Pain when squatting

[calvare2]

Hi everyone,
About two-three weeks ago I was doing some heavy squats and on my second to last set of 455lbsx3 I felt a pain around the left side of my chest, I went on to finish my last set of 475lbsx2. I've had this pain before but usually goes away after a couple of days. It's not my pec muscles because I can bench and use my chest without any pain and not my back either. I only feel the pain when I squat and do good mornings. I've done some searching on google, and found out some people with a similar injury say it was their intercostal muscles that got injured, not sure if that what happened to me. Since two-three weeks after the injury I can squat up to 315lbs before I start feeling the pain in that area. Has anyone else had a similar injury? Any ideas of what it could be that got injured?

 

[alaskinassasin]

Where is it located around the chest?

It may be a long shot but the origin of the transverse abdominus is located on the lower portion of the rib cage. Essentially its used for stabilization while squatting same way the rotator cuff would be used for stabilization of the bench press

 

[calvare2]

I can't quite pin point it. If it was my transverse abdominus how long do you think it would take me for it to recover or what can I do to strengthen it? When I get injured on a squat it's always this area because it's my weakest link.

 

[alaskinassasin]

If its a minor tear probably 4-6 weeks, but there is a number of different things that could be going on. I would like to see Dr. Jim or the like up in here for their opinion.

 

[jp4355]

It sounds like a similar injury I had, back in the day. One question, when you take a very deep breath, do you feel the pain. If the answer was yes, its definitely your intercostal. When it happened to me, it took about 4 or 5 weeks for the pain to go away, and that's if you don't aggravate it. So be careful for a little while, I know that's not what you want to hear. It's the only way to let it heal. I wish you all the best. This is what I wanted to do, when it happened to me. :banghead:

 

[guynamedtroy]

I have some questions for you:
Do you have pain while bearing down, sneezing, and/or coughing?
Is there a certain position that makes it worse? better?
Does it hurt when you are breathing in/out?
Is the pain only when you are in a loaded position?
Is there a time of day that makes it better? worse?
When was the last time you had a CBC with an ESR done?
Any pain or discomfort while doing cardiovascular exercise?

 

[calvare2]

I don't think it's an intercostal muscle anymore because it doesn't hurt when I breath. The only time I feel it is when I'm coming up on a squat, other then that I don't ever notice it. One thing I have noticed is when I have a narrower grip on the squat it agrivates it more.

 

[guynamedtroy]

It may not be as likely, but I wouldn't necessarliy rule it out yet. Honestly, I think a muscle strain is most likely, probably latissimus dorsi or serratus anterior.

 

[jp4355]

With what your describing, I would make an appt. with a Doctor, and get an X-ray, just to be careful. I don't like to say this, but, it might be a disc. I also had that problem back in the day. Laminectomy, L4- L-5 for me. If by any chance its spinal involved, you do not want to screw around. You'll kick yourself in the ass, down the road, if you don't pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you. Again, this is what I did, when my Doctor told me, I needed an operation on my back.
:banghead:

 

[calvare2]

Ok I think it might of being just a minor tear, if it doesn't get any better in two weeks I'll go see a doctor.

 

[guynamedtroy]

It's pretty high up by how the symptoms are being described, however it could be an upper thoracic disc, however they are super-rare.

You can't see disc pathology on x-rays, MRIs are the study of choice for those. My question about coughing, sneezing, and valsalva (bearing down) is for a disc. Since calvare is only experiencing it in one position at one time, a sprain/strain is top of my DDx list.

 

[alaskinassasin]

Get better man I hope everything works out

 

[calvare2]

Thanks for the info and support guys

 

[Oregongearhead]

I have a nagging pain in the pec/bicep tie-in when I squat, sometimes rt bicep hurts for days ....rest then adjusting holding points is the only thing I have found that helps. Goodluck

 

[guynamedtroy]

If you a nagging pain in a muscle that doesn't heal after a while, it's probably not a muscle, get it checked out.

 

[calvare2]

It's funny that I can deadlift but I can't squat. Yeasterday I hit a pr of 525lbsx2.

 

[guynamedtroy]

It's funny that I can deadlift but I can't squat. Yeasterday I hit a pr of 525lbsx2.

Another reason it might not be a disc, but if you keep having problems get it checked out. That's an impressive PR, I've been trying to push past 400 on both squat/DL, but that was before I found out about my HH.

 

[calvare2]

What's HH?

 

[guynamedtroy]

hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, my pituitary gland isn't secreting enough luteinizing hormone thereby not producing/secreting enough test.

 

[calvare2]

Are you taking any meds for it?