Hi all, new user here but I’ve been following BBM for quite a while.
Last Saturday evening I started feeling a dull ache in my right shoulder. That day I had a workout in the morning consisting of front squats, SL deadlifts, EZ curl and DB bent over shrugs. Technically nothing which focuses on the shoulder - and I felt no pain during the workout. Perhaps it was the underhand grip on the front squats, or I may have swiveled my arms forwards during the DL. Or just an overuse thing on my joints.
This dull ache had remained (5 days now), feels very uncomfortable at bedtime, and doesn’t seem to improve (a cursory review of the symptoms seems to indicate it’s called a ‘shoulder impingement’). I can feel more pain if I lift my arm up and backwards, otherwise it’s just a dull ache. I’ve only taken paracetamol and haven’t worked out for 2 days.
My aim is to work around the pain, although I had a push day last Monday and it felt fine - no pain at all. It’s very strange.
My question is whether there are any stretches or simple exercises I can perform which may help with rehab, and if there’s anything over the counter I can ask for to alleviate the symptoms?
Thanks for following along with us. Sorry to hear about your shoulder; however, I am optimistic that it did not cause you discomfort during your training on Monday.
I would recommending starting here and here for our general response to pain in training. We also have an awesome and very comprehensive shoulder article series written by Dr. Ray which I think you will find helpful.
This is covered in the above articles, but I wouldn’t spend any time or energy focusing on the label of ‘shoulder impingement’ as this is an outdated, inaccurate, and overly reductionist narrative that arguably does much more harm than good.
Tylenol doesn’t provide significant anti-inflammatory effects and there isn’t a large benefit overall.
Thank you so much for the links, I will read through those articles! They seem very comprehensive!
Regarding Tylenol - you’re right I did not feel much relief. I guess something like ibuprofen would work better then.
EDIT: I went to the doctor and, same as your thoughts above, told me that as my workout didn’t cause me discomfort it’s a good sign. He told me to move about my arm and indicate when I felt pain - for some reason I couldn’t feel pain but told him that I had a rough night where I definitely was feeling pain. He suggested I continue my training, but when it comes to shoulder movements I use a ROM up to the extent that it does not cause pain, and perhaps going lighter and building up the weight. He also prescribed an NSAID but told me I should only use it if the pain is annoying me. We’ll see!
I’m now about to listen to the video and then read the articles
Edit 2: Watched the video and read the articles - very informative! They definitely instilled some confidence in me to move on with my training and follow the “reassurance/load/ROM/exercise” methodology. Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m happy to hear that you found the information helpful and that you feel more confident to move forward with your training. Really, that’s what we are all here for
