Shoulder injury from pressing

[ya5een]

Hi all

Following on from my squat form check I am posting regarding the shoulder injury I mentioned there.

- 28 years old, male, new to training

- Chief Complaint - my left shoulder aches usually after either bench press or press, lots of clicking (without pain) which was not there prior to the injury

- The injury occurred whilst pressing 33kg on 22/02/12 and I missed reps on sets 3, 4 and 5 (I was doing stronglifts 5x5 at the time). I felt no pain during or after my workout.
I woke up the next morning with a very sore left trap. Through the course of the day the pain radiated to the side of my shoulder. I played 5 a side football that evening and the running caused me to experience very sharp pain almost along a line from my acromion down the side of my shoulder. This pain was gone the next day but I was left with a dull ache around the top of my shoulder.
The doctor told me to rest and take painkillers and stop pressing or bench pressing which seemed to be working until a fortnight later. Whilst pulling a top off overhead with my left arm I felt a stabbing pain on the trap side of my acromion and the ache came back.

- Pain level was 7, now 2
- Pain is a dull ache around the top rear of my shoulder joint with some light burning/itching sensation at what feels like the front of the socket
- Not pressing seems to make it better
- Pressing seems to be much worse than bench pressing though it's not painful to press

- There has never been any noticeable bruising or swelling. If I raise my arm in front and then lower it I can feel something flick back into place on the top, outside of edge of my shoulder as my arm almost reaches my side again. My shoulder clicks a lot which it did not do before.

I hope I have been able to describe my injury for your understanding. I would hope to get some advice from you guys before going to see my doctor again who will tell me to "rest and take painkillers" as usual.

Thanks again in advance for any input

Yaseen

[quagmire]

Have you been icing it?

[ya5een]

Have you been icing it?

Yes, I iced a lot after the initial injury. Then when I started pressing again I would ice after my workout but now I don't as the pain is light and usually kicks in the day after.

I will continue to ice as I'm sure that will have some positive effect. But I'm scared about causing progressive small damage to my shoulder which over time may lead to a big injury. Is this possible?

[quagmire]

Have you seen a PT?
Unfortunately these injuries take a while to heal, sometimes they never heal fully and can only be managed.
Progressive damage is possible.

Is it a rotator cuff injury?

Have you tried some rehab exercises?

Does working out with a 20% reduced weight make it better?

[Immortal_k]

What happened during the lift that caused the injury? This is unusual.

[ya5een]

I was seeing a Physiotherapist about a long standing ankle injury and asked her about it and she told me it sounds like impingement and that i should keep taking anti inflams and stop pressing and benching, if it didn't improve in 3 months then ask my GP for an ultrasound. I've been to see the GP today and he wouldn't refer me for an ultrasound but said I can have a cortisone injection. I told him to refer me to the physio again so I'm waiting for an appointment which will probably take upto 14 weeks (the nhs can be pretty shit at times).

Whilst I found it painful to press I was doing light weight internal and external rotations and the side/front raise (emptying a can) exercise. I don't know if this helped in any way but as soon as I could press the empty bar again without pain (beginning of June) i pressed the bar for a few sessions then started adding 0.5kg per session. I am upto 28kg now and although it is not painful to press (but it does ache afterwards), the rear of my left side just doesn't feel as tight as my right side at the top of the press.

Nothing actually happened during the workout that would have made me think I was injured, I did 5, 5, 3, 3 and 2 reps at 33kg then finished off with my Deadlifts at 90kg. I was fine all evening then woke up the next day with a very sore shoulder but no signs of swelling or bruising.

Sorry that I can't be specific about body parts/areas, I have described as best as I can with my limited knowledge.

[Immortal_k]

I really cannot say except to let pain be your guide, as long as you can perform the movement with little to no pain, keep doing it. Also, avoid front/lateral raises; there's really no point if you press.

Have you read the book? SS 3'rd edition Chapter 3: The Press. It goes into detail as to how the Press is safe in terms of the shoulder muscle health, correct technique, and faults and corrections.

In the correct press lockout, the weaker muscles are supported by the healthy ones, and as the injured muscles heal, they are able to resume an increasing amount of their normal functional load if correct technique is utilized with weights light enough to permit it.

[quagmire]

I was seeing a Physiotherapist about a long standing ankle injury and asked her about it and she told me it sounds like impingement and that i should keep taking anti inflams and stop pressing and benching, if it didn't improve in 3 months then ask my GP for an ultrasound.

But it HAS improved right?

I'd also recommend to take a week off every 6 weeks or so, no lifting/running whatsoever in the week off, then start again.
Other lifts you can start right where you left off, but for bench and press, reduce by 1-2kgs when you resume.
And in the week off, keep icing the area.

[ya5een]

But it HAS improved right?

Yes it has definitely improved compared to how it was for the first month or two. And I made a mistake in the above, probably not important though, I should have said that the physio asked me to come back for an ultrasound if the pain had not gone after three months.

I'd also recommend to take a week off every 6 weeks or so, no lifting/running whatsoever in the week off, then start again.
Other lifts you can start right where you left off, but for bench and press, reduce by 1-2kgs when you resume.
And in the week off, keep icing the area.

Okay, thanks for that, I will try it. I'll also update when I have seen the physio.

[ya5een]

Have you read the book? SS 3'rd edition Chapter 3: The Press. It goes into detail as to how the Press is safe in terms of the shoulder muscle health, correct technique, and faults and corrections.

I have the 2nd edition, I will re read the press chapter thanks.