Shouldering Trouble

Instead I have decided to blame Douglas Engelbart, the man who, perhaps unwittingly, has put a generation of rotator cuffs, shoulders and other body parts at risk. In the 1960s, Engelbart invented the computer mouse, an ingenious device that evolved into a cheap, mass-produced and pretty much unavoidable tool of modern office life. It is, I feel, a likely culprit for the nagging pain that has developed in my right shoulder in the past year or so.

Of course, maybe all the other stuff has had an aggravating role. But when I think about how I have used my right and left arms over the years, the mouse is the most prominent difference between them.

I am by nature left-handed and have spent a lifetime throwing balls, swinging tennis rackets and otherwise favouring my left side when it comes to activity. But I “mouse” with the right hand — too often with the arm extended and the shoulder twisted in exactly the wrong ways.

I turned down the cortisone. The physical therapy is under way.

If you want a surefire way to start a conversation with anyone older than 40, talk about shoulders. Maybe half will have had a problem, and of those who haven’t, many can expect to as they age. The symptoms can range from an annoying twinge to a deep throb that interferes with sleep to a loss of motion.

In my case, wear and tear on the AC joint, where the part of the shoulder blade called the acromion meets the clavicle, has worn away the cushion of cartilage between the two bones, the condition known as osteoarthritis. More problematic (at least in my case) is the rotator cuff: a set of four small muscles that help hold the arm in the shoulder socket and stabilise it as...