Member-only story
Health
An old injury brings back forgotten pain
I could not move my left arm for most of that summer. My parents never noticed, no teachers noticed. Only my closest friends knew that I was incapacitated.
When I was in High School, my dad built a set of parallel bars in our yard. They were not wood; they were metal pipe with no give whatsoever, but I used them daily for exercise.
What I did most frequently were handstands. I could do that without swinging, just leaning forward and powering up by shoulder strength alone. After a few months, I could also do that from a sitting position on the floor. I could not come close to that today.
But then one day I fell. Somehow I lost my balance and started falling to the side. Foolishly, I held on with my left arm and wrenched my shoulder fiercely. I knew that I had hurt myself badly, but as I was a typical dumb teenager, I had great faith in the healing power of my body and did not seek medical help.
I had some reason to think that way. I was a teenager; I was very fit and strong. I had hurt myself many times before this and had always recovered quickly. This injury was a bit more serious, but I was tough; I’d get through it.
