According to my mri results, im suffering type 1 impingement on supraspinatus tendon. The doctor told me its not a serious case but i should rest my shoulder. Ok, im resting my shoulder for a month and a half but i have lost a lot of gains. I still have constant pain on my shoulder and forcing it a little makes it worse. Should i endure the pain and do some light stuff? external and internal rotations makes ease but what else can i do? I have no access to physio here, im on some charity work, so any help will be appreciated. Thank you
The doctor told you just to rest it and nothing else? He is either a bad doctor or he was really busy. You need to do exercises to fix the underlying cause.
Also, there shouldn’t have been the need to do an expensive MRI just for that–impingement is easily diagnosed with a combination of special tests. I hope he didn’t make you pay for it.
Here is a decent site with exercises for rehabing shoulder impingement (even if they spelled it incorrectly in the title). The main exercises you should be focusing on are external and internal rotation. You should also work on the muscles controlling your scapula, mainly exercises that pull your shoulder blades down and back. The stretching exercises may not be that important if your shoulders already have normal flexibility.
You would be surprised at how many sites with bad info there are out there–I had to sift through a lot of terrible advice before I found the link above.
[quote]smallmike wrote:
The doctor told you just to rest it and nothing else? He is either a bad doctor or he was really busy. You need to do exercises to fix the underlying cause.
Also, there shouldn’t have been the need to do an expensive MRI just for that–impingement is easily diagnosed with a combination of special tests. I hope he didn’t make you pay for it.
Here is a decent site with exercises for rehabing shoulder impingement (even if they spelled it incorrectly in the title). The main exercises you should be focusing on are external and internal rotation. You should also work on the muscles controlling your scapula, mainly exercises that pull your shoulder blades down and back. The stretching exercises may not be that important if your shoulders already have normal flexibility.
You would be surprised at how many sites with bad info there are out there–I had to sift through a lot of terrible advice before I found the link above.[/quote]
Thank you quite really much. He wasnt a good one indeed, just asked me what the matter was and wanted xray. It was ok and then he wanted mri. When i showed the results he said it wasnt that bad. Thats all
I once came into this website and liked it real much but havent been able to see it again. Thank you again, i looked for a rep button but couldnt see it.
If the stretching makes it feel that way, stop stretching and let it heal for awhile. The stretching shouldn’t hurt. Does resisted external rotation or resisted internal rotation hurt?
[quote]smallmike wrote:
If the stretching makes it feel that way, stop stretching and let it heal for awhile. The stretching shouldn’t hurt. Does resisted external rotation or resisted internal rotation hurt?[/quote]
Yes, they do. In fact it doesnt hurt while doing the exercises but after a while the burning feeling starts.
If the burning feeling is just the feeling a muscle gets after you do a lot of repetitions it is fine, but if it feels like you are hurting something, then you probably need more rest. Progress slowly with the stretches and exercises.
MRI is always the best choice for shoulder pain… Many torn tendons have been diagnosed as impingement without an MRI… FYI. And you don’t want to leave a tear unfixed if you plan on lifting for a long time… Impingement could simply be from doing an excerise that doesn’t sit well for your shoulder type…
When it happens your tendon usually supraspinatis becomes inflammed and swells so the space that you used to have(for the tendon to move in) prior to injury is even lessened… You need to do two things get the inflammation down and refrain from exercises that cause problems… My guess is poor form on a flat bench … Usually the culprit… Or overhead presses. If you continue to inflame this tendon over time it will get worse and weakened and you will end up tearing.
Figure out why you’re impinging and fix it… Look up the shoulder saver articles in here and strengthen up your imbalances. Don’t just go back and do what you have always done hoping it will fix itself… You don’t want to know what a torn rotator feels like.
MRI is always the best choice for shoulder pain… Many torn tendons have been diagnosed as impingement without an MRI… FYI. And you don’t want to leave a tear unfixed if you plan on lifting for a long time… Impingement could simply be from doing an excerise that doesn’t sit well for your shoulder type… When it happens your tendon usually supraspinatis becomes inflammed and swells so the space that you used to have(for the tendon to move in) prior to injury is even lessened… You need to do two things get the inflammation down and refrain from exercises that cause problems… My guess is poor form on a flat bench … Usually the culprit… Or overhead presses. If you continue to inflame this tendon over time it will get worse and weakened and you will end up tearing. Figure out why you’re impinging and fix it… Look up the shoulder saver articles in here and strengthen up your imbalances. Don’t just go back and do what you have always done hoping it will fix itself… You don’t want to know what a torn rotator feels like.
