Shoulder + Leg Pain

[ddzc]

Hey all,

I have a messed up history here. 1 yr 10 mths ago I busted something in my right shoulder on bench press. 1yr 5 mths ago I busted my left leg (tibion bone area), unsure how, I just got the pain one day...

Until this day, both are killing me. They only kill me when I put strain on them (ie weight lifting). My leg kills when I do squatting movements so i'm unable to do squats, lunges, etc. My shoulder kills when doing any chest excercise. Kills a bit on some shoulder and a bit when doing heavy tricep pull downs.

I'm currently hitting the gym but I don't do any excercises which I feel pain on both parts and I do light weights (have been since the injuries except for the mths off I took to relax/repair which I lifted nothing or did anything physical)

I've done ultrasound and xray testing for both many times and the results were fine, no problems. I took many months off physical activity and it hasn't healed. I've done excercises to repair rotators, etc, nothing. I've done physio/rehab (one normal, 2 sports physio) over the period of a few mths for both the leg and shoulder and no one has been able to resolve the problems. I've also done accupuncture by two different people.

The last physio I went to advised to visit an Orthopedic Surgeon.

I recently got my MRI done for the shoulder and they dont see anything wrong. All it says is tendiniosis. I visited the surgeon with my results from ultrasound, xrays and mri, and this guy states that surgery is not needed on both the leg and shoulder and that I should stop lifting and nothing can be done.

I told him to do something about it and he referred me to another orthopedic surgeon.

Basically i've been running around for almost 2 yrs, spent a crap load of money and time and nothing is resolved.

I have no where else to go but here, possibly someone has some insight on a similar injury that they experienced and overcame..

Thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

Okay, I'm going to make a sticky of this now, but I'm putting it here first:

Here is the tried-and-true injury rehab method for muscle-belly injuries we got from Starr and that has worked for years better than any other method I've ever used. It also works well on orthopeadic injuries in general, and should be tried before anything more elaborate is used. Wait 3-4 days until the pain starts to "blur",which indicates that the immediate process of healing has stopped the bleeding and has started to repair the tissue. Then use an exercise that directly works the injury, i.e. that makes it hurt, in this case the squat. Use the empty bar and do 3 sets of 25 with perfect form, allowing yourself NO favoring the injured side. If it's ready to rehab you will know by the pain: if the pain increases during the set, it's not ready, if it stays the same or feels a little better toward the end of the set, it is ready to work.

The NEXT DAY do it again, and add a small amount of weight, like 45 x 25 x 2 , 55 x 25. Next day, 45 x 25, 55 x 25, 65 x 25. Continue adding weight every day, increasing as much as you can tolerate each workout. It will hurt, and it's supposed to hurt, but you should be able to tell the difference between rehab pain and re-injury. If you can't, you will figure it out soon enough. This method works by flushing blood through the injury while forcing the tissue to reorganize in its normal pattern of contractile architecture.

After 10 days of 25s, go up in weight and down in reps to 15s, then to 10s, and finally to fives. During this time do NO OTHER HEAVY WORK, so that your resources can focus on the injury. You should be fixed in about 2 weeks, squatting more than you hurt yourself with.

This method has the advantage of preventing scar formation in the muscle belly, since the muscle is forced to heal in the context of work and normal contraction, using the movement pattern it normally uses. The important points are 1.) perfect form with 2.) light weights that can be handled for high reps, 3.) every day for two weeks, and 4.) no other heavy work that will interfere with the system-wide processes of healing the tear.

It is also very important through the whole process of healing the injury that ice be used, during the initial phase after the injury and after the workouts. Use it 20 on/20 off, many times a day at first and then tapering off to morning, after the workout, and before bed. Ice is your best friend in a muscle belly injury, holding down inflammation and fluid accumulation ("swelling") while at the same time increasing beneficial blood flow through the injury. But DO NOT USE ICE MORE THAN 20 MINUTES AT A TIME. More than that can cause more damage than it repairs.

This may actually be the most useful post on this entire little forum of mine, and if you use this method exactly you can save yourself many weeks of lost training and long-term problems with muscle-belly scarring. Try it and see.

[ddzc]

Thanks a lot Mark, i'll give it a try.

Any suggestions for the shoulder?

[Mark Rippetoe]

You don't regard the above response as a suggestion?