Shoulder Injury - Looking for opinions

doggiesnot
doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
DISCLAIMER: First and foremost, I know that no advice here will replace medical treatment. Please don't post "Go see a doctor!" type of posts, as I am planning to do that, but he's a general practitioner, and I'm looking for opinions of people with more of a specialty. I understand that ANYBODY can post on the Internet, and am only looking for more opinions. Also, if someone else has a similar issue, please don't take these posts to mean that my issue is the same as your issue, even if the symptoms are identical.

OK, I received an injury to my left shoulder when I fell off my bicycle going about 22 mph and slamming to the ground, landing on my left side, and sliding down the concrete road. This happened about 2 months ago. There was some road rash which is almost completely healed.

The problem I'm having is in lifting above my head with my left shoulder. I feel fine normally, but if I lift my hands above my head with weights, ~30 pounds (like an overhead press), then I feel a pain in the uppermost part of my shoulder, like the top of it. It doesn't feel sharp like a broken bone, but more like a tendon type of pain, if that makes sense. It's worst when my arms are bent above my head, and pushing up. After about half way up and then when fully extended, there is no pain. I can tell that I cannot put weight on the left side like I can the right, it's like the muscle "gives out" and doesn't want to push much weight.

I'm wondering if I should be working it out more, to strengthen the muscles around it, or if I should be working out less, to give it time to heal. It has already been two months, and I'm just about to start lifting weights, as I joined a new gym. I have been doing mostly cardio prior to this, and hoping this would heal, but it hasn't healed yet.

Should I add heat? ice? both?

I suppose the advice will be based on the injury, which I know we're just guessing at. But based on the symptoms and description of the injury, what are the possibilities? Could it be a tendon or muscle in my shoulder? Would Physical Therapy help?

Thanks for any and all advice.

I can answer any more questions to clarify if needed.

Replies

  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
    Anyone? :ohwell:
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I know you said don't say go to a doctor but go to a doctor. I have a torn ligament in my right shoulder. First they said it was arthritis, and I was treated for that but it got worse. Then it was a rotator cuff injury (which yours may be) and that was supposed to heal on it's own but it didn't. Finally after getting in for an MRI it's really a torn ligament which is not going to heal and is only fixable with surgery which I have declined.

    Some of the "treatments" that were recommended to me, I feel, may have done more damage. I wouldn't mess around with self diagnosis in case you're creating more trouble for yourself.
  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
    RICE

    Rest
    Ice
    Compression
    Elevation
  • mzdocb
    mzdocb Posts: 9
    I had the same injury from pulling down a mesquite branch on my ranch that actually wasn't dead and flung me back onto my right shoulder. It is a tendon injury most likely where the bicep tendon attaches to the shoulder. Not a tear, you would not be able to get your arm above your shoulder. Unfortunately it took about 4 months for mine to heal, and after 2 months needed two sets of steroid shots into the joint to stop the inflammation. the heat alternating with cold is generally done with a recent acute injury. Now apply heat or cold or anything that makes it feel better. I am a swimmer and continued to swim which my ortho doc said would strenthen it. It is now 6 months and I am pain free. In general it takes weeks if not a couple of months or more for tendons to heal. A bone fracture can heal in 4-6 weeks !
  • mzdocb
    mzdocb Posts: 9
    Mokey is right! You need a doc to figure out what you are treating.
  • rmdaly
    rmdaly Posts: 250 Member
    Man, what a nasty bike accident! It sounds like you got pretty lucky. I am not a doctor, but just an athletic person getting older and I have experienced many little injuries.

    First, if it causes pain, do not increase the weight. Try to decrease the weight and see if it still hurts. When I do an overhead press and it hurts, I switch to lateral rows. See if you get the same pain when you do those instead. Shoulders are like knees. Don't mess around with them.

    Is your shoulder swollen? If not, I wouldn't do ice or heat.

    I would suggest a physical therapist. They can tell you if you need a doctor and if not then they can give you exercises to work through your injury. Its been two months, its time to go. I always feel relieved when I go to a physical therapist and they give me direction.

    Get healed before the bike season gets going!
  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
    I know you said don't say go to a doctor but go to a doctor. I have a torn ligament in my right shoulder. First they said it was arthritis, and I was treated for that but it got worse. Then it was a rotator cuff injury (which yours may be) and that was supposed to heal on it's own but it didn't. Finally after getting in for an MRI it's really a torn ligament which is not going to heal and is only fixable with surgery which I have declined.

