T Nation

Shoulder/Cuff Pain

Injuries and Rehab
#1

I’ve had a pain in my shoulder for about 2-3 months now that really restricts my movement. I’m a competitive strongman, and when I do my overhead presses from the front I feel no pain whatsoever. However, it seems like every other movement kills me. If I’m doing circus dumbbell training I can hardly get the db to leave my shoulder even with light weight.

It hurts just to move it sometimes when I’m not even working with weights. Its like a bad catch that I can’t get to pop, and the pain is slowly but progressively getting worse. More on the outside to the rear of my shoulder, its a really sharp pain when I raise my shoulder to do anything whatsoever.

Again, it doesn’t effect my barbell, log, or axle pressing as I’m hitting PR’s on a weekly basis right now. Anybody have any suggestions on therapy movements to help alleviate the problem? Pain pills ease it a little, but don’t really seem to help.

#2

It could be a torn labrum. That’s what I have, and what you describe is very familiar. don’t flat barbell bench, avoid dips and declines…do more rear delt and overall back work. overhead pressing is now your friend.

#3

[quote]primaliron43 wrote:
I’ve had a pain in my shoulder for about 2-3 months now that really restricts my movement. I’m a competitive strongman, and when I do my overhead presses from the front I feel no pain whatsoever. However, it seems like every other movement kills me. If I’m doing circus dumbbell training I can hardly get the db to leave my shoulder even with light weight.

It hurts just to move it sometimes when I’m not even working with weights. Its like a bad catch that I can’t get to pop, and the pain is slowly but progressively getting worse. More on the outside to the rear of my shoulder, its a really sharp pain when I raise my shoulder to do anything whatsoever.

Again, it doesn’t effect my barbell, log, or axle pressing as I’m hitting PR’s on a weekly basis right now. Anybody have any suggestions on therapy movements to help alleviate the problem? Pain pills ease it a little, but don’t really seem to help. [/quote]

Catching and popping with pain in the back sounds like a SLAP type labrum lesion. You can try some cuff and stabilization exercises but it will be tough to compete in strong man competitions without getting it fixed (surgically).

#4

Some times this can be restriction from the labrum. Sounds like your training with heavy weight, and often times heavy compounds can result in the shoulder becoming impinged or restricted.

I personally have had this issue and found taking a tennis ball and wedging it between the back of my shoulder and the wall, and then using it to work/massage the labrum can often imrove or fix things. In my situation it felt like the shoulder wasnt “tracking” properly within the joint, and by working the labrum allowed things to get back to moving properly.

#5

thanks a lot guys, i figured this was the issue but wanted to get some other opinions before i started treating it like that. i hit more PR’s on overhead pressing this morning, so I’m glad it isn’t restricting me too bad. But definitely want to get it fixed before I have to start training the circus DB again