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Ok, so here is my dilemma.
About a year and 8 months ago I had a weight lifting accident which injured me. I am still suffering from this injury today.
I was doing shoudler press with two 55lb dumbells. While I had the dumbells held overhead, I lost control of the weight with my right arm. The dumbell and my arm got pulled backwards away from my back and downwards below my shoulder. I did not feel any pain at the time of the injury. I did notice any pain until about a week following the injury. Over the next month I noticed a gradual increase in sharp pain in my right tricep during tricep exercises. I stopped lifting for a week, then I resumed with lighter weight and tried to gradually increase over time. I would eventually experience the same pain in my right tricep/upper arm area. I took several small breaks from lifting, always again resuming gradually. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but I started to get pain in my right upper shoulder and my right shoulder blade/scapula. I would experience a very uncomfortable feeling in my right upper shoulder when doing certain exercises with a certain amount of weight, ex: incline bench. It would feel like some things were grinding, or rubbing, or bumping together in my shoulder. I also developed a loud popping noise in my upper shoulder whenever I perform certain arm movements. I still have this popping noise today, although it doesn't cause pain. After doing certain exercises with a certain amount of weight, (flat bench press, standing bicep curls, back exercises like rowing) I would have pain in my right shoulder blade area. Sometimes the pain would be mild, and be more of like a dull ache. Other times the pain would be more severe and would be caused by standing completely still and merely turning or tilting my head to the right. I still have these symptoms with my right shoudler blade/scapula area today. The pain in my right upper arm/tricep area evolved into more of just a mild ache following exercise, I don't seem to have pain in the arm during lifting anymore.
What I am most concerned with is my present severe symptom: the pain in my shoulder blade/scapula which is caused by exercising. The pain is present almost always, sometimes just a very mild ache. Other times it is more severe such as being caused by turning my head to the right. My present less severe symptoms are the mild aches in the upper right arm/tricep following exercise, the grinding rubbing in the upper shoulder during exercise, and the loud popping noises in the upper shoulder during arm movement.
For my therapy, I tried to take time periods off of exercising completely, to let the muscles heal. The time periods were often no more than a week or two, then I would resume lifting. At one point, I took two months off with no exercise whatsoever. Evidently, it didn't solve the problem. Here is what I have done for my therapy as prescribed by orthopaedic doctors and physical therapists. I have drastically reduced the amount of exercises and weights I use at the gym. I have tried starting off very small and slowly working my way up. But, I end up with the same results. I tried home exercises, specifically designed to strengthen my shoulder/scapula area. The doctors noticed my scapula was out of position and was not being held in place during movement. They said the arm pain was referred pain. They felt my rotator cuff was weak and needed to be strengthened. In general, they did not feel there was a muscle tear, they felt there was a muscle strain which weakened the muscle(s). They also mentioned the idea of possible nerve damage. I did therapy exercises for my shoulder every day multiple times a day for 1-2 months. Then I did some different exercises at home every day. I entered into a 4-week physical therapy program at the hospital, doing shoulder strengthening exercises every day either at the hospital or at home. I cut down to 5 days a week and now every other day, with the theory that the muscles are not getting enough rest. I have kept my time lifting at the gym very minimal, only doing exercises that would not strain my shoulder, and starting off with very light weight gradually increasing.
Xrays and MRI of the shoulder returned normal results. I will have MRI results of the spine on the 22nd.
After all of this, I seem to run into the same problems which keep me from making any progress. I would just like to know if anyone has any ideas as to what exactly may be wrong with me, and what I can do to fix it?
About a year and 8 months ago I had a weight lifting accident which injured me. I am still suffering from this injury today.
I was doing shoudler press with two 55lb dumbells. While I had the dumbells held overhead, I lost control of the weight with my right arm. The dumbell and my arm got pulled backwards away from my back and downwards below my shoulder. I did not feel any pain at the time of the injury. I did notice any pain until about a week following the injury. Over the next month I noticed a gradual increase in sharp pain in my right tricep during tricep exercises. I stopped lifting for a week, then I resumed with lighter weight and tried to gradually increase over time. I would eventually experience the same pain in my right tricep/upper arm area. I took several small breaks from lifting, always again resuming gradually. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but I started to get pain in my right upper shoulder and my right shoulder blade/scapula. I would experience a very uncomfortable feeling in my right upper shoulder when doing certain exercises with a certain amount of weight, ex: incline bench. It would feel like some things were grinding, or rubbing, or bumping together in my shoulder. I also developed a loud popping noise in my upper shoulder whenever I perform certain arm movements. I still have this popping noise today, although it doesn't cause pain. After doing certain exercises with a certain amount of weight, (flat bench press, standing bicep curls, back exercises like rowing) I would have pain in my right shoulder blade area. Sometimes the pain would be mild, and be more of like a dull ache. Other times the pain would be more severe and would be caused by standing completely still and merely turning or tilting my head to the right. I still have these symptoms with my right shoudler blade/scapula area today. The pain in my right upper arm/tricep area evolved into more of just a mild ache following exercise, I don't seem to have pain in the arm during lifting anymore.
What I am most concerned with is my present severe symptom: the pain in my shoulder blade/scapula which is caused by exercising. The pain is present almost always, sometimes just a very mild ache. Other times it is more severe such as being caused by turning my head to the right. My present less severe symptoms are the mild aches in the upper right arm/tricep following exercise, the grinding rubbing in the upper shoulder during exercise, and the loud popping noises in the upper shoulder during arm movement.
For my therapy, I tried to take time periods off of exercising completely, to let the muscles heal. The time periods were often no more than a week or two, then I would resume lifting. At one point, I took two months off with no exercise whatsoever. Evidently, it didn't solve the problem. Here is what I have done for my therapy as prescribed by orthopaedic doctors and physical therapists. I have drastically reduced the amount of exercises and weights I use at the gym. I have tried starting off very small and slowly working my way up. But, I end up with the same results. I tried home exercises, specifically designed to strengthen my shoulder/scapula area. The doctors noticed my scapula was out of position and was not being held in place during movement. They said the arm pain was referred pain. They felt my rotator cuff was weak and needed to be strengthened. In general, they did not feel there was a muscle tear, they felt there was a muscle strain which weakened the muscle(s). They also mentioned the idea of possible nerve damage. I did therapy exercises for my shoulder every day multiple times a day for 1-2 months. Then I did some different exercises at home every day. I entered into a 4-week physical therapy program at the hospital, doing shoulder strengthening exercises every day either at the hospital or at home. I cut down to 5 days a week and now every other day, with the theory that the muscles are not getting enough rest. I have kept my time lifting at the gym very minimal, only doing exercises that would not strain my shoulder, and starting off with very light weight gradually increasing.
Xrays and MRI of the shoulder returned normal results. I will have MRI results of the spine on the 22nd.
After all of this, I seem to run into the same problems which keep me from making any progress. I would just like to know if anyone has any ideas as to what exactly may be wrong with me, and what I can do to fix it?
