The fact of the matter is that my shoulder is not getting better. My pain level is actually worse than it was before my first surgery, and has not been getting any better for two years. Basically every time I do my physiotherapy exercises, which I’m supposed to do every other day, I’m in pain for 3 or 4 days afterwards so they don’t get done as often as they should.
So barring some miracle happening in the next couple of months, I’m facing either not kayaking, or kayaking in pain. Judging by the way it’s gone in the past when I’ve tried to continue a sport with pain, if I’m really lucky I’ll get maybe one year to recover my fitness, and another year to race, and then the pain will be too great to continue – if I’m unlucky I’ll wimp out of the pain in March, sell all my boats and go back to being a limpet. So I guess the realistic thing to do is to prepare myself to train and race in pain, and hope for a miracle. And the best training for training in pain is to start doing my physiotherapy exercises in spite of the pain that they cause me. Who knows, maybe they’ll actually start doing me some good?
I’ve been in pain literally every day for the last 12 years. It’ll be 13 in October.
While every person’s pain is different, because every person is different, one thing that I’ve found is that when I’m at a decent level of physical condition, the pain gets a lot easier to handle. My sport is horse riding, it’s the only form of exercise that I’ve been able to keep enjoying for long enough to get some physical benefit from it, and while every ride does cause pain, to the point that I need to be sure I have enough of the strong painkillers for that day, over time my general sort of background pain gets reduced when I’m able to ride regularly. (And, of course, since I enjoy it and it’s apparent that I need to be in better condition to be a better rider, it’s the one thing that has actually made me keep going to the gym.)
It might not be the same for you, but I sincerely hope it will. And yes, the PT exercises are likely to get less painful over time if you do them regularly. Again, speaking from my own experience only.