    Some of the "treatments" that were recommended to me, I feel, may have done more damage. I wouldn't mess around with self diagnosis in case you're creating more trouble for yourself.
    I had the same injury from pulling down a mesquite branch on my ranch that actually wasn't dead and flung me back onto my right shoulder. It is a tendon injury most likely where the bicep tendon attaches to the shoulder. Not a tear, you would not be able to get your arm above your shoulder. Unfortunately it took about 4 months for mine to heal, and after 2 months needed two sets of steroid shots into the joint to stop the inflammation. the heat alternating with cold is generally done with a recent acute injury. Now apply heat or cold or anything that makes it feel better. I am a swimmer and continued to swim which my ortho doc said would strenthen it. It is now 6 months and I am pain free. In general it takes weeks if not a couple of months or more for tendons to heal. A bone fracture can heal in 4-6 weeks !
    Man, what a nasty bike accident! It sounds like you got pretty lucky. I am not a doctor, but just an athletic person getting older and I have experienced many little injuries.

    First, if it causes pain, do not increase the weight. Try to decrease the weight and see if it still hurts. When I do an overhead press and it hurts, I switch to lateral rows. See if you get the same pain when you do those instead. Shoulders are like knees. Don't mess around with them.

    Is your shoulder swollen? If not, I wouldn't do ice or heat.

    I would suggest a physical therapist. They can tell you if you need a doctor and if not then they can give you exercises to work through your injury. Its been two months, its time to go. I always feel relieved when I go to a physical therapist and they give me direction.

    Get healed before the bike season gets going!

    Thanks everyone! I guess I should just go and see what the doc says. :frown:
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    I encountered a shoulder injury about a month ago while bench pressing. Mine was just a strained muscle, but the doctor told me to avoid all upper body work to let it recover. He gave me a prescription for 800 mg Ibuprofin, and told me to keep it in a sling as much as I could. (It was Hell, as I had just started trying to bulk, and I'm pretty weak in the chest.) My shoulder is now fine. I'm back to full workouts, now.

    I had full movement in my shoulder, it just hurt to lift with it, so our injuries are probably different, and you may be told something differently.

    I would probably avoid upperbody exercises, until you are told by a physician about your options. Focus on Lower body work. You should be able to squat, still, and I'm sure you could do some other work. My Doctor did tell me that arm curls were okay, because they don't use the shoulder.
  • RepsnSets
    RepsnSets Posts: 805 Member
    I injured my shoulder doing press ups off a box. The pain extended from my shoulder down my arm, I couldnt lift anything above my shoulders and my injured shoulder protruded more than the other one.

    I had to see a physiotherapist. There was more to it than using Ice, ended up having two cortisone injections and popping anti flam pills for a decent while was thengiven some exercises to do to strengthen etc but it took me a long time to be 100% and lift again.....Very depressing but I would definitely say see a sports physiotherapist.

    Best of luck
  • dondimitri
    dondimitri Posts: 245 Member
    I have had two significant shoulder injuries. The first was from crashing on a bicycle. The second was from crashing a motorcycle. The second resulted in some shoulder surgery. The first probably should have.

    In addition to those I have had two significant shoulder strains. One from bench pressing and one from working construction and lifting heavy things overhead.

    I have learned the hard way that the shoulder is a very complex joint. It is very slow to heal and can be very, very subject to re-injury. When I say it is slow to heal I really mean it. It can take YEARS to recover from what seems initially seems like a simple pulled muscle.

    If you want to maximize your chances of a positive outcome you need to see a sports medicine specialist. Not a regular ortho.
    It really needs to be a sports med guy (or gal) and if you can find one that specializes in shoulders so much the better.

    You will also need to find a physical therapist. Possibly your sports med ortho will have somebody on staff. If not you have to find a sports medicine oriented PT.

    If you have anything more than just some minor shoulder issue I don't think you're going to get much joy out of a primary care guy. That's my experience anyway.
  • divemunkey
    divemunkey Posts: 288 Member
    I had shoulder surgery 29 days ago. I had a lot of similar symptoms to yours, and let it go 4 months with no exercise, then 2 months with before I had a tear diagnosed. Th e pain is most likely caused by inflammation inside the joint capsule and teh space where the biceps tendon runs under the AC tendon. I opted to go straight to surgery because I also have an anatomical issue that makes that impingement of the joint more severe, so I wanted that corrected more than the tear fixed. The surgeon was certain that I could get pain free with physical therapy if it was just a tear, but the other condition would make sure it kept happening. I am not interested in rehabbing my shoulders repeatedly when I can do each of them once, barring major injuries.
  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
    I'm seeing a sports ortho who specializes in shoulders. Next appt. is March 25, should be worth the wait.
  • dondimitri
    dondimitri Posts: 245 Member
    I'm really glad to hear that! There are no guarantees but I think by going this route you will have a much better chance of a positive outcome. Try to baby it in the meantime. Tough to do but a Mar 25 appt. is probably about as quick as you could get around my neck of the woods...

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