rotator cuff injury....what sould i expect?

[danielson]

ok, its definately rotator cuff and its the supraspinatus from what i can tell from the pain etc (hurts on raising my arm in a painting the fence type motion, lateral raises aren't to bad though, pain is localised to the front portion of the shoulder)


the pain is bad....i didnt feel a 'pop' when it happened but it was a sudden onset of light pain during my warm up....which continued after i plowed through a 5x5 of bench (bad i know, i fell worst about doing this)


i got thru the workout with not to bad pain, and both shoulders had roughly equal strength...afterwards was when it hurt the most though


so
what can i expect...its almost been 24hrs....websites tell me to ice for 48-72 hrs and then heat treat, use NSAID's like ibuprofen, but im worried if i impinge upon the inflammatory process to much it will impact on healing

and most importantly
what kind of recovery time period am i looking at? what should i do to keep my shoulders from atrophy? my bench finally lifted itself out of a plateu on that workout, so im afraid of losing the progress i had made

any help or your experiences would be appreciated

 

[gymtime]

Rotators can take a long time to heal bro. I've had a sore rotator for months now and it's very slow to improve, although it is getting better. The pain isn't all that bad, but it takes me longer to loosen it up, plus the first few reps on shoulder day can be.....trying.

You might try talking to beastboy and pennypacker. They've both had more serious rotator problems and will be able to tell you more than I could.

 

[danielson]

thnx bro

 

[KillahBee]

I just completed my 5th week of PT for the same injury. Havent touched a weight in 2 months. It was just a matter of strengthening the rotator cuff, which conventional shoulder lifts dont do. My doc told me ice is almost pointless b/c your rot cuff muscles are so deep. Take some Aleve and rest. Mine was a constant pain, not major pain, but always uncomfortable for bout 3 weeks b4 I went to go see a doc. It sucks, but you gotta be careful with that type of injury cause it can come back to haunt u and i know i am in this for the long haul and am assuming you are.
not lifting for 2 months has sucked BIG time but,

a) it is necessary and I would never want to hurt myself in the long run just b/c I was impatient and

b) i have so much pent up aggression that when I do get back (hopefully next week) I am gonna tear that fuckin gym to shreds!

 

[FatRat]

I did the same thing, but whilst doing heavy bench, and tried to train through it, which prevented it healing and prolonged the problem for over a year.

You are not going to want to hear this advice (I know I didn’t), but I’ll give it anyway then its up to you. If it is definitely rotator cuff:

1) Take two or three weeks off, perhaps even four, from any exercise which seems to hurt you rotator cuff (or even those that don’t but might be placing it under stress). This will give it a chance to recover and any inflammation to subside. Inflamation is a major problem because it causes impinjment which causes more inflammation etc. etc. (vicious circle).

2) After this time, start back with some specific rotator cuff strengthening movements and some stretching of the shoulder muscles for a couple more weeks. Stop this immediately if it agrivates your shoulder.

3) After this, go back to the bench, incline etc. staring off light, and slowly building up to your previous weights.

I know it sucks taking time out, but your strength will come back quicker than you think, and this way you should get your cuff fixed rather than dragging it out and still having discomfort this time in 6 months…

 

[beastboy]

They thought my rotator could be the problem as well, but when they scoped it, they said it looked great....good news. My problem was a AC Impingement (Pennypacker as well had this). There was a building up from pressing movements and I had arthritis in there. They went it and shave back the collar bone at the AC......took months to recover, but I am 200% better although the shoulder is not and probably never will be 100%.....still some "clicking" and soreness, but I can deal with it. I've had to give up Flat BB bench for the most part, but that is really not a loss.

If you think this could be your prob as well (you could have both), let me know if you have any questions.

 

[danielson]

thanx for the info bro's, i may take u up on that offer in the future beastboy, i wanna see how my shoulder feels after a few weeks first, there has been a huge improvement in pain over the last few years

if its impingement the i want to dose up on anti-inflams, but if its rotator cuff tears then too much of the anti inflams may reduce inflammtion to the point that healing gets reduced