Physiotherapists: funny noise when stretching

yirara

Right, I had winged shoulder blades all my life. Recently I noticed that they are mostly gone. I guess strength training might have contributed to that. Great! But since I'm seeing improvement I noticed that lots of 'things' (not sure what it is: muscles, joins, ligaments?) make a funny noise when I do dynamic stretching before a workout. It doesn't hurt, but feels/sounds funny. Lifting the arms up and bending backwards results in this noise in my chest area around the sternum, crossing my arms horizontally in front of my chest results in a funny noise around my shoulders. I'm not sure if there's a connection. Yes, I built up a lot of muscles and strength, and I'm nearly 41, thus not so young anymore.

Any suggestions what this might be? I would go and see a physiotherapist if there was one in this country with less than several months of waiting time. But there isn't.

meritage4

so get on the PT list now-you can always drop off the list if you get your answer

yirara

Well.. I did. I have an appointment in July

amsmithatc33

Is it a "crunchy" or "creaky" sound? It could be cartilage damage in the shoulders or at the connection of the ribs to the sternum. If it isn't painful don't worry about it, but if it ever gets inflamed, have it checked out.

meggyannpt

Does the sound go away after you warm up? The movements you describe correlate with the areas that you are experiencing your symptoms based on muscle attachments. Maybe try doing smaller movements during your dynamic stretching, and make sure you are doing some good static stretching after your workouts.

yirara

I think meggy nailed it. it does go away after one or two funny sounds. I never noticed those before... probably the beginning of this year or so. I do stretch properly afterwards as my upper back muscles starts hurting otherwise.

Not sure though what exactly I did to get rid of the winged shoulder blades, and the info I'm finding online seems to contradict each others.

meggyannpt

The winging shoulder blades probably improved from strength training, and that's a good thing! Your shoulder blades should not wing. Since it goes away quickly and does not hurt, I wouldn't worry about the sound too much. If it gets worse, you need to get it checked out. Just keep up your strengthening, warm ups, and stretching after.

Danni_peck

You should probably make sure with another PT that there isn't anything wrong with it. It could be a serious thing. I knew a guy who had squeaky joints when he bent his knees, and it started off as a small thing but turned out to be worse than he thought. just be careful.

yirara

Well, there is no other PT I could visit. The handful available in this country all have similar waiting times. Better hope I never really need one.