T Nation

SC Dislocation/Sprain Help!

#1

I was at the gym yesterday and during the bench press (raw) I felt something tore in my upper chest. I had a spotter there and he pulled the weight off me. I was only up to 315 for a set of 3 which isn't quite my max but definitely just felt my chest give way. Went to ER and the SC joint (sternoclavicular) was still in place with no obvious dislocation.

Went to my Chiropractor who works with sport injuries and he said I was looking at an SC joint sprain. I was curious if anyone else has had a similar injury and how long it took to get back to 100%. It was kind of an odd injury since my form was pretty good and no unusual groove to the lift. I have added alot of volume to my workouts which might have been the cause. Any advice or words of wisdom?

#2

I’ve done it to both of mine now. I did it to the left one while doing incline press years ago. I just did it to the right one while squatting (yes, squatting) this past winter.

The first one healed pretty quickly. This second time I didn’t bother to get it looked at but it is still bothering me at times.

The only thing I can tell you is to take it easy and let it heal. Both times I did it I was actually able to do flat bench with up to ~80% of my max without any problem. It is mostly overhead and incline work that hurts the most for me. I’m still having trouble back squatting heavy weights, but oddly enough front squat doesn’t hurt at all.
Just find out what exercises you can do pain free and work around it until it is completely healed.

#3

Thanks for the advice. I thought it was unusual for it to blow out during bench so to hear you hurting it during squatting is remarkable. Well, its only been 24 hours and it still hurts just to bring my arms up but hopefully I can get to the gym in a couple weeks. Thanks again.