I’m going to disagree with you about the MRI thing. I can usually figure out if someone has simple impingement, a partial tear, or a full thickness rotator cuff tear without an MRI.
[quote]smallmike wrote:
I’m going to disagree with you about the MRI thing. I can usually figure out if someone has simple impingement, a partial tear, or a full thickness rotator cuff tear without an MRI.
[/quote]
And I’ll disagree with you on this.
I went to two orthopedic surgeons who diagnosed a rotator cuff strain. No tear. MRI/surgery later revealed a full-thickness tear and total detachment from the bone.
That isn’t really disagreeing, that is just giving one instance where an MRI would have been preferable. But as the article suggests, MRIs are overprescribed and oftentimes not needed. In the OP’s case I would think an MRI should have been unnecessary since it was only a grade 1 impingement.
[quote]smallmike wrote:
If the burning feeling is just the feeling a muscle gets after you do a lot of repetitions it is fine, but if it feels like you are hurting something, then you probably need more rest. Progress slowly with the stretches and exercises.[/quote]
I need to progress slowly and be patient. I guess I didnt rest enough between exercises or overdo them. It feels better today but worrying about it doesnt feel good at all.
[quote]Swolle wrote:
MRI is always the best choice for shoulder pain… Many torn tendons have been diagnosed as impingement without an MRI… FYI. And you don’t want to leave a tear unfixed if you plan on lifting for a long time… Impingement could simply be from doing an excerise that doesn’t sit well for your shoulder type…
When it happens your tendon usually supraspinatis becomes inflammed and swells so the space that you used to have(for the tendon to move in) prior to injury is even lessened… You need to do two things get the inflammation down and refrain from exercises that cause problems… My guess is poor form on a flat bench … Usually the culprit… Or overhead presses. If you continue to inflame this tendon over time it will get worse and weakened and you will end up tearing.
Figure out why you’re impinging and fix it… Look up the shoulder saver articles in here and strengthen up your imbalances. Don’t just go back and do what you have always done hoping it will fix itself… You don’t want to know what a torn rotator feels like. [/quote]
I am not against mri. I complain about the doctor’s behaviours. They dont seem to care and give details about it.
Yeah it happened during incline bench press. It wasnt so bad at first. I felt pain on my front delts during chest workout, i didnt stop. Then next day i had this shoulder pain. I gave it a week off then did a shoulder workout. Next day I had a little pain. But in the afternoon, these kids were playing basketball and the ball came towards me. I caught it in the air and threw it with my right hand. After that this sharp pain started and havent been well yet.
I know I have muscle imbalances. I had been trying to balance my rear delts with front delts before the injury but I seem to be a little late. I will be a lot more cautious any more but it quite really worries me as i am very used to working out, cant feel well without training hard.
The test have the potential for a false negative. I have a complete supraspinatus tear thats retracted 4-5cm. Additionally I have a partial tear in the infraspintus and my bicep tedon is split. I have had shoulder issues for years off and on… I also have arthritis in my GH joint. I am good freinds with an ortho. The tests are not without fault. I fail only one test for the bicep tendon. In fact I still train fairly heavy in many planes minus flat pressing. I am having surgery soon. Many people with developed deltoid muscles can compensate and pass the tests… MRI is always the definative test. In most cases it is worth it.
Hey, it’s been 3 months now. I have been resting my shoulders but still no improvements. I have been to several doctors but what thay say is just to rest again. I have lost 25 pounds of muscle and really depressed. Please give me some more advice.
Have you considered seeing a surgeon? They can do a subacromial decompression… And remove a portion of
The acromium process which is what your supra impinges on… It’s a 4 week turn around after surgery. So look up Shoulder savers articles on here… There are three of them… Read them all first. Lots of good exercises in there to help alleviate impingement through strengthening the muscles that hold the Scapula down and out of the way so the ac process is pulled out of the way and gives you more space…
[quote]Swolle wrote:
Have you considered seeing a surgeon? They can do a subacromial decompression… And remove a portion of
The acromium process which is what your supra impinges on… It’s a 4 week turn around after surgery. So look up Shoulder savers articles on here… There are three of them… Read them all first. Lots of good exercises in there to help alleviate impingement through strengthening the muscles that hold the Scapula down and out of the way so the ac process is pulled out of the way and gives you more space… [/quote]
Right, but while doing stretching or strengthening exercises it hurts. Is it normal?
