Hello BBM,
Recently, I have been experiencing primarily some upper back pain and upper pec pain on my right side near my collarbone, as well as some right elbow pain (golfer’s elbow). I have also had some symptoms radiating into the right side of my jaw. The pain isn’t terrible, but it does tend to get worse with movement.
What is concerning to me is that these symptoms seemed to have all started around the same time, a few weeks ago, and that pain has presented in my jaw, which I find a little odd. I have since temporarily deloaded all aggravating upper-body training (using lighter weights and slower tempos).
I have done some research and came across an article by E3 Rehab that suggests there is some evidence that golfer’s elbow can also be associated with upper back/neck pain and shoulder pain. I don’t know how confident I would be about that truly being the case, but it does make me think about whether the pain I’m feeling in these different areas is “connected” or not.
I am confident I can probably self-manage this if it’s just some musculoskeletal sensitivity, but I am wondering if there is something deeper going on and if I need to get evaluated by a physician of some sort. Based on what I described, are there any red flags that would warrant further evaluation?
Thank you, and let me know if there is any other information that could help.
Hi!
Welcome back, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I will say, this is an interesting constellation of symptoms, particularly the jaw pain you describe. Whether this is related to something in the upper body and/or neck isn’t clear based on what you describe, but yes, interesting nonetheless.
In general, I think that most pain resulting from exercise is related to overuse, as training demands outpace an individual’s resources. I also think this mismatch has the potential to affect multiple areas at the same time. Perhaps this should even be expected vs a single area.
I don’t think that golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is related to upper back/shoulder/neck issues, but I do think that upper body overuse can lead to pain in all of those areas at the same time.
I think the biggest things here re: management would be to know more about your exercise program, any recent changes in life stressors (e.g. sleep, nutrition, stress), and of course, any recent history of injury in these areas.
In any case, self management is going to look similar to what we’ve discussed in the following resources:
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-do/
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/lifting-rehab-mistakes/
If you’d like personal guidance, our pain and rehab team is standing by:
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/coaching-inquiry/
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