upper back pain under scapula

Hi everyone,

for the last 4 weeks i experience shoulder pain under the scapula and get really tight and hard muscles that lead to limited head mobility after doing the thoracic stretch series. I guess the main culprits are "reach underneath" and "supine trap stretch" - because after this exercises when switching to the stall bars i feel how my upper back gets tight.

It takes almost a week to get soft and i always felt good when i did the stretch again the next week. Today, after the supine trap stretch i felt how my upper back got tight, again, and i stopped and did some rolling on my LAX balls instead.

Can this really happen from this exercises? I Feel the stretch "reach underneath" the most under my scapula - but not as pain, only as a stretching sensation.

Should i take a longer break?

Thank you, 

Jochen

I used to get pain there. Here is what solved it for me (~2 months once I figured out the best protocols).

Stretch the chest (pic minor)-
Lying chest elevated (on bench etc), pack your shoulders (put them a safe position) and bring your arms out to a T with 2-5 lbs in each hand. They should dangle in the air and not touch the ground. It will be intense in the chest, try to feel it most under the collar bone. I usually hold ~2 mins or 20 breaths.

Strengthen Upper Back and Shoulders-
Lying stomach face down doing IWYT. Slow controlled CORRECT form. I do before every shoulder exercise. Also after every stretching session.

Passive Overhead Hang-
Palms forward don't hook thumbs and try to make body as long as possible. I usually try to get ~2 minutes of hang time. A few 45s~ sessions here and there. Feels good.

Basically it sounds like you got a tight chest and poor & weak sapular activation. So common.

Hi JOchen, please consult a physio terapist, then come back here and tell me the response, I will give you more detail on what you can use specifically from the stretch series.

Hi @Alessandro Mainente, he always treated trigger points under the scapula (felt like my eyes were going to explode), the lats and in the neck region. After that he was able to get the vertebra back in position by moving my head left and right. I used warmth and he recommended going swimming. It always helped but took almost a week to get really better.

He says that for me sleeping on my stomach is making things worse and i always start the mornings with more problems. That´s why i use a blackroll and then use some LAX balls to massage some trigger points and to move my vertebra. Doing that i hear some clicking in the vertebra region and then i feel better.

Also my bent position as a dentist during the day is making matters worse. On the first days when my muscles are the hardest i use a warmth ointment which really does help.

As to muscular limitations - i know that i have the tight chest which is why i try to continue with the stretch sessions. It is also the limiting factor in the handstand series for me which i keep working on. I feel light workouts also help even when i feel like i shouldn´t work out as i always feel better after it.

Also i still have pain in my shoulder region (like when i simply raise my arm) which i got from the windshield wiper. After really no progress i decided to give it more rest and went back to the circle arch up and make sure i have great form for each step until i am back up. I also feel the front shoulder is the limiting factor when doing the negative hanging leg lift. I didn´t feel it when doing the 1/2 hanging leg lift - only when i get my legs higher then this position i feel the discomfort in the front of my shoulders. So in only do 1 rep until i feel like i get this problem checked.

Hope that helps, thank you very much, Jochen

Thank you @Aaron Gustafson. I feel like you are completely right in what you are saying! Thank you very much

The rounded forward posture leads generally to scapulae disfunction and other problems. did you have some muscle length test with your physio?

No I didn't. He also didn't offer one. Should I get one? 

@Alessandro Mainente the pain was completely gone after 3 days. I only massaged using a LAX ball and applied heat to my back and kept doing my sport. So it should only be a muscular problem i guess. Today is thoracic bridge day- hope everything goes well

Everything went really good! I only did a very light stretch for "reach underneath" and "supine trap stretch"- no problems!! Yeah

Perfect, happy to hear that.