Shoulder ... injured or sore?

sharidiane

So lately I haven't been able to work out as hard as I used to be able to because with certain movements, my shoulder grinds. It's hard to explain. It's not sore, exactly. It doesn't hurt all the time. But there are certain movements (like push ups) that I just CAN'T do.

I *know* that I need to go to the doctor. I know that. But I also am fairly certain that I'm going to need an MRI. And I pay 20% of my medical costs, so just the diagnosis alone will be several hundred dollars. Let alone treatment.

So what I'm wondering is this: do you think if I just rest it really well, and take anti-inflammatories, it might get better? Or do you think my only option is the bank-account-draining that will be the doctor visit?

jbucci1186

i recommend resting it for a few days straight

nickfn

This is a tough one. Obviously, going to the doctor is by far and away the best choice, but as a starving grad student I understand your dilemma. I have had shoulder pain before that was most noticeable doing certain lifts like bench press. I never remember a 'grinding' (this term makes me think perhaps there is something else going on besides just soreness), but I came to realize that I just wasn't working out all three sections of my deltoid. I added a bunch of extra shoulder exercises I had never done before and the pain went away by strengthening out my weaker stablizing muscles. At the least, I suggest resting it for at least a week or two with ibuprofen or another anti-inflammatory.

This may help you pick some exercises for your shoulder:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

But in all, only YOU can determine whether you think it is a good idea. I am not a doctor, I'm just a random dude on the internet. If there is any doubt at all, please go seek professional medical help. Plus, what is worse: a few hundred dollars for some tests or the chance of a few thousand dollars for a semi-invasive surgery?

End6ame

Not the answer you want to hear, but it is likely tendinitis, bursitis or an impingement. Anti-inflamitoy meds may help but you should get it checked out. 

I had bicep tendinitis a while back and couldn't to bench press or do pushups for about a month afterwards. I was given a cortisone injection in my shoulder and prescribed some anti-inflamitory meds. All is well now. 

sharidiane

I came to realize that I just wasn't working out all three sections of my deltoid. I added a bunch of extra shoulder exercises I had never done before and the pain went away by strengthening out my weaker stablizing muscles. At the least, I suggest resting it for at least a week or two with ibuprofen or another anti-inflammatory.

This may help you pick some exercises for your shoulder:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

THIS. This I love. Thank you. I had a feeling it could be that, but I didn't exactly know how to describe it. Thank you for the link.

I am not a doctor, I'm just a random dude on the internet.

Also love this. THANK YOU for being actually helpful. I think I will do as PP said and rest for a few days, then try to work some alternate muscles. Really appreciate the advice and link!

sharidiane

Not the answer you want to hear, but it is likely tendinitis, bursitis or an impingement. Anti-inflamitoy meds may help but you should get it checked out. 

NOOOOOOO ..... So not what I wanted to hear. But thank you. If the rest doesn't help, maybe I can find a doctor that can work without an MRI. I mean, what did they do before MRI's? Right? lol.

sharidiane

Oh, wow, that is an AWESOME website for exercises!!!!!! It would totally help if I knew the name of my muscles. But the pictures are there to guide. Thanks again!!!

End6ame

Not the answer you want to hear, but it is likely tendinitis, bursitis or an impingement. Anti-inflamitoy meds may help but you should get it checked out. 

NOOOOOOO ..... So not what I wanted to hear. But thank you. If the rest doesn't help, maybe I can find a doctor that can work without an MRI. I mean, what did they do before MRI's? Right? lol.

If you explain to your doc he may not order the MRI. My doc felt my arm/shoulder through its range of motion applied pressure, resistance, etc and pretty much had it diagnosed before sending me for an MRI just to verify. 

tross0924

Go to a sports medicine doctor if you can. He should be able to diagnose you by having you hold your arm in different positions and pushing / pulling. Then he can give you exercises to build whatever is weak / torn. If you can afford it physical therapy is a wonderful thing. At least the first couple of times so you can get a bunch of different exercises to do.

I had a doc tell my wife once that he never does MRIs, because if he finds something then he has to go in and operate, and if he doesn't find anything he has to do exploratory surgery to find whatever it is and fix it. He was reasonably sure she had a torn meniscus just by the push / pull method, and after the surgery he showed me the pictures of the tear.

