Diagnosed with Secondary Impingement

Bigger Stronger Leaner Injuries and Rehab
1

Hello all:

About 6 months ago I suffered a shoulder injury when I was avoiding someone too close to the incline bench I was on. With the substantial weight I felt a slight pain in my right shoulder, anterior. I did not think much of it since I was able to work it out.

Since then however my shoulder pain has been increasing to the point I cannot do seated shoulder presses with DBs, nowhere near my usual weight. BB standing shoulder press is also not possible, and I cannot externally rotate my right shoulder all that much.

I have been to the chiro twice & she has treated me with acupuncture and some ART, diagnosed me with secondary impingement.

Her advice is to avoid doing any bar exercises. Great…

Anyone else on here work their way through secondary impingement to get back to their almost same lift poundages? I know I have a long road ahead but the kicker is that I started a new job (no sick days, sadly) so I am a little leery about taking a day off for now.

Luckily in my severance I have some insurance coverage left over I need to use up so I can see the chiro maybe in a month or so.

Are there any exercises you guys/ladies are doing to get your shoulder back up to par along with ART or chiro treatments?

** It’s weird but I can do DB bench, incline & flat, pushups, DL like normal, BUT anything overhead DB wise & my shoulder either gives out or performs way less than optimal.

Any advice or treatment/exercise links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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Read the shoulder saver’s article on here. BB pressing gives you less “wiggle room” and with db’s u can adjust arm/hand position to a more neutral/comfortable grip. If something hurts (and im assuming u can tell good vs bad pain) dont do it. U probably are impinging ur supraspinatus tendon and you dont want a rotator cuff tear. Do face pull/s direct r/c work/ drop all overhead activities/behind neck variations.

Best of luck

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Along with those TX (hope the chiro is adjusting the whole shoulder girdle), I’ve used kettlebells with great success. A lot of overhead movements to build stability has helped immensely. Swings, single-arm presses, overhead lunges/squats, windmills, clean and press, snatch. These all help, but you must have good form. The payoff is well worth it.