I recently did something to my shoulder, but I don’t know what. I’ve been in for ART, and it made things a little better, but every time I try and bench anything more than 100 lbs., my right deltoid starts to get a sharp pain. I can’t even put my shirt on without having to rotate my shoulder around. Just raising my right arm pararllel to the floor causes pain, and trying to lower the bar on the bench is imposiible. any suggestions about what I may have done and how to correct it?
Sounds like tendonitis. Do a search on it. Most of the information I used to rehab mine came from this site.
Go see an orthopedic surgeon ASAP. You do not want to mess around with shoulder problems, believe me…
It could be a few things, but it sounds as if you’re getting some secondary impingment in the supraspinatus tendon. ART should help, as long as there is no labral tear.
I would see a doctor and get an mri with contrast.
Paul,
Is the ART provider a chiropractor?
If so, he/she should be able to do a thorough exam and atleast come up with a differential diagnosis.
The most obvious things to rule out would be rotator cuff injury, bursitis, labral tear or long head of the bicep injury.
If the provider is a doc, if the shoulder does not respond to treatment, then have them refer you for an MRI w/ contrast. If anything shows up on the test that would warrant an ortho consult, then the appropriate referral should be made at that point.
Keep me posted,
Take care,
Ryan
Thanks for the advice guys. Ryan: Yes the ART practioner is also a chiropractor. When I went in, he did a treatment, and told me to test it out with weights to see how it went. So the next time I see him, I’ll ask him about the other possible problems.
Okay, went in yesterday, and got it checked out. Here is what I was told: The subscapularis is not firing due to an impingement of the nerve way up in my armpit. (superspinatus?) He has begun working that out, and giving me some exercises to strengthen the subscapularis muscle. I was told that it may be 4 or 5 sessions to work out, simply because it was in such a tender area. The dr. said that he generally likes to do 3 passes through the area to clear things up. Am I mistaken in thinking that he is taking longer than is strictly necessary with this? If I remember correctly, Charles Poliquin had this same problem, and Dr. Leahy had him fixed up in 1 or 2 sessions.
Your ART guy is not BS’ing you. Leahy invented ART, so suffice it to say that he is is the best ART practitioner available. However, I have a friend that went to see him several times for a pec problem and nothing ever changed. What I am getting at is that nobody has exactly the same injury nor do they react exactly the same way to treatment. See your guy early and consistently, do your best to stick to rehab without reaggravating the injury and good luck.