Shoulder pain

[flenser]

I have similar shoulder impingement issues. Same problem throwing a ball overhanded, for example. Last year I even managed to dislocate my shoulder just doing lateral raises. PT was pretty much a waste of time, but I later followed this "anti-impingement protocol" and had very good success with it.

Impingement No More: Study Outlines 6 Week Protocol That Reduces, in 15% of the Cases Even Resolves Shoulder Pain

 

[idmd]

I have similar shoulder impingement issues. Same problem throwing a ball overhanded, for example. Last year I even managed to dislocate my shoulder just doing lateral raises. PT was pretty much a waste of time, but I later followed this "anti-impingement protocol" and had very good success with it.

Impingement No More: Study Outlines 6 Week Protocol That Reduces, in 15% of the Cases Even Resolves Shoulder Pain

Thanks......shoulder felt good today so I did my dead lifts and then did some exercises to strengthen my rotators. Used cables to do some external rotations - light weight at 7.5lbs but towards the end of each set they were starting to fatigue. Also did some lateral shoulder raises but only with about 45 degrees of motion since going beyond that makes my shoulder click and hurt. Shoulder actually feels even better now then it did before.

 

[av ultra]

I'm going thru the sane thing with my left sholder, havent been to the gym in two weeks, and was about to start my first real cycle too.

 

[idmd]

I'm going thru the sane thing with my left sholder, havent been to the gym in two weeks, and was about to start my first real cycle too.

I've identified lifts that aggravate it. Bench press being the worst although I can use DB with a neutral grip fine as long as I keep weight under 85lbs. Anything heavier and while my pecks will lift it my shoulder won't. So I'm doing sets of 20 and doing long slow reps. By 20 my chest is hurting and shoulder is ok. The other lift that aggravates this is any lateral or front shoulder raise....especially past paralleled with the ground.

 

[MANWHORE]

I think I am done benching...
At least until I can get anything
Other than a straight bar...

Up to 255 gives me pain,
In left shoulder, but 265
Up to 300 and no pain...
I just can't take a chance, cause
I know something is fucked, in my left shoulder ...

1 arm pushups, for now

 

[Bucky]

I think I am done benching...
At least until I can get anything
Other than a straight bar...

Up to 255 gives me pain,
In left shoulder, but 265
Up to 300 and no pain...
I just can't take a chance, cause
I know something is fucked, in my left shoulder ...

1 arm pushups, for now

I have the same issue with dumb bells. I don't get impingement pain anymore, but if I use 65-70lbs to higher rep, my joints feel sore/dry. If I use 90-100lbs, I feel great and no joint pain.

 

[Misterboots]

IDMD,

F'n shoulder injurys....I just got over Bursitis in the right shoulder. I work in a hospital, and had one of the PT doctors check it out and he seemed pretty confident with his diagnosis. Started exercising three months ago, and when I started I got Bursitis in knee. I am wondering if its just I am getting older, Im 34, or if it is because I have poor joint lubrication due to being on an AI for hrt/trt? I asked the doc, he didn't know about AI's but gave good and fair advice; "I don't know, but take it easy". Point being, I feel for you....each time has sucked taking time off from my routine. Anyway, I was wondering if the exercise Bucky recommended is helping, because it absolutely helped relieve pain for me. The doctor taught me to "try to put your shoulder blade in your back pocket which will release pressure in the shoulder." Hope it has helped, or does if you haven't tried it. I know our injuries are different, but still curious.

boot

PS-follow up with Dr H in a month, he said we may be addressing low cortisol...he did the 24 hour urine test and it came back low. I get these stress headaches, and something is off. Sorry to get off topic, but wanted to keep you in the loop. Thanks again.

