Serious shoulder,lower back injury and pain in the middle of the chest

Hello guys,

Over the course of many months I've contacted doctors, friends, one physiotherapist and I've seen no good results; you may very well be my last resort.

I will start with complete history of my injuries:

One year and a half ago I was in the gym and I did a full standing position ab wheel repetition (to end position - horizontal) this is when I heard a pop/crack in my lower back. After that I've had pain in the lower back, in the beginning it was in the center after a while moved a little bit to the left and down (http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/auto/r/786x0/b/9/b90ad_ORIG-250px_Surface_anatomy_of_the_back_Gray.jpg - but on the left side). I saw a doctor, when the pain didn't go away I went to see a neurologist, went to physical therapy, didn't help me. With time the pain intensity went away, but it's still there - when I lay down on my back on my bed or lay on my stomach this is when hurts the most. When I'm in standing position there is not pain.

When I do circles ( move my upper body clockwise to warm up the lower back) there is a pop every time I pass the point where it hurts. I've tried many many different types of ibuprofen gels, even the neurologist prescribed me injections (in my buttocks), sometimes massage helps.

In the beginning of this year I've started experiencing pain in my left shoulder (first manifested during weighted dips, after that during horizontal pull exercises) and I went to see my doctor. Of course the diagnosis was that I did too many exercises and my shoulder has to rest. So I did exactly that - rested and applied ice to my shoulder and gel. Shortly after that I had to move to China to study for 1 year. I moved and some time after that, I didn't feel any pain in my shoulder, so I started exercising again but the pain showed up again so I stopped. I did rotator cuff rehab exercises, during that time I suffered (and still suffer) from severe case of dorsal wrist impingement (couldn't do a single push up) but now I do first knuckle push ups and it's better. I rested for 2 months and 10 days. Two days ago I went outside and did a 3 sets of pull ups, 3 sets of knuckle push ups and 3 sets of horizontal rows (everything body weight), the next day my shoulder was killing me. (front side of the shoulder). I went to see a chinese doctor - after 30 mins of talking in chinese and english I've explained everything and he said to me: "you should stop exercising, apply gel and never again do any exercises or sports for the rest of your life". I asked him what sports I can play, he answered me "you can walk, but not run". So I argued with him about professional athletes and people suffering injuries and recovering from them, I even know a person who torn his biceps and now does pull ups +60-80kgs additional weight.  At last I gave up speaking with the doctor and left in a terrible mood.

Also, from the beginning of this year I've started feeling pain right in the middle of my chest, (chest wall) I have no idea where is it from (here in China in the dormitory the bed is not soft, it's made from wood and it's really hard - a probable cause?). Every day when I contract my chest or get up from bed or do such motion i I feel pain there, it's awful.

So, I see myself as a very unlucky person. I think all these injuries are because I've always had stronger training partners than me, so I was really motivated and pushed my body too far - overreaching.

Also maybe my gene is more inclined to injury than others ( a physiotherapist told me that). For the past year and a half I've been almost in constant pain and couldn't exercise properly, rested long periods that did basically nothing, this took a toll on my personal life-depression, unhealthy habits quickly followed.

Have any of you suffered any of the abovementioned injuries? Please, if you have any advise post a comment here, I would really appreciate it.

Have you gone to a chiropractor?

Sometimes a single vertabrae being slightly out of place can cause some serious back pain.

I'm not in a position to comment on the specifics of your injuries, but these kinds of posts come up all the time. And the answer seems to be generally what you say here:

So take a step way way back, grab Foundation 1 and completely forget what you think you know about training, because what you're doing doesn't seem to be working.

Rayne-William said:

Have you gone to a chiropractor?

 

Sometimes a single vertabrae being slightly out of place can cause some serious back pain.

Hello,

No, I've never been to a chiropractor. To be honest, I'm not sure If I even can find one in my country. But the important thing is that now I am in China and here, I'm sure, I cannot find.

thecolin said:

I'm not in a position to comment on the specifics of your injuries, but these kinds of posts come up all the time. And the answer seems to be generally what you say here:

 

 

 

 

So take a step way way back, grab Foundation 1 and completely forget what you think you know about training, because what you're doing doesn't seem to be working.

 

 

Hi, thecolin 

I understand that some (if not all) of my injuries and from overreaching, I've pointed that out in my first post.  I'm past blaming myself, now I need to find a way to fix the damage that's been done. I have Foundation 1, but I can't jump into that, because I cannot do all of the exercises due to pain.

Hristiyan said:

 

I understand that some (if not all) of my injuries and from overreaching, I've pointed that out in my first post.  I'm past blaming myself, now I need to find a way to fix the damage that's been done. I have Foundation 1, but I can't jump into that, because I cannot do all of the exercises due to pain.

What part of F1 have you tried working on? You mentioned you were doing things like pull ups two days ago, which aren't in F1.

Maybe your doctor is right? Take a very long time off, maybe even a year, and get totally pain free. You can still stay relatively fit by walking and watching your diet.

Maybe find a hobby to take your mind off working out and once you're fully recovered very slowly and gradually start adding in some very light exercise.

