Pec strain, minor tear? little help please

[Genghis K.]

Fellas, I have a lingering pain in my pectoral muscle (pec). The pain is in the part of the muscle close to the underarm. The area of concern can be located by placing fingers slightly under the armpit and raising the arm. As the arm is raised up the area of the pec I am referring to can be felt.

I believe the strain occurred during incline press or dips. The are no signs of a true tear, just a lingering pain for about 2 weeks now. The pain is not intense. I have tried to allow the muscle to heal, every workout has been modified for the injury. Gentle stretching of the area doesn't seem to help. Healing is not happening fast enough. Have any of you experienced something similar? If so, what do you suggest? I thank you in advance for your time.

 

[54chev]

Ive had that happen or something similar. It feels like a tear and a bad pump at the same time, no? It made working chest difficult for about 2 or 3 weeks..so i trained as i could. What i did that helped was hang from a pull up bar completely limp and let everything stretch..it hurts at first..but actually feels good when your done. This also helps with my shoulders and tennis elbow. Then id grab one of those excercise balls..or medicine balls, put it on my chest where it was sore and rub it in against a wall in a circular motion, .you look like an ass but it works. Rotate each side and then go hang again. It worked for me. Dont strain yourself.

 

[Genghis K.]

@54chev, thank you for the thorough response. I hadn't tried hanging from a pull-up bar as a form of stretching, will do.
You are correct. I can tell the injury isn't a major one, however; it is lingering. I was trying to present something different to my body by doing various levels of incline bench with heavier weight/low reps. Maybe I pushed myself too hard? I'm not "on" right now, so strength is 100% natural. IDK...... The irony is I have been training for years and injury to this muscle area is a first.

 

[jJjburton]

rest.
Best thing you can do.

 

[iamINVICTUS]

Literally had the EXACT same thing happen to me. Stretching is the cure. Hanging from a bar is great. You can also stand beside a wall, placing your hand above your head and pushing into the wall.

I know it hurts but did you lose any strength.

 

[Genghis K.]

I know it hurts but did you lose any strength.

Yes, strength is down but to what degree I can't tell yet. I trying to work around the injury, a little difficult considering it's an area of the pec. It's been about 2 weeks since it started bothering me. The hanging from a bar as mentioned previously was a little painful until yesterday.

 

[strong50]

I am going thru the exact same thing right now..like to a T as you described. If you find a remedy let me know haha

 

[Gronk87]

I actually caused an extremely similar injury to what you are describing by flexing too hard of all things. I was doing a most muscular pose in the mirror and really squeezing getting all the veins to pop in neck/chest/forehead etc and then my pec suddenly tensed up like a cramp and i had to deal with exactly what you are describing. I trained around it for a bit but it healed in about 2 weeks on its own! hopefully yours does the same soon. I would say rest and mobility work in the meantime. maybe try some extremely light weight sets for like 50ish reps to get some really good blood flow in there?

 

[weighted chinup]

If an injury is causing a loss in strength and it still lingers even after time off then I would personally have it looked at, at the very least so you know what the injury is and the extent of it so you can manage it properly and most effectively.

Personally after a recent (unrelated to this) training injury, I am no longer going to attempt to diagnose my own aches and pains. If it troubles me to the point of harming performance then I'm just going to have it checked out so I can address it properly.

 

[Bloodnsweat]

Definitely agree...if it's lingering, get it checked. I had something similar about 5 years ago in my quad, then one day I go to squat and boom ruptured the muscle belly. If something doesn't feel right avoid it for a while and get a medical professionals opinion. They're likely going to tell you to "take it easy" which is always laughable.

 

[UCSFmed]

OP: it sounds to me like you have an issue with the pectoralis major tendon, which connects the pec to the upper arm. If you have any visible assymetry in the pec muscles, such as on odd shape in the injured side, that's a likely sign of tendon injury.

Here's a little link on the subject.

Pectoralis Major Tendon Injury: An Overview