I was hoping for some advice or a steer in the right direction if possible.
I have been having pretty bad pain in my left shoulder for about 3 months now. It seemed to start after I watched a form video on Bench Press and I started trying to pull my shoulders back and down. Doing this seemed to cause an impingement rather than stop one!!!
No obvious pain or trauma but woke up one morning in bad pain. Had an xray that showed the shoulder was normal. Had a bunch of physio that said to do various rotator cuff exercises but they have done nothing. Had MRI and the consultant said ’ there is some inflamation in and degeneration (arthrisits) of theAC joint ’ there is a lump ontop of the AC that is bone growth, but this isnt the main cause… There is inflamation of the subacromial bursa that he thinks is the main pain. He did a cortisone shot at the time. 3 weeks on and 3 weeks of more of the same physio and still no improvement. Pretty much anything involving the shoulder hurts. Pressing is a really sharp pain, even the physio exercises hurt. I have tried Kirsch and hanging and can do that for 60 secs x 3 still no help.
Is there anything else you could suggest that may help, I really want to avoid surgery but its looking like that may the road if I cant settle the pain down. 3 weeks total rest also didnt help.
Hey @mattj - sorry to hear about the recent shoulder symptoms. How familiar are you with our content on shoulder pain? We’ve written extensively on the shoulder and specifically about the false idea of impingement: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/shoulderimpingement/
We typically don’t advise rest in these scenarios but rather finding tolerable activity levels based on your goals with the understanding symptoms may be a part of the process for a while but they should be tolerable. What are your current goals?
Thanks for replying. I have seen some of your articles but I am not sure what to actually do. There is very little I can do that doesn’t cause pain so other than avoiding most exercises or working through pain I don’t know what to actually do. The pain is felt predominantly over the top of the ac joint like a stretch sensation or to the rear where it is sharper. It’s a dull ache at rest and a pinching sensation when moved. This then feels like it gets worse the more I do. But doing nothing doesn’t settle it either. Even the physio rehab exercise cause pain. The more I do the worse and longer it hurts. I am just not sure what to do are there any good stretches or anything as nothing seems to settle it or help. I am 41 and it has been going on just over 3 months or so. As for goals, I would love to be able to train pain free. I am a recreational lifter so not looking to break world records etc just be stronger and healthier. A body weight bench is the goal and I wasn’t far off when this started.
Thanks again
Hey @mattj - what did training look like prior to onset of symptoms?
It’s easy to think movements must be pain free before performing them but this is likely an unrealistic expectation right now. Instead symptoms should be tolerable with movement/activities with the understanding experiencing pain an in area doesn’t mean you are harming or hurting yourself. I’d definitely recommend a consult with us to help guide this path and address some held beliefs about symptoms and activity. We can provide guidance on how to return to the activities you want to be able to do. Contact Us | Barbell Medicine