Bill: Shoulder Issue... Please, some advice!

[Ian Kay]

Hello Bill, or anyone else that can toss me any info.

I've been having shoulder-area stiffness and pain (alternating) for quite some time now (6 weeks or more).

To begin:

TENDER TO THE TOUCH:
(1) front delt area
(2) outer pec (pec minor?)
(3) place where lat/teres kind of come together (sorry, can't do any better than that)

TIGHT:
(1) Teres major/minor

IT HURTS WHEN (as in tight/tender/sore, not shooting or throbbing) :
(1) I do an external rotation, elbow on my side (hurts in posterior delt)
(2) When I extend my arm straight forward (like a punch), (hurts in anterior delt and teres area)
(3) When I externally rotate my arm withOUT tucking the elbow, it just pulls on the front delt/pec area
(4) When I do wide db bench press

THE TIGHTNESS/PAIN GOES AWAY:
(1) When I externally rotate with elbow in and I press/massage the pec minor area... I press in, externally rotate, release... repeat 10-15 times... it'll go away for a few minutes
(2) It does NOT hurt when I do neutral-grip db bench presses
(3) When I do infraspinatus rotations (prop arm up like I'm going to arm-wrestle, with 5 lbs. db... I slowly internally rotate, let it sit at the bottom for a second, then back up... 10 times) I gain mobility back and the posterior stuff goes away (temporarily)


I have seen my massage guy twice for this, and he's wailed away on pecs, teres major/minor, lats, supra/infra spinatus, triceps, biceps, traps. It helps a lot until I press again, but even after those I felt a little tender at times.

I recently took 2 weeks off from ANY kind of lifting. I take a quite a lot of olive oil and fish oil every day.

But after my first day back at pressing, it has all come back. (Note it didn't hurt DURING, only hours later.)

I've tried warmups including ERs, band traction, arm circles, arm swings, push ups, thoracic mobility stuff.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

[Mike D]

Have you had an MRI perscribed ? A floating bone chip, heavy bursa swelling or partial labrum tear could affect movement patterns such that the various nerves ( brachial plexus, etc.) get rubbed in different ways at different times setting off this travelling trauma . . .
Steer clear until fully diagnosed would be my advice . .

[UConnJulie]

Ian, I'm not Bill but it sounds to me like you are impingeing your biceps tendon and your infraspinatus ... you could have an instability that is exacerbated by the pressing movements that you describe, causing the impingement ... hard to tell over the internet exactly what is going on ... if you've seen your massage guy and taken time off without improvement, it might be time to see a medical professional ... JMO ...

[Bill Hartman]

Julie shoots and scores!!

Yep, sound like instability. Here's the scoop...

In 100% of the cases of shoulder joint instability, the scapula is unstable. That implies that scapular instability perpetuates the glenohumeral instability.

Ian, for the next 1-2 months forget about pressing exercise. You need to focus on pulls, lower trap raises, bent lateral raise with thumbs up, external rotation variations, pnf diagonals, push-up plus (only the plus part). Check your posture in the mirror for internal rotation of the upper arm, if so, stretch lats, pecs (becareful with pec stretches as they can aggrevate symptoms). Take your normal pushing volume of sets and add them to your corrective exericses. Start with sets of 15-20 reps.

Have your massage guy free up your pec minor, subscapularis and teres major.

If it starts to get worse such as night pain, sudden pains, or reaching to adjust your rear-view mirror (that's a test that I invented by the way ), go see an ortho doc who specializes in shoulders.

Bill

P.S. Julie, everyone knows you're not me because boys have a penis and girls weren't lucky enough to get one.

[UConnJulie]

Originally Posted by Bill Hartman

P.S. Julie, everyone knows you're not me because boys have a penis and girls weren't lucky enough to get one.

That's right ... God was smart ... we got multiple orgasms instead ... a fair trade for the ability to pee standing up I say!

[Ian Kay]

Thanks a ton Bill!

I can't say I'm glad to hear the 1-2 months of no pressing, seeing as how I just began a really cool Dave Tate routine... but hey, so it goes.

I'll continue the program without the pressing, and simply replace them with the exercises you mentioned.

Now, are triceps extentions alright? I'd like to maintain my triceps if I can during this fixing stage.

Thanks again Bill for your time!

[Ian Kay]

2 weeks later...

No pain at all. It's gone. No pressing, of course.

On squats I have a little tenderness in the teres area, but certaily nothing to complain about.

Thanks, Bill.

I will continue this for another 2 full weeks, and then slowly... that's right, I said, slowly (which is not easy for me) I will start to press again.

[Bill Hartman]

Good to hear. Break back into pressing with push-ups. Slow eccentric with a pause at the bottom.

Bill

[Ian Kay]

Thanks Bill. I'll do just that.