About the middle of November last year, I started getting soreness in my left shoulder that got worse and worse over the next few workouts, until it came to the point that I couldn’t work out. So I sought therapy (I’m in Korea by the way, which is why I need help).
First, I went to the hospital and saw an ortho. He sent me for physio which didn’t help.
Then I went to an American trained chiro who also does Graston technique. I went to him for double the amount of treatments that he said most people need. Still no improvement.
Then I went to an oriental clinic. The doctor there treated me with accupunture. (By the way, he and the chiro both said the problem was with the subscap.) It wasn’t a great experience getting a 6 inch needle buried in your armpit!!! Anyways, that helped but after I got back to lifting, the pain came back. Which brings me to today…
The best way I could describe the pain is like a pinching in my shoulder, especially during pressing motions impingment syndrome??)
But the weird part is that when I work out, even if I feel no pain, or when I play hockey, my left trap tenses up very bad and stays tense into the next day. Any ideas of what this might be and how to sort it out? I’m getting very near my wit’s end with this injury. Help!!!
You could have an impingement in the shoulder capsule itself or your rotator cuff muscles may be the culprit. If you can find a physical therapist out there I would suggest you see one. It’s almost impossible to diagnose these thing based on a description. You need to have someone who knows exercise physiology look you over in person.
Of course it never hurts to work on balancing out your muscle groups. My shoulders have been mostly pain free since I started doing as much pulling as pushing. Many times the pain is caused simply by stabilizer muscle imbalances.
Try doing “dislocates” with a broomstick, closet rod etc.
Many times this helps when performed 20-30 reps per day (maybe 2-3 sets of 10 reps.)
Also, some shoulder pain stems from the traps (trapped nerve). Look into getting myofacial release or VERY painful massage for the upper and middle traps.
Thanks a lot Bushy, a nice, helpful-as-always answer. I swear you’re one of the most gentlemanly people on this site.
(now that the ass-kissing is over)
To reply to a couple of your comments…
I wanted to go to a different chiro but in Korea, beggars can’t be choosers so to speak. I was lucky to find one, nevermind finding another!
I finally got in to see a doc at an international clinic here. He did the usualy battery of tests but then actually identified the problem as fairly bad tendonitis. So I’m now on NSAIDS and he said he’ll re-evaluate next week. Here’s for crossig my fingers.
I’m actually considering a little ‘assistance’ for strengthening the rotator cuffs quickly. Nothing too crazy, just a little var or T-bol. Any thoughts on that?