You've got your whole life ahead of you to get strong, don't jeopardise that by seriously injuring yourself now.

I recommend listening to your doctor. Maybe get a second opinion or go to a physical therapist to see what they say.

Murray Truelove said:

Maybe your doctor is right? Take a very long time off, maybe even a year, and get totally pain free. You can still stay relatively fit by walking and watching your diet.

Maybe find a hobby to take your mind off working out and once you're fully recovered very slowly and gradually start adding in some very light exercise.

You've got your whole life ahead of you to get strong, don't jeopardise that by seriously injuring yourself now.

I recommend listening to your doctor. Maybe get a second opinion or go to a physical therapist to see what they say.

This. Some injuries are permanent. That is not to say you cannot recover to almost 100%, but sometimes it literally takes a year of rest with rehab thrown in at the ending stretch.

I'm not saying to give up. Definitely get as many second opinions as you can, keep exploring new doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors, etc. I know you said much is not available to you now, but keep searching while you recover.

Bottom line exercise wise, if it causes pain. STOP. This is not optional and if you continue through pain, things will only get worse.

Hristiyan said:

Hello,

No, I've never been to a chiropractor. To be honest, I'm not sure If I even can find one in my country. But the important thing is that now I am in China and here, I'm sure, I cannot find.

 

The closest thing to a chiropractic adjustment some expats have experienced is going to one of the really vigorous massage clincs that also forces bones back into place while giving a massage.

Considering we may be dealing with a fractured vertebra here a conservative approach is best. I personally wouldn't recommend any chiropractic or deep massage until you know exactly what you are dealing with.

Have you had X-rays or an MRI?

As others have said, it may be you really do need to just rest, with only very light strength work at best until the injury has healed.

thecolin said:

What part of F1 have you tried working on? You mentioned you were doing things like pull ups two days ago, which aren't in F1.

Hi thecolin,

Since I've got injured I haven't tried anything from F1, I know there are pushing exercises there and at the time (and still) my wrists cannot handle this type of pressure.

Murray Truelove said:

Maybe your doctor is right? Take a very long time off, maybe even a year, and get totally pain free. You can still stay relatively fit by walking and watching your diet.

Maybe find a hobby to take your mind off working out and once you're fully recovered very slowly and gradually start adding in some very light exercise.

You've got your whole life ahead of you to get strong, don't jeopardise that by seriously injuring yourself now.

I recommend listening to your doctor. Maybe get a second opinion or go to a physical therapist to see what they say.

Murray Truelove, 

Thanks for your opinion. But does an injury heal itself without rehab exercises?

TANSTAAFL said:

This. Some injuries are permanent. That is not to say you cannot recover to almost 100%, but sometimes it literally takes a year of rest with rehab thrown in at the ending stretch.

 

I'm not saying to give up. Definitely get as many second opinions as you can, keep exploring new doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors, etc. I know you said much is not available to you now, but keep searching while you recover.

 

Bottom line exercise wise, if it causes pain. STOP. This is not optional and if you continue through pain, things will only get worse.

Thanks for your opinion, TANSTAAFL.

I'm definitely not doing exercises that cause pain.

Rayne-William said:

The closest thing to a chiropractic adjustment some expats have experienced is going to one of the really vigorous massage clincs that also forces bones back into place while giving a massage.

Yes, I can start going to a massage more often.

Cole Dano said:

Considering we may be dealing with a fractured vertebra here a conservative approach is best. I personally wouldn't recommend any chiropractic or deep massage until you know exactly what you are dealing with.

 

Have you had X-rays or an MRI?

 

As others have said, it may be you really do need to just rest, with only very light strength work at best until the injury has healed.

 

 

Hi, Cole Dano. 

I've had an X-ray on my lower back, in the very few months I've injured my lower back. There is nothing wrong on the X-ray. I've never had MRI.

Thank you all for your opinions, I really appreciate it. 

I'm not a doctor or a physio therapist etc.

Your list of injuries is quite long and if it was my spine I'd be very cautious about making it worse.

Some injuries will get better with rest, others benefit from additional rehab.

Hristiyan said:

Hi thecolin,

 

Since I've got injured I haven't tried anything from F1, I know there are pushing exercises there and at the time (and still) my wrists cannot handle this type of pressure.

 

There are some basic pushing exercises for one of the 7 progressions that you can leave out if they're impossible for you. There are also some good wrist and shoulder prep exercises in H1. But what you probably really need is the mobility. Try just working on the mobility as a routine and see how you feel.

It sounds like you may have the exact same approach as the many other people who come here to ask about injuries. That being, keep doing what you've always been doing and then stop when the injury flares up. Then wait for the pain to go away and go right back to what was causing the problem in the first place. I suggested F1 because it appears that aside from injuries, your routine probably needs just as much rehab.

Dealing with your injuries obviously takes priority over jumping back into exercise, but this forum is probably best suited for finding a healthier way to exercise. Your injuries are probably best dealt with by an appropriate professional.

Thank you all for your opinions. I appreciate it.