 

[Kane.d3]

I'm no Dr. so take what I say with a grain of salt here, but if the pain subsides and then returns under a heavy workload this sounds like definitely a joint issue, not a muscle issue. I had an issue with my A/C joint in my shoulder some years back, and it came from doing extremely heavy military presses with dumbbells. It was what is termed "impingement injury" which means basically the cushion in my joint was wearing thin due to heavy weights causing the joint to rub against itself. It really bothered me sleeping on it more than anything. I cut out military presses for about 4-6 months, and took glucosamine and fish oil, I think I trained with alot of machines during this period as well, keeping my elbows in and doing 3/4 reps. The common cure for this is a shoulder scope, where they go in and clean the joint out giving it room to move freely once again.Mine felt like something was clicking or pinching inside my shoulder and limiting my range of motion. I would recommend going to an orthopedic Dr. and having it X-rayed so you know what your dealing with, if its a joint you'll see it on the xray, a muscle will obviously need an MRI. The best advice I can give you is to #1- stay away from whatever exercise gave you this pain, in your case bench pressing. Stick to more incline or decline movements and see if it the pain subsides. Also, machines are great while working through an injury. #2- Any pressing movements go 3/4 motion on, stop the push about 3-4" from lockout, and stop the descent about 2-3" above your chest. This will keep the shoulders out of play and keep it on the chest. Start taking some glucosamine w/ chondroitin and also fish oil daily. It wouldnt hurt you to get a cortisone shot in the joint either, just use the shot to help with the pain, NOT TO TRAIN THROUGH IT. You can cause more damage with cortisone if you simply use it as a crutch to continue training the same way you were. In my case the pain came on all of a sudden, the 130 lb dumbbells was just enough weight to push that joint over the edge and cause pain. It eventually subsided without any surgery, but I had to change things up a bit and train smart. I cant be sure this is your issue, but if the pain is more during a front delt raise then I'm guessing its your A/C joint, the most common joint injury in lifters actually

This is good advice. I had a slight tear in my rotator cuff and the pain was constant in my day to day life. Couldnt reach for the peanut butter on the top shelf without cringing. I did all the docs exercisese to strengthen the myscles but it was just necer the same. As a minor tear I visited two surgeons and both refused to do the surgery as it was minor tear. I have and do get cortisone shots not just to lift but to make it through my day. Don't ever do that unless you have to. I'm sure I have caused major injuries over the years.

Take this advice and some of the others bout proper warm ups. Good advice

 

[idmd]

I know this is just coincidence but after doing external rotations with cables my shoulder has been 100% the past two days - no pain and or clicks. My rotator muscles are sore (in a good way)....I go for the MRI Wednesday so we will see. Till then nothing crazy at the gym.

 

[radcon]

I know this is just coincidence but after doing external rotations with cables my shoulder has been 100% the past two days - no pain and or clicks. My rotator muscles are sore (in a good way)....I go for the MRI Wednesday so we will see. Till then nothing crazy at the gym.

Have you ever done face pulls with a neutral grip? It's a good addition to the external rotations. That's good news that's it's been feeling good for you!

 

[idmd]

Well I have some diagnostic codes (signed into their web portal but no report yet).

Diagnosis 726.10 Disorder Of Bursae Of Shoulder Region Nos
Diagnosis 727.69 Nontraumatic Rupture Of Other Tendon

Not sure what it all means exactly...eagerly waiting the report

 

[idmd]

So have the report.

"The subscapularis tendon appears intact. The long head of the biceps tendon resides in the biciptal groove. There is no fracture or dislocation. The bone marrow signal intensity appears normal. The glenohumeral joint space including the articular cartilage appears well-preserved.

The is some hypertrophic edematous changes at the acromioclavicular joint to a minimal degree. These cause no significant impingement. There is some increased signal intensity and thickening involving the supraspinatus tendon consistent with supraspinatus tendinosis. There is no full-thckness or partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tear.

The glenoid labra appears intact. The suprascapularis notch appears normal.

The muscular structures display normal signal. There is no deltoid muscle dehiscence.

Impressions:
1. Mild supraspinatus tendinosis. There is no evidence of rotator cuff tear.
2. Minimal degenerative changes at the acromioclavicular joint without significant impingement."

