Anyone have experience with shoulder pain from working out?

Rannoch3908

Hi there, 

I am considering going to see a orthopedic doctor but don't have insurance and want to get everyones opinion first.  

I have never had shoulder pain until about 3 weeks ago. 

I think it is related to my exercise.  I am 285lbs (was 316 in September) and started doing yoga three times a week and bodyweight training three times a week back on Jan 1.   

The pain started 3 weeks ago but has gotten worse over the last few days even though I stopped working out at all. 

I can move my arm normally, lift it above my head, rotate my arm out to side - no pain. It happens when I try to lift myself or boost myself somewhere - say getting off the couch or adjusting myself in my seat. 

I don't not feel pain all the time.  And when I do it's a sharp pain (not achy).   But it is starting to happen with more and more small movements every day. 

I am wondering if I should be making an appointment or maybe just a couple of weeks of rest, ice, and heat before doing anything.

P.S. What type of doctor will I see if needed and what kind of testing do you think I might need?

ahoy_m8

Shoulders are super complex. Lots of Dx possible. You can find websites that outline a bunch of movements to narrow down the possibilities. When I was having intermittent sharp shoulder pain with increasing frequency, I really studied several shoulder Dx sites and ultimately decided I wasn’t confident that I could adequately follow the steps to isolate the problem.

Eventually I had pain at rest, not just when reaching for something. Eventually it interfered with sleep and ADLs. I saw my GP first and that was a mistake. He treats a bunch of local NBA players so I thought he would know something about shoulders. Total waste of a copay. He referred an orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulders after a 2 minute chat we could have had on the phone. He did say his advice is to do what you are doing — rest, heat, ice— for a month or until pain interferes with sleep and/or ADLs. I would look for a shoulder specialist in your area and start there. He/she will probably order an X-ray (which he probably has in the office) but the more helpful part is the exam where he checks your range of motion and strength in different positions. If he suspects tissue tears, he/she will want a MRI, and not sure but I think those can be spendy. I didn’t need one.

FWIW, my Dx was adhesive capsulitis (“frozen shoulder “). He said it was totally unrelated to my workouts and gave me a stack of exercises that hurt like a *kitten* and eventually they worked with no surgery or big steroid shots. Good luck. I know it hurts bad.

Speakeasy76

I am currently in physical therapy for my shoulder, and as much as I like my workouts, I know some moves are exacerbating the problem. It's not the moves themselves, but that I'm not doing with the correct form.

For acute relief, rest and ice and possibly a topical ointment may be helpful. I wouldn't completely rest it and move your arm so it doesn't get too stiff. I think going to your doctor for a referral for physical therapy and possibly an x-ray would be a good next step. If you're feeling pain now, please don't ignore it hoping it will go away or give up your exercise routine completely.

I have been strength training for years and am relatively strong in some ways. However, I was overusing my shoulders to compensate for weak muscles. I also carry a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders, and so many of us now have this forward hunched posture that leads to problems as well. Since I've been in PT and doing those exercises, I've been way more conscious of using the correct muscles. In doing things like push ups and planks (that I've done for years) I've realized my shoulders and back muscles were probably not activating correctly. Over time this lead to problems. I tried to ignore little twinges, but it caught up to me.

spiriteagle99

An orthopedist should be able to diagnose you and refer you for physical therapy if necessary. I hurt my shoulder doing a push up challenge. Then, because it hurt, I did my best not to use it for several weeks and it froze. I got so I couldn't lift my arm above chest high. I went to an orthopedist and he said it was either a torn rotator or bursitis. He gave me a steroid shot in case it was bursitis, which did nothing, then referred me to a physical therapist. I did about 3 months of PT, then another year and a half of doing the exercises on my own before the pain was completely gone.

Theoldguy1

A doctor visit would be best. In the meantime search YouTube for Bob and Brad the Most Famous Physical Therapists on the Internet and check their shoulder videos. Lots of good information, between them about 60 years of experience.

Sample

https://youtu.be/hPlmEFOeK0s

GettingOld68

I, too, developed shoulder pain out of the blue. And I, too, was diagnosed with frozen shoulder. It took a few weeks before my range of motion was really compromised; I couldn't reach for things in cupboards, reach up to my head, lift my arm to the side, etc. without pain. Couldn't sleep, had to prop up my arm. I went to physical therapy for a while, but if you check out the websites, it can take a long time to recover. It's been a year and while I'm no longer in pain all the time and have most of my range of motion back, I can't do pushups yet. Not even on my knees. I hope that gets better as I get stronger on that side. It's literally a pain. Hope it goes faster for you!

mom23mangos

I've watched some of the Bob and Brad videos mentioned above and they are good. My GP was able to do an MRI and diagnose bursitis and tendonosis. I chose not to do cortisone shots and just concentrated on rest and PT movements for about a year. It was good for a long time, but has been starting to bother me lately again, I think because I hadn't worked out in a long time and then I might have pushed too far too soon.