Shoulder Impingement

[nyrednose]

I've been suffering from a re-occuring shoulder inpingement and bicept tendonitis pain over the last 8 years. Recently I decided to try and suck it up, because I love to train. My body finally told me to stop and I've been rehabbing for the last month. I've been to the Doctor and was given the usual anti-inflamatories and PT excercises. I'm really getting impatient and want to get back to the gym. I haven't lifted in the last month and notice my entire body getting weaker. Plus I know once I get back to training, my technques will have suffered.

My usual training routine consists of weight training 2x a week, cardio 3x a week, Muay Thai and Submission grappling 2 or 3x a week. I've noticed the Muay Thai is what really hurts my sholuder, not so much punching, but holding the focus mits. Also my chest workouts usually spark the pain back up.

Just wondering if anybody has an similar experience with this type of injury or any advice? I'd appreciate any info.

 

[Polynikes]

Yep...

Guess what is the ONLY thing that will fix you 100%?

SURGERY...

Remove the bone spur, rehab for 2 or 3 months, then you can start all over again...

I've been there...

 

[FlameBoy]

Not really know about the specific injury - I had an impinged supra or infraspinatus tendon - cant remember which -

The main problem - sleeping with my arms up! Tie your arms down when you sleep- around your waist.

Like all grapplers I still have bad shoulders, but this has helped a huge amount - and posture is also a great relief - shopulders back - no slouching !!

Hope this helps

 

[Kimberly Ring]

I had scar tissue buildup in my shoulder and had surgery on it. This was before I started tae kwon do. Once I started tae kwon do, I ended up with tendonitis in my shoulder from all the punching and push ups, but PT helped it. Not quite 100%, but to the point where I can train four to five days a week.


Unfortunately, I agree with Polynikes, surgery may be the only thing that can help.

 

[k'z factory]

if your only problems are shoulder impingement and biceps tendonitis, you don't have any bone spurs that need surgical removal. 2/3 of shoulder impingement patients will improve significantly with anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy, and at this point, that's really the best option for you. if you try to tough it out and train right now, you're putting yourself at risk for supraspinatus tears, which will even further limit your training. if you're really in a rush to get back to training, you can ask your doctor if he thinks it's ok for you to get a subacromial steroid injection.

an open or arthroscopic acromioplasty could help correct your ailments, but surgery probably wouldn't be a good idea for you right now. you would have to take a significant amount of time off to recover after surgery anyway, so it wouldn't offer a quicker route back to training. also, you'd be hard-pressed to find an orthopaedic surgeon who would operate after only 1 month of PT and NSAIDs. most ortho surgeons will only operate after 6 months of therapy and drugs, and only if improvement wasn't seen during that time.

hope that helps.

 

[nyrednose]

Thanks for all the help. I'm gonna take off some time from training and see how it goes. I'll probably just continue with my PT and AI's. It's just frustrating cause I've been dealing with this for so long. Thanks again

 

[Girljock]

Not really know about the specific injury - I had an impinged supra or infraspinatus tendon - cant remember which -

The main problem - sleeping with my arms up! Tie your arms down when you sleep- around your waist.

Like all grapplers I still have bad shoulders, but this has helped a huge amount - and posture is also a great relief - shopulders back - no slouching !!

Hope this helps

HA....I was just diagnosed with a rotator cuff impingment....from sleeping with my arms up!! Who the hell would have thought. That is my absolute fav position to sleep...and I actually went to the doc...cause I couldn't do it anymore....and here it's the cause. lol

Therapy is helping a lot but...not sure it's going to help all the way. It's mainly in my left arm, but I can feel it a bit in my right...now that I know what it is. Damn.....sucks.