What interesting is since starting rotator cuff exercises my shoulder feels 100%. I believe my problem originated with lateral raises when I first started lifting...there as always a click in that shoulder when doing these. As always any comments welcome....see the orthopedic on Wednesday.

 

[heel hook]

Good your keeping up on it, if it hurts don't do it, after I posted the Benching info I had a partial tear of the pec /delt tie in too much Benching, good thing is I can still lift heavy with db bench and Barbell Inclines no problem but even then I will rest a week or so before and always listen to what the Body is trying to tell you from light warmups and less volume, you can always work around an injury but you can't work around stupidity.

 

[radcon]

That's a great sounding MRI report.

One thing I always suspect when someone has shoulder pain with bench pressing is missing internal rotation of the glenohumeral joint. That is assuming that there aren't any glaring technique issues. You can google "shoulder GIRD" for some more info on this. Just a thought for you.

 

[idmd]

That's a great sounding MRI report.

One thing I always suspect when someone has shoulder pain with bench pressing is missing internal rotation of the glenohumeral joint. That is assuming that there aren't any glaring technique issues. You can google "shoulder GIRD" for some more info on this. Just a thought for you.

Thanks radcon....I'll look into that. One thing that doesn't make sense is my initially injury (while pushing a prowler sled) was an 8 or 9 on the pain scale and while that got much better quickly I then had pain of around 2-4 for months up until a few weeks ago. Shoulder felt "off" the entire time and one day I'd reach out to grab something like my car keys and bam significant pain for the next few days.

If everything looks good on MRI why the hell has my shoulder been such a problem for months?

How can external rotations seem to help so much so quickly?

Going to see the surgeon today to discuss my results.....I'll see what he says.

 

[BIGMESC]

idmd
What sort of rotator exercises have you been doing?

 

[idmd]

idmd
What sort of rotator exercises have you been doing?

Besides my usual back workout just external rotations with a cable machine. Started really light at 7.5 lbs and now I'm at 12lbs. Seems to have really stabilized my shoulder joint. I still get the occasional very mild pang of pain but it goes away immediately.

 

[idmd]

Ok doc says AC joint sprain, rotator tendenosis and a touch of impingement. Going to see if a cortisone injection settles it down.

 

[idmd]

Loving the injection...already feels better and it was already feeling really good.

 

[radcon]

Thanks radcon....I'll look into that. One thing that doesn't make sense is my initially injury (while pushing a prowler sled) was an 8 or 9 on the pain scale and while that got much better quickly I then had pain of around 2-4 for months up until a few weeks ago. Shoulder felt "off" the entire time and one day I'd reach out to grab something like my car keys and bam significant pain for the next few days.

1. If everything looks good on MRI why the hell has my shoulder been such a problem for months?

2. How can external rotations seem to help so much so quickly?

Going to see the surgeon today to discuss my results.....I'll see what he says.

I agree that your condition seems a bit perplexing. I know that you know that there are limitations with me giving you ideas, having never seen you nor examined you.

Given what you have written and your MRI results, I would suspect some area of laxity. When things are slipping in and out of place, you can get pretty quick extreme pain, followed by pretty quick resolution of symptoms and go back and forth in this cycle. This kind of laxity could come from a "loose" shoulder from a past history of shoulder dislocations. It could be congenital - some people just have extra laxity in their joints (google "beighton laxity test". The biceps tendon could be subluxing due to damage to the transverse humeral ligament. These are some of the more common ones.

1. Realize that your MRI results are a static look at the structures of your shoulder. It tells you very little about what is happening dynamically - with movement. It only tells you about the state of your tissues at that exact moment. Lots of limitations when it comes to imaging and pain.

2. The external rotation exercises may be helping to center the joint and put your structures and tissues into more optimal position. A very significant role of the rotator cuff muscles is to depress the humeral head in the socket during motion which reduces subacromial impingement of the supraspinatus muscle. The teres minor and infraspinatus (2 of your 4 RC muscles) are strengthened with the external rotation exercises.

Hope that helps.