I have been lifting for approximately 10 years and have been having a lot of shoulder and elbow pain for the past year. The shoulder started a year ago and the elbow about 6 months after that. I recently got an MRI on both the shoulder and elbow which stated I have rotator tendinopathy in my right shoulder and absolutely nothing wrong with my elbow.
My doctor showed me the MRI and pointed to some fraying in the rotator which he stated he could clean up with a minor arthroscopic procedure.
My question is really regarding the elbow. The shoulder pain is manageable and really isn’t a huge deal currently. The elbow however causes me pain every day, and is severe after a training session. I have tried taking a month off and addressing it like you would tendonitis but it has only gotten worse. With a negative MRI I am pretty much lost as to why it is causing me so much pain.
I have tried to research but can’t find anything that says the shoulder tendonopathy will eventually radiate to the elbow. My fear is that I go through with the shoulder surgery, all the rehab and time out of the gym, only to still have an elbow issue. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on where to go from here? Could the shoulder have caused the elbow pain? Thanks a lot!
[quote]JeffMerr wrote:
I have been lifting for approximately 10 years and have been having a lot of shoulder and elbow pain for the past year. The shoulder started a year ago and the elbow about 6 months after that. I recently got an MRI on both the shoulder and elbow which stated I have rotator tendinopathy in my right shoulder and absolutely nothing wrong with my elbow.
My doctor showed me the MRI and pointed to some fraying in the rotator which he stated he could clean up with a minor arthroscopic procedure.
My question is really regarding the elbow. The shoulder pain is manageable and really isn’t a huge deal currently. The elbow however causes me pain every day, and is severe after a training session. I have tried taking a month off and addressing it like you would tendonitis but it has only gotten worse. With a negative MRI I am pretty much lost as to why it is causing me so much pain.
I have tried to research but can’t find anything that says the shoulder tendonopathy will eventually radiate to the elbow. My fear is that I go through with the shoulder surgery, all the rehab and time out of the gym, only to still have an elbow issue. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on where to go from here? Could the shoulder have caused the elbow pain? Thanks a lot![/quote]
did you try conservative care?
If the shoulder pain is manageable why are you considering surgery?
The elbow sounds like a tendonopathy, painfree ecentrics with some more aggressive stretching and grastoning would be a general approach. Spend a few bucks and get a one n done at a PT clinic to get some tips
I’ve received about 8 sessions of graston and 2 sessions of ART, both on the shoulder and elbow. I’ve done a ton of soft tissue at home with a tiger tail, trigger point tools etc., but none of it has helped the issues.
The reason I was considering the surgery even though the pain is somewhat manageable is because my doctor explained to me that it really isn’t going to get better and that eventually I will need surgery regardless to clean out the frayed tissue, he basically said when it comes time that the pain is no longer manageable, then I will have no choice.
On top of that, I’ve had to cut out quite a bit of movements which aggravate it so I feel like I’m pretty limited in the gym at this point with the current state of my shoulder.
As far as the elbow, I’ve heard about eccentric training for tendinopathy but haven’t really been able to locate any good articles or tutorials on what to do for the elbow. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for the response.
Sounds like your shoulder pain is forcing you to use positions that strain your elbow? You never really said where the pain is, if it causes tingling, etc. Any point in your elbow ROM particularly painful? Get any better with varying degrees of wrist supination/pronation?
Also, remember there’s no problem surgery cant make worse. Attempt to make adjustments with your arm positioning to save your shoulders - overhead press with shoulder flexion rather than abduction etc.
Sounds like your shoulder pain is forcing you to use positions that strain your elbow? You never really said where the pain is, if it causes tingling, etc. Any point in your elbow ROM particularly painful? Get any better with varying degrees of wrist supination/pronation?
Also, remember there’s no problem surgery cant make worse. Attempt to make adjustments with your arm positioning to save your shoulders - overhead press with shoulder flexion rather than abduction etc.
[quote]000 wrote:
Sounds like your shoulder pain is forcing you to use positions that strain your elbow? You never really said where the pain is, if it causes tingling, etc. Any point in your elbow ROM particularly painful? Get any better with varying degrees of wrist supination/pronation?
Also, remember there’s no problem surgery cant make worse. Attempt to make adjustments with your arm positioning to save your shoulders - overhead press with shoulder flexion rather than abduction etc.[/quote]
The pain is definitely posterior on the elbow and pretty much radiates from the ulnar collateral ligament area. My ROM is normal and doesn’t cause any pain. I feel it most on my pushing exercises. I stopped all elbow flexion/extension exercises a long time ago when I first felt the elbow pain.
As far as my shoulder, I’ve ceased all overhead pushing movements all together. I feel like years of heavy push press could be somewhat to blame for the frayed tissue and current state of my injury.