right?!
Before our first taping session, I did ask about alternatives to tape or the layer he puts under the heavy-duty tape. He didn't know anything about that. I will have to look at notes I took during an EDS seminar that addressed taping.
My shoulder is certainly happier with the tape than without it, so the minor inconvenience of losing some skin is the least of my worries at the moment. Thanks for the suggestion though. Adhesive allergies are very common in EDS.