Help Identifying a Shoulder Problem


I’ve had a pain in the back of my shoulder for about two years now that goes away occasionally but returns like it never left. All pushing motions are painful and so are random everyday arm movements. Pulling movements are completely painless. I would describe it as a sharp very specific almost burning pain that hurts on both the positive and negative parts to a lift.

I’ve taken about a 7 month lay off from lifting all together not by choice of course but dident take two weeks for the pain to come back once i started up again. As of right now im taking 800mg ibuprofen 4 times a day, stretching it out, hot cold showers on the shoulder itself, shoulder ice pack 2 twice a day unless I lift then also right after.

I try to keep my whole routine to try not to have too many imbalances but i used to push alot more then pull but Ive changed that the last 3 4 months or so ill add a pic. thats the range and the middle finger is where the pain is at its sharpest. If anybody could help me I would be beyond grateful im at a desperate moment all my pulls and squatting have been constantly going up but its a grind not to lose too much when it comes to pushing.

I feel like im almost getting ready to do my swan song when it comes to lifting if I cant fix this soon.

Anything could anybody at least point me in a general direction I’ve tried doing my own research and can’t find anything thats exactly what I’m experiencing.

Have you done any tissue work yet? If you have some nasty trigger points it wouldn’t be surprising that time off, stretching, and icing aren’t fixing it. I didn’t see ART, self massage with a lacrosse ball, daily thera cane work, or anything like that. No swan song until you explore that possibility.

I once had debilitating pain in wrists and elbows from rock climbing. Eventually I couldn’t do chins, and then all heavy gripping was done for. Took a 6 mo break, and had pain within 10 minutes of my first light climbing session.

Fixed it completely with a tennis ball. True story. Worth looking into.

Well I’m definitely going to get a lacrosse and tennis ball in the morning and see if I can work something out like that. I’m looking on random sites and youtube on how to find the trigger points and I’m seeing them on pictures but I’m having a hard time finding them on myself any advise on how to feel one out? Thanks a lot I appreciate what you’ve told me.

Well trigger points often are tough to find, as usually where it hurts isn’t where the problem is stemming from. Pain in front of the shoulder often comes from the infraspinatus in the back of the shoulder for example. However, since you included that picture pointing to where you hurt (good idea) it looks like the pain is in your posterior deltoid.

Often when it comes to the delts, both the site of pain and the source of the pain are in the same spot. Trigger points are most often in the middle of the muscle belly, and your middle finger is sitting right there and that’s where you get the most pain so it seems reasonable to start by just rolling that spot where your mid finger is, trying to locate the most tender spot in that small area. I’d recommend rolling it steadily with enough pressure to be a 7/10 or so on the pain scale. If you are tensing up and can’t relax the muscle, go a little lighter. You’re looking for as much pressure as you can handle without needing to tense the muscle in defense. Won’t be much.

Roll it for about 30 seconds or so and then stop. Repeat up to a dozen times a day. You might be tempted to just start digging in there to fix it as soon as possible, but you will likely make it worse that way.

Healthy muscles never hurt, so if that spot feels pretty heinous there’s a good chance it’s contributing to the issue. I sincerely hope this helps a bit.

I’ll start that in the morning I’ll do that for a week or so and get back to you and let you know how it turned out. Thanks again I hope this works so I can get back to doing pushing exercises.

Sounds good mate. Definitely let me know how it goes, whether it helps or does nothing. There are other possibilities, but I gave you the most likely from my experience. Other avenues to explore if that doesn’t work.

Ok I don`t have scans MRI s etc of your shoulder BUT given the nature of the symptoms you are giving me I thinkk you must be suffering from subacromial impingement which is extremely common in people who weight train and this again fits in with how you are pain free with pulling exercises and have problems with pushing, The reason this symptoms description is so typical in these cases is due to the fact that on pressing subjects with impingement get the pain because theres no room for the rotator cuff tendons due to already present inflammation and hence impingement occurs.

How to deal with it? 1-Ant inflammatory and ice 4 times a day 10 mins a time. Once you feel less problematic with daily activities then you MUST carry on with the pulling exercises because thats part of the rehab.However you also need to undergo specific shoulder rehabilitation inorder to strengthen the rotator cuff and scapular stabilisers who wouldve been aslepp due to the inflammation and inactivity and until theyre weak you will be in pain , so go on you tube and put in MLG rotator cuff , you do need a band for the exercises, I finf the cuban press idela once the pain has subisded so google that too. AFter a period of strengthening you should be fine as the cuffs and scap stabilisers will stabilise effectively and avoid the overwoekin gof the rotators whihc got you here in the very first place. Soory for the lecture , I hope it helps, let me know if you have any queries

Hey thanks and no need to be sorry for a lecture its only helping me. One thing I am wondering is when it would be the ideal time to do the rehab work as of right now ill just throw it in once or twice a day randomly spread apart and before my workouts which right now are only legs and pulls. Would you happen to have a better way of going about it?

What u do is this up do shoulder rehaab work 4days a wk. Lots of band work for rotator cuff as well as cuban press etc.u need a spefic course,of induction on the program so go and see a good physio.as for the pull workouts great continue but also incorporate some isometric holds with wide grip seated rows as these build up the scapular stability and funxtion.this cnt be explained I short as such so u must research as well.In shoulder rehabilitation the integral principle of the strength. Stability. Aspects is Tuvw this ewfes to positions your shoulder. Must function. Without excess laxity in which is achieved. Through acquiring. The muscular and neural control thru the aforementioned rehab.send me a private email with any specific queries and I happy to help,

Thanks guys ! I read this thread yesterday and today something clicked in my mind. It is real close to my personal story so i will try the suggested solutions. In my mind i had a tendonitis to my right dominant shoulder and even rest gym was not sufficiant because i eat, shower, wash my hair etc… Even a spoon of soup can generate pain.

I used a belt to strap my right arm to my torso to avoid using it and asked a pharmacist how much glucosamine i could take for a few weeks since a search said it was helpfull for tendonitis. He told me rest would cure it in 2-3 weeks 4 weeks ago. In a way my rotator cuff stopped hurting but it also hurts from defensively pressing my arm against my torso. Sometimes i guessed the pain came from sleeping on it so i really try to avoid that.

EDIT: it might be the middle of my shoulder. My guess is because i learned to train borrowing books from librairies, i did press behind the neck too low like flat bench press and dips. Also the upright rows i was doing wrong.

[quote]BHappy wrote:
Thanks guys ! I read this thread yesterday and today something clicked in my mind. It is real close to my personal story so i will try the suggested solutions. In my mind i had a tendonitis to my right dominant shoulder and even rest gym was not sufficiant because i eat, shower, wash my hair etc… Even a spoon of soup can generate pain.

I used a belt to strap my right arm to my torso to avoid using it and asked a pharmacist how much glucosamine i could take for a few weeks since a search said it was helpfull for tendonitis. He told me rest would cure it in 2-3 weeks 4 weeks ago. In a way my rotator cuff stopped hurting but it also hurts from defensively pressing my arm against my torso. Sometimes i guessed the pain came from sleeping on it so i really try to avoid that.

EDIT: it might be the middle of my shoulder. My guess is because i learned to train borrowing books from librairies, i did press behind the neck too low like flat bench press and dips. Also the upright rows i was doing wrong.[/quote]

Fish oil?

I’d try 6g/day for a few weeks and see how that treats you.

I take about 2 Gr and generally avoid inflammatory foods. I will up it.