Squat-induced shoulder pain

[Phaedrus49er]

No, seriously, it happened

1. When did the pain begin?

Yesterday immediately following a (final) set of 295lb quarter-squats.

2. What were you doing at the time? Or did the pain come on gradually over time?

See #1.

3. Where, anatomically, is the pain?

Left anterior deltoid origin point with the lateral clavicle

4. What does the pain feel like? Sharp? Dull? Aching? Stabbing? Shooting?

Relatively sharp ache but not stabbing (as in doesn't feel like a tear of some sort) with minor residual aching after initial pain.

5. Is the pain constant, or intermittent, or only on certain motions?

Pain is sharpest when shoulders are internally rotated 90 degrees (elbows flared out) and pressing downward (think dips). Same motion with elbows tucked produced about half yet still still significant pain. Also increased pain when shoulder is internally rotated, elbow is bent 90 degrees behind back, and shoulder is extended past parallel with body.

6. What motions make your pain worse?

See #5 (figured this out when standing from a desk chair with armrests at work).

7. What, if anything, makes your pain better?

Not doing #5

8. Does your pain radiate to any other part of your body?

Not yet.

9. What things could you do before, that you cannot do now because of your injury?

Unsure. Bodyweight push-ups (flexion) are no problem. No attempts yet at weight-bearing extension.

10. What is your main concern regarding the pain and its consequences?

It's bench press and bent-over row (the latter of greater concern) day today

11. Have you ever injured that part of your body before? If so, how?

Oh sure. Lots of rotator cuff issues in the past, but those were oriented more laterally and interally. This is clearly anterior and superficial.

12. Is your pain getting worse over time? And if so, how much worse over what time period?

No change since onset, which could simply be an impingement from the Olympic bar (didn't use a bar pad, shame on me).

[Phaedrus49er]

I should've probably mentioned that this is less of an exertion issue and more of a mechanical one (read: a combination of where the bar was resting and my own shoulder rotation). As I noted in my log, it doesn't seem to directly affect horizontal and vertical-up pressing motions, but vertical-down pressing is problematic, especially during scapular depression--if pressing downward with full scapular elevation, there is no pain.

Note: when I say "pressing," I simply mean weight-bearing as this has nothing to do with elbow (or even shoulder) flexion/extension; this is solely related to upward pressure placed on the shoulder girdle (think dips at full elbow extension and doing reverse shrugs--that's how I'm testing all of this out). I'm hopeful that it's merely a bone bruise as there doesn't seem to be anything obviously wrong with soft tissue, but for now, I'm not ruling out a possible stress fracture.

[Phaedrus49er]

Nevermind. It completely disappeared sometime during the late morning today. Weird.

[UConnJulie]

Hypochondriac!!

J/K
It probably was a mild AC joint strain (if I am picturing your location correctly).

[Phaedrus49er]

Probably. There was some noticeable weakness today, but nothing worth mentioning--well, except that I just did. Now if I could just get someone to re-break and re-set these ribs correctly...