Chris’s Shoulder Journal – About the Injury

Of all ironies, I have been diagnosed with degenerative shoulder arthritis in my right shoulder. My name is Chris Aguilar, and I am one of the two producers who helped Jack create the Surf Clubs video. Over the last month, I have had to come under the care of the clubs and from time to time will be giving you updates on how the clubs are helping me. RAfter returning from a month long shoot, I had a nagging shoulder pain. After surfing for a weekend and paddling, the pain got worse and worse to the point where I could barely put on a shirt without pain. After some time, I finally listened to my wife and went to the doctor.

A quick run through his office then to physical therapy and x-rays revealed the arthritis in my shoulder.  This is not a common condition for someone my age, but nonetheless, I have it and have to deal with it. Eventually, they say, I will need a full shoulder replacement. For now, it is about pain management and I have been prescribed a huge dose of ibuprofen – which makes me sick. So I stopped taking it. I also received a  cortisone injection which really helped the swelling in the joint and gave me back some movement in the shoulder. But it seems like if I surf or paddle, the shoulder gets really inflamed and I am back to no movement for a couple of days. During those times I do swing the clubs to try to speed up the healing process.

The physical therapist said that the key to my injury is range of motion exercise, which is what the clubs are all about. They are , at minimum, a beneficial range of motion exercise that you can do on your own to help with flexibility and coordination. I like it cause it feels like my constantly tight back and shoulders are getting a good stretch.

From time to time, I am going to update this site with my progress and videos of how the clubs are helping with my injury. This is not the kind of condition that will get better, it will actually progress. But at least with the clubs, I can try to keep the joint loose and the muscles in there strong to help support the degenerating joint. For this purpose, the clubs are perfect.

Chris