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Thread: Lingering shoulder pain

  1. #1
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    Default Lingering shoulder pain

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    Hi guys,

    I’ve had pain in the front of my left shoulder since waking up the day after lifting chest in late May. I tried to let it rest and do some rubber band work to avoid paying to see a doctor and PT but didn’t get better. I finally had to go to the doctor and the x-ray was “perfect” and then I completed 6 weeks of PT before being cleared to resume doing whatever activities I was doing before (weight lifting and playing rec league baseball).

    I started the Starting Strength program in mid-August, right after completing PT. I was lifting and mixing in the PT regimen I’d been doing for the past 6 weeks, although I was cutting back on the PT regimen as my shoulders would feel absolutely exhausted after lifting weights AND doing PT during the same day.

    I’m still feeling some intense pain during bench pressing when I lower the bar to my chest. Pressing forward or above my head never seems to bother me, just when lowering the bar during a bench press.

    Is there something I can do to relieve this pain? I’m willing to continue lifting weights through the pain, but not at the risk of permanently damaging my shoulder.

    I don’t have a video of my bench press at the moment, but I can get one soon if that would help.

    Thanks,

    Alex

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grazing Marco View Post
    Hi guys,

    I’ve had pain in the front of my left shoulder since waking up the day after lifting chest in late May. I tried to let it rest and do some rubber band work to avoid paying to see a doctor and PT but didn’t get better. I finally had to go to the doctor and the x-ray was “perfect” and then I completed 6 weeks of PT before being cleared to resume doing whatever activities I was doing before (weight lifting and playing rec league baseball).

    I started the Starting Strength program in mid-August, right after completing PT. I was lifting and mixing in the PT regimen I’d been doing for the past 6 weeks, although I was cutting back on the PT regimen as my shoulders would feel absolutely exhausted after lifting weights AND doing PT during the same day.

    I’m still feeling some intense pain during bench pressing when I lower the bar to my chest. Pressing forward or above my head never seems to bother me, just when lowering the bar during a bench press.

    Is there something I can do to relieve this pain? I’m willing to continue lifting weights through the pain, but not at the risk of permanently damaging my shoulder.

    I don’t have a video of my bench press at the moment, but I can get one soon if that would help.

    Thanks,

    Alex
    Without a video of your bench press, it would be hard to say. I think the 6 weeks of PT specific exercises show you precisely how beneficial they are. They did not change your symptoms at all. Pain with lowering tends to be one of two things: 1) tendon related pain or 2) AC joint related pain.

  3. #3
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    Is it a rotator cuff injury ?

  4. #4
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    Nockian, the precise answer is, "We have no idea." There is nothing definitively diagnostic about the information that he provided in the original post. All we have information on is: 1) it is an insidious onset, atraumatic mechanism of injury; 2) he had 6 weeks of physical therapy; 3) it hurts when he conducts the eccentric phase of the bench press but not painful in a press, and 4) he has kinesiophobia and is already demonstrating some catastrophizing. We don't know how old he is, we have no information about his prior level of function, training history, previous medical history, etc. or anything else that would help narrow down, with any precision, the most likely involved pain generator. But, it should be noted that we don't really have to care much about the actual diagnosis. In this case, the reason for seeking medical treatment (through PT) was for shoulder pain. In lieu of a precise diagnosis, shoulder pain is enough to work with.

  5. #5
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    I am 32 years old, 6'2, 315 lbs.
    The official diagnosis was "shoulder impingement."
    What confuses me if the term "perfect" that the sports medicine doctor used to describe what he saw on the x-ray.
    Regardless, I'll have a bench press video uploaded before the end of this week.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grazing Marco View Post
    What confuses me if the term "perfect" that the sports medicine doctor used to describe what he saw on the x-ray.
    What confuses you about that? I'd be happy to explain this through if you can give me an explanation on why that term confuses you.

  7. #7
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    When I typed that, I was thinking about how you mentioned it's possible my AC joint is messed up. If that is the case, would that not have been visible on the X-ray?
    Really hope that doesn't come across as ignorant as it may.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grazing Marco View Post
    When I typed that, I was thinking about how you mentioned it's possible my AC joint is messed up. If that is the case, would that not have been visible on the X-ray?
    Really hope that doesn't come across as ignorant as it may.
    Degenerative changes in the AC joint are frighteningly common in individuals over the age of 25. Degenerative changes are only loosely correlated with symptomology in the shoulder. Pain does not image well. A radiograph is really just taken to make sure there is no gross osseous (bone) deformity, there is no fracture present, and that there is nothing growing in there. Even with high resolution magnetic resonance imaging, the findings are not always indicative of symptoms.

  9. #9
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    starting strength coach development program
    Here is a video of my gut and bench pressing technique.

    YouTube

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