Long time reader, 1st time poster and training for ages. this is the first time i’ve had this type of shoulder pain and i need diagnosis help please!!!
all pain is in regards to my left shoulder
when bar bell shoulder pressing i have no pain until i get the bar below my chin. incline bench pressing isn’t really a problem either. however, when close grip benching with an ez bar there is a massive amount of pain regardless of how much weight is on the bar.
when my arms are hanging against my sides, relaxed, and then raised as i would doing a front raise there is a little pain but reaching across my shoulder to touch the front of my other shoulder causes an unbearable amount of pain. when trying to reach the side or rear of my opposite shoulder its even worse. Upright rows are impossible (never was a big fan of them anyways so no loss).
when bringing my arm out to the side as with a lateral raise there is really only pain in the initial movement and at the very top.
it also feels like since the pain began that the left side of my upper back feels “loose”. especially in close to the spine.
Thanks alot in advance.
JJ
my posture is the best. my shoulder are rolled forward and i slouch alot when sitting especially when studying.
the pain in my shoulder is sort of just behind my anterior deltoid and sort of inside my shoulder.
i’ve been doing some foam roller work and a few pushups as per advice in articles on t-muscle.
cheers
If the pain is in the posterior shoulder at that area, it could be several things. Could just be a posterior rotator cuff strain or posterior deltoid strain. Could be significant of something more severe (SLAP pathology, scapular dysfunction, etc).
Okay thanks, yeah just been doing band pull aparts, rotator extensions, scapula push ups, foam rolling and using tennis balls for like myofascial release in the area. Icing it when i can, see how it goes i guess
If there wasn’t trauma or some kind of structural damage done, it sounds like good ol’ fashion tendinitis. You may also have an impingement. Stay away from what hurts, every time you reaggravate you start over fixing it…Ice the shit out of it. Stay away from close grip bench, dips, or any other combo movement that’s anterior deltoid dominant. Try military press for now until this heals. Advil and ice…
Levelheaded, the pain is more at point 1.
i can’t really say as the pain isn’t as acute at the moment. i’m sure i’ll feel it tomorrow morning.
its getting better slowly because i’m trying to sleep on my back and on my right side.
i also forgot to mention that when i do a rotator cuff extension with my elbow against my side with my arm perpendicular to my body and rotate out i can barely hold the weight in that position let alone rotate out.
however, when lifting my arms to shoulder height with my upper arms parallel to the ground and rotating my arms forwards there is not as much pain until i get to below shoulder height and then i feel pain in my anterior about mid way between points 1 and 2.
i’ll report after tomorrows session which is shoulders. last week i omitted lateral raises, upright rows and reverse flyes from my workout. see how i go tomorrow…
level headed, i just reread your last post to diluted 56 regarding scapular dysfunction and its got me a little paranoid about my pain.
there is a little stiffness in my neck from my trap to about my jaw line and stiffness about the top right quadrant of the left side of my back around the top right of my shoulder blade. like a pinched nerve. wish i could explain it better.
johnsonjnr,
If the pain is where the 1 arrow is pointing, it may be an AC Joint irritation. Do you recall falling on that shoulder at all or any mechanism that started the discomfort/pain? Also, some of your symptoms you’ve described mimic an AC Joint irritation, but without being able to see it and examine it, I can’t give you a definite answer.
You may also have some muscular/tendon pathology accompanying the AC Joint issue or it may just be a muscular/tendon pathology. Try this - hold your left arm out in front of you like you did a front raise. Have your palm facing up and flex the elbow to about 45 degrees. Now with your other arm (or somebody else can do it to you), try to extend the left elbow and shoulder at the same time while you try to keep your left shoulder and elbow flexed. If that causes a lot of pain, you probably have a biceps tendinopathy. You may also have some mild impingement, but it is hard to separate the symptoms of an AC joint issue, biceps tendinopathy, and impingement since they are all so similar.
In terms of scapular dysfunction, all that means is that it isn’t tracking properly and isn’t stabilizing as it should. The " left side of my upper back feels “loose”. especially in close to the spine." quote from your first post made me immediately think that your scapula is winging and causing that “loose” feeling. If the scap is winging (which means it isn’t stabilizing and tracking properly), it can lead to shoulder pain and issues because now the glenohumeral joint won’t be in the optimal position. Also, due to the scap, the upper and middle back muscles can be on spasm or oveerworking to try to maintain some kind of stability and that may be causing your upper trap pain.
Levelheaded,
Thank you so much for your reply. its been relieving and really helpful. i’ve just come home after a shoulder workout and was able to complete everything with relatively no pain. but i am unable to answer the first part of your response regarding current AC joint pain but will do so tomorrow.
i remember falling over last sunday but i caught myself on my hands. i did have the shoulder pain i have now before the fall but did not have the scapular discomfort.
based on your response above i now feel that your diagnosis of scapular disfunction coupled with AC joint irritation is bang on. i did the test for biceps tendinopathy and it caused only very minimal discomfort but that could be from my shoulder workout.
i read the article from the link you posted and was really taken by the correct way to do a push up, face pull variations and the scapulation with a shrug. i’m going to add them in and see how the pain goes. how many reps/sets do you recommend and how often a week should i be doing these exercises.
Do you have any other exercises that i should be doing or anything at all else?
thanks again
You don’t have to go overkill with the sets/reps. Just add in the exercises as normal accessory movements to your lifting routine. The article lists the best starting point exercises to start with. Robertson does a great job of explaining the technique breakdown. No need to get all fancy and try to add too much too soon.
Only recommendations I have are to avoid those exercises that really hurt. You said close grip BB Bench bothered you, so avoid that. Probably safe to assume dips will irritate it as well. Upright rows should probably get dropped too. Not a big fan of the exercises due to the stress/load it places on the shoulder while being moved into a position of internal rotation. But that is just my opinion.;
