Another shoulder pain topic

Hi everyone,

today I need your advice regarding an injury.

Some time ago, I started to get some pain in my rear left shoulder which has been increasing over the last two or three weeks.
I first noticed it while swimming, during the pulling back of the arms in breast stroke when hands are roughly level with shoulders. It would usually start without any trigger (at least I can't say I noticed a particular movement or so upon which it would begin), sometimes disappeared after one or two laps and sometimes persist so I had to finish early.
Then, more recently, I noticed the same pain/sensation when I started doing supine wall extensions after my workouts, again when hands are about at shoulder height.
Lastly, after yesterday's workout (F4+H1) I noticed a sensation in the same spot (although it did not exactly hurt) when I was playing around with prone overgrip dislocates. I felt it while returning to the starting position, I'd say roughly between 45° and 30°. I immediately stopped and as an ad hoc action, consulted with one of the coaches at the gym who suspected a very tight spot  in the rear deltoid as the source of my trouble - I have trouble with a lot of myogeloses and tightness in my entire upper back/shoulder region (TBs has been both a blessing and a curse) but it never occurred to me that the delt could be suffering, too. This is particularly frustrating because my left shoulder is my "better" shoulder (i.e., not suffering from impingement).

Do you have any advice what I can do before seeing a doctor?

Any insight will be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards

Leo

Doing almost all the Im´s from Hbp on daily basis helpt me. 

Especially the Im´s from Hbp17 and onwards.

You need to stretch out all the internal rotators and also the external rotators especially the supraspinatus.

Can you post a photo of yourself by the side? totally relaxed, no t-shirt.

Hi Leonhard

to me it sounds like an Impingement-story. Even if it doesn't hurt in the same spot as your right shoulder. Impingement is not a precise diagnosis; there are several structures in your shoulder which can get pinched and thereby get irritated and then hurt. Mostly it is a functional/motor control problem and not an anatomical one. If you know any good (Sport)Physiotherapist, go see him/her rather than a doctor.

Learn to get your scapula in the right position.

For yourself you can do the stretches of the rotator cuff + self-massage of the shoulder muscles, with tennisball or black roll, you can find videos.

Thank you all so much for your answers!
 

On 6.7.2016 at 11:10 AM, Mats Trane said:

Doing almost all the Im´s from Hbp on daily basis helpt me. 

Especially the Im´s from Hbp17 and onwards.

Mats,
thanks for the input, unfortunately at the moment I only have access to F1 material - guess I better start saving for the upgrade. In the meantime, I'll lightly work all the iMs I can access right now.
I have been doing German arm swings, Xiaopeng fwd and the arm circles in my warmup/limbering already.

On 6.7.2016 at 11:53 AM, Alessandro Mainente said:

You need to stretch out all the internal rotators and also the external rotators especially the supraspinatus.

Can you post a photo of yourself by the side? totally relaxed, no t-shirt.

Alessandro,
I'll make sure I have someone take the picture during the weekend.
I looked for rotator cuff stretches online and they seem to target my problem quite well. Can you recommend any in particular? From Mats' post I guess there will also be rotator cuff work in higher HBP iMs, right?

On 6.7.2016 at 1:25 PM, Petra Dvorak said:

Hi Leonhard

to me it sounds like an Impingement-story. Even if it doesn't hurt in the same spot as your right shoulder. Impingement is not a precise diagnosis; there are several structures in your shoulder which can get pinched and thereby get irritated and then hurt. Mostly it is a functional/motor control problem and not an anatomical one. If you know any good (Sport)Physiotherapist, go see him/her rather than a doctor.

Learn to get your scapula in the right position.

For yourself you can do the stretches of the rotator cuff + self-massage of the shoulder muscles, with tennisball or black roll, you can find videos.

 

Petra,
thanks for your insight as well. Regarding a diagnosis, I have no clue, what the coach said was of course only a suspicion. I will go and see a PT if/when I can but as far as I'm informed, here in Germany you need to have a doctor's diagnosis and a prescription for physical therapy first.
I also started rolling out my shoulders with a tennis ball. Found some more tight spots...

http://www.stretching-exercises-guide.com/images/horizontal_adduction.jpg

This position is quite beneficial but with some suggestions:

-the stretched arm must be held with shoulder depressed all the time

- a little bit of internal rotation of the arm stretched could be especially beneficial

-BE CAREFUL.

Thank you! I think I'm feeling it. Isn't this somewhat similar to TBs SE13/14 or am I getting something completely wrong?

Hey Leonhard,

How are your biceps? Coach says shoulder problems are often caused by tight biceps, and for me that was the case as well. What really helped was the seated shoulder extension stretch that's also in TBs. I did it every evening with reduced ROM but held it for 4-5 min, and within 2 weeks the issue was solved. 

12 hours ago, Joachim Nagler said:

Hey Leonhard,

How are your biceps? Coach says shoulder problems are often caused by tight biceps, and for me that was the case as well. What really helped was the seated shoulder extension stretch that's also in TBs. I did it every evening with reduced ROM but held it for 4-5 min, and within 2 weeks the issue was solved. 

Joachim,
thanks for your suggestion. I tried it last night, very carefully (burnt child, so to speak), and the biceps felt very good afterwards. Even if it will not help with the acute issue, I think it may be worthwile to continue

13 hours ago, Leonhard Krahé said:

Thank you! I think I'm feeling it. Isn't this somewhat similar to TBs SE13/14 or am I getting something completely wrong?

This version is for rotator cuff specifically for the upper/medium part, the internal rotation is necessary as a pre stretch.

Small update, the rotator cuff work has been really helpful, I feel a lot better already. Will keep doing that
Attached, see a picture of my hyperkyphosis and rounded forward shoulders; I'll reupload when I have one from a better angle and with better lighting.

Wow guys, I never thought that stretching out the rotator cuff felt that good. Seems to be hitting right home.