Rhomboid Injury

tisha_rae
tisha_rae Posts: 216 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I’m currently recovering from a muscle strain/tear (rhomboid) it is a small muscle that connects to the spine and the edge of the shoulder blade…
My physician said that when the initial pain went away I could do gentle stretching; in 2 to 3 weeks I should be able to resume normal workouts.
Today is the first day since Saturday that I’ve been able to tolerate normal activity.

I feel very discouraged about not being able to keep my workout schedule – it’s easy for me to get off track when one off day is followed by another and then another.
The weather here is slowly improving and it’s supposed to be nice over the weekend so I intend to at least get out and walk.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this type of injury and how long it took you to get back to “normal”
Also if anyone can suggest anything besides walking that wouldn’t place any strain on it.
Or if I should stop being stubborn and just not worry about working out until my pain has completely subsided.
Thanks.

Replies

  • tisha_rae
    tisha_rae Posts: 216 Member
    bump.
  • ryan57ford
    ryan57ford Posts: 12 Member
    Hey,

    Do you know what you did to your Rhomboid to injure it? What has the doctor done to help? Just pain pills, or are you receiving any kind of massage, Physical Therapy? Pain scale 1-10 where are you at now, and what was it when it started??

    I am almost finished getting my Doctors of Chiropractic degree and I have been a Massage Therapist for 10 years, with a Bachelors in Human biology and Personal training, so if you have any questions, I may be able to point you in the right direction.
  • tisha_rae
    tisha_rae Posts: 216 Member
    Hey,

    Do you know what you did to your Rhomboid to injure it? What has the doctor done to help? Just pain pills, or are you receiving any kind of massage, Physical Therapy? Pain scale 1-10 where are you at now, and what was it when it started??

    I am almost finished getting my Doctors of Chiropractic degree and I have been a Massage Therapist for 10 years, with a Bachelors in Human biology and Personal training, so if you have any questions, I may be able to point you in the right direction.

    Thanks Ryan!

    I injured it initially a few years ago painting my house...at that time I was told to just rest it and given pain medication.

    I seem to always have a "knot" there that flares up from time to time but massage while painful at the time does provide some relief.

    I am assuming that I injured it on Thursday morning, I did a lot of different movements during that time, but I think lifting weights overhead is probably what caused it - I had normal soreness on Friday nothing that caused me concern. Saturday morning when I woke up I was in severe pain.

    The doctor gave me an anti-inflammatory, told me to alternate heat and ice, and said I could do gentle stretching in a few days.

    On Saturday morning I'd say my pain was about a 7 without moving and an 8 with minimal movement my range of motion was very limited.

    Today I'm at 5 while resting - 6 after exertion.

    I assume pain means I need to rest; I just want to be as active as possible without injuring myself more.

    I have a feeling that I might not have received the proper treatment years ago, when I first injured myself.
  • Kaathmandu
    Kaathmandu Posts: 129
    It is a pain - ha ha - dealing with an injury at any time - just keep up your cardio focusing on your legs. Walking, as you said, jogging, treadmill, cycling, step classes - just keep the arm/upper body movements to a minimum until it doesn't hurt.
    Give yourself time to recover or it will be an ongoing problem.
    Make sure you are moving your upper body - careful stretches - control is the key.
    And ice it for 20 minutes after working.
    Good luck :smile:
  • tisha_rae
    tisha_rae Posts: 216 Member
    It is a pain - ha ha - dealing with an injury at any time - just keep up your cardio focusing on your legs. Walking, as you said, jogging, treadmill, cycling, step classes - just keep the arm/upper body movements to a minimum until it doesn't hurt.
    Give yourself time to recover or it will be an ongoing problem.
    Make sure you are moving your upper body - careful stretches - control is the key.
    And ice it for 20 minutes after working.
    Good luck :smile:

    Thank You!
  • Krizanti
    Krizanti Posts: 7
    Hi Tisha,

    How's your back now? I hope you recovered well enough. Did you go to the gym for your workout?

    I have weak rhomboid muscles due to lack of workout and poor posture. I spend hours and hours sitting in front of my computer after resigning from a 6-year research job. While building my career as a researcher, I often travel with my backpack, which I usually carry on one shoulder. It's easier that way. I have strained my rhomboid muscles, but didn't really pay much attention to it. At some point, a knot can be felt in my right rhomboid muscles, which I tried treating with a massage. I get home service massage at least twice a month and it would relieve the pain momentarily. However lately, I realized that the relief is temporary and as time goes by, the pain worsen. Sometimes it causes my neck and shoulder to stiffen and my head to hurt. I couldn't take pain reliever anymore as I am scared that it will hurt my kidney. Anyways, I tried working out at a gym to strengthen my rhomboid muscles, but I got lazy after a few weeks of trying. In the last few weeks, I tried searching for exercises that I can do at home and found a good article: http://www.onlinehealthmag.com/back-pain/neck-and-shoulder-pain/. They have a free pain relief program that you can download, complete with helpful sketches. I hope this helps. Blessings!
  • capnrus789
    capnrus789 Posts: 2,736 Member
    I tore my rhomboid and trapezius in late June. It still hurts. It didn't finally start feeling better until I went to a physical therapist who had me doing very specific exercises and massage.

    May be PT would help you, too.

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