Good luck, and I hope it all works out for you :-)

RangerSteve

The worst thing you can do is take anti-inflammatory medicine. Why? The simple concept of "return to play" as they call it in the sports medicine world. If you take motrin, or something similar, your shoulder will start to feel better even if it's still injured. Then, you go back to exercising with an injured shoulder that "feels" like it should be ok. Meanwhile, you're causing permanent damage to it because you don't realize how injured it is. Don't return to play earlier than you should because of medicine.

MRI's are expensive but x-rays are not too bad. At least go see the doc for an x-ray to make sure there isn't some bone/cartilage issue. Also, if the doc knows anything about shoulders, he should put you through the Jobe exercises

http://www.webball.com/cms/page1322.cfm

http://www.rbjc.com/Includes/Documents/Jobe_1-13 Shoulder Exercises.pdf

If he sees a problem with these types of exercises, he can make recommendations from there so you'll at least have an idea of what's wrong.

sharidiane

So I just tried to warm up for my exercise, and my shoulder hurts pretty bad today. NOT good. So - no exercise at all? Or at least none using my shoulder? Gosh, I don't even know HOW to work out without using my shoulder. I mostly do hip hop, which is a LOT of shoulder stuff. Can I hip hop, but just hold my arm against my body?

I am going to cry if I can't work out today.

Also - you have all inspired me to find a doctor this week that will work with my budget, but help me get this fixed. Because this totally sucks.

RangerSteve

So I just tried to warm up for my exercise, and my shoulder hurts pretty bad today. NOT good. So - no exercise at all? Or at least none using my shoulder? Gosh, I don't even know HOW to work out without using my shoulder. I mostly do hip hop, which is a LOT of shoulder stuff. Can I hip hop, but just hold my arm against my body?

I am going to cry if I can't work out today.

Also - you have all inspired me to find a doctor this week that will work with my budget, but help me get this fixed. Because this totally sucks.

Try working your legs out. Squats, lunges, etc. It's good for the metabolism anyway. And yes, see a doctor.

End6ame

The worst thing you can do is take anti-inflammatory medicine. Why? The simple concept of "return to play" as they call it in the sports medicine world. If you take motrin, or something similar, your shoulder will start to feel better even if it's still injured. Then, you go back to exercising with an injured shoulder that "feels" like it should be ok. Meanwhile, you're causing permanent damage to it because you don't realize how injured it is. Don't return to play earlier than you should because of medicine.

MRI's are expensive but x-rays are not too bad. At least go see the doc for an x-ray to make sure there isn't some bone/cartilage issue. Also, if the doc knows anything about shoulders, he should put you through the Jobe exercises

http://www.webball.com/cms/page1322.cfm

http://www.rbjc.com/Includes/Documents/Jobe_1-13 Shoulder Exercises.pdf

If he sees a problem with these types of exercises, he can make recommendations from there so you'll at least have an idea of what's wrong.

I disagree with this to an extent, but would also like to qualify that I am talking about anti-inflammatory meds PLUS rest. With joints specifically, if there is inflammation present then rubbing of the inflamed area will occur every time movement of the joint occurs, causing more inflammation and/or preventing the existing inflammation from decreasing and the joint from healing. When you introduce anti-inflammatory meds to reduce the inflammation, the joint can now move freely with no (or minimal) rubbing and begin to heal. Granted this is a gross oversimplification of the cause and effect, but it illustrates my point.

I do agree that taking anti-inflammatorily meds for an injury then resuming activities as if nothing is wrong is a bad idea.

Azdak

This is not a political statement, just a statement of fact: many of us are now faced with the same dilemna: needing medical care that is increasingly unaffordable for the average person.

Shoulders unfortunately are made to be flexible, not durable. As a result, many adults suffer from overuse conditions and impingement issues. If you are in a position where you need to try and self-diagnose and self-treat, then following a standard rehab protocol is one way to go.

Step one means some rest and recovery. I'm not going to tell you to take anti inflammatories, but that is certainly an option.

Step two: general mobilization, flexibility and strength exercises.

Step three: more advanced exercises

Step four: plyometric exercises

There are plenty of resources and exercise descriptions available for shoulder rehabilitation.

What you do in the meantime is a different challenge. You might find that changing position on an exercise is helpful--e.g. doing normal pushups, bench press, put a lot of strain on the shoulder. You can try changing hand position on the pushup or doing a cable press that allows you to put hands/wrists in a more neutral position. No matter what happens, you will have to learn to maintain greater shoulder stability when doing a lot of upper-body exercises.

It may be that you have a structural issue that can only be resolved through more serious intervention. But you have time to find that out.