Weird Physiotherapy, at the same time emotional angst
Hi, name’s Chris. It’s my first post on this website, but I’ve been a T-Nation reader since early February.
Cutting to the chase, right now i’m suffering from impingement syndrome in both shoulders that prevents almost all back work and all pushing motions with the upper body.
Physio says i’ve got tight upper trap and scalene muscles, weak lower traps and poor functioning serratus and weak rhomboids on my right. (and scapular winging.) and too much scapular retraction which to me this condition must be almost unheard of…
Funniest part of this is that I’m only 14 and started working out seriously about November '11 but I was just doing pushups and stuff beginning of that year, and this problem only came up after almost half a year.
I’ve been prescribed the usual prone Ys and stretches for the tight upper back muscles and some scapular protraction and internal rotation work.
and strangely bench dips as well, which I threw completely out of the window once i read the hidden shoulder killers article.
Right now, I’m just hoping to recover as fast as possible. Any of you suffered from a similar problem? If so, what did you do to get rid of it? and have you ever heard of such a weird combination- too much retraction and scapular winging and impingement and upper trap dominance at the same time plus right rhomboid weakness wow that’s long.
Thanks in advance to all that help, would really appreciate it. sorry for the long post I’m long winded and well it is my first post so yeah.
just realized i didn’t cover what i even wrote in the first sentence.
anyways to lengthen my post even more here goes.
the weird physiotherapy is basically the recommendation of the dips which i mentioned, and also a sustained front raise for 10 seconds with light weight to supposedly work the long/short head of the bicep as it flexes the shoulder?(i know the function part of flexing the shoulder but which head i think it’s the long one?)
and the emotional angst isn’t necessary enough for me to rant on it, just the usual idiots in school who shoot their mouths off when they see you lose your gains due to injury.
To be honest, I couldn’t say, especially over the internet. I wouldn’t suggest going against your PT’s advice due to reading an article targeted to a broad audience, rather than your specific case. I would get a second opinion if you are unsure. The combination of symptoms the PT is seeing are certainly possible. Mention your concern about dips to your PT, doc, etc. They are not necessarily a bad exercise even for individuals with scapular winging. It depends.
I would also suggest getting your spine checked out. Issues at the lower back and pelvis can sometimes be the source of some of the symptoms you have (or not, it depends). Don’t worry about what kids at school say. You have years to get strong and fix things up and hurrying an issue will only lead to not reaching peak strength as an adult.
[quote]natrondaninja wrote:
To be honest, I couldn’t say, especially over the internet. I wouldn’t suggest going against your PT’s advice due to reading an article targeted to a broad audience, rather than your specific case. I would get a second opinion if you are unsure. The combination of symptoms the PT is seeing are certainly possible. Mention your concern about dips to your PT, doc, etc. They are not necessarily a bad exercise even for individuals with scapular winging. It depends.
I would also suggest getting your spine checked out. Issues at the lower back and pelvis can sometimes be the source of some of the symptoms you have (or not, it depends). Don’t worry about what kids at school say. You have years to get strong and fix things up and hurrying an issue will only lead to not reaching peak strength as an adult.[/quote]
this is about the best advice u can get over the internet for such a specific problem. also just keep reading and see if u can pick up tidbits of info from other sources that may help certain sections of ur problems.
Hi, thanks for the advice. I’m getting it checked up by another PT next week.
Ill tell ya this I suffer from impingement syndrome too (if I tried to stick my arms straight up in the air over my heads my ROM was severely limited, and it hurt like a mofo)
Things like gelling my hair even hurts a bit simply from elevating my shoulders.
Couple months of PT combined with really focusing on my shoulders in the gym really helped a bit.
I wouldnt say my shoulders are perfect (they still suck), but you can definitely notice a massive improvement in just a few months.
Im in my 20s, so id imagine that a younger age youd be able to do even more.
Of course there are totally different levels of effed up your shoulders can be as well
Hi Chris, I’ve had intermittent shoulder problems for the last half decade (starting when I was 16, so not that much older than you are now). I would give you 2 pieces of advice:
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Physical therapists will give you all sorts of complicated advice. The takeaway is really just to train your muscle groups in a balanced way. Don’t bother getting bogged down in all the details. I read a lot of exercise science stuff, am studying for the CSCS exam, and still don’t really understand the full anatomical details.
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Find something else to do while your shoulder recovers. You sound like a pretty competitive/driven person from your previous posts. I’m guessing it’s pretty hard to just let your shoulder alone. If you don’t find something else, then you’ll probably find yourself itching to get back into your old exercises, playing mind games with yourself on why a few more pushups can’t hurt, and then delaying your recovery.
Let me know how it goes!