Shoulder injury pressing, but no other signs of shoulder trouble

[Milo's Ghost]

Hey guys,

If the answer to my questions below are just 'shut up and get an MRI,' no need to approve this. I searched but couldn't find anything similar, but if it's been covered, same deal.

I've been back on an abbreviated LP for the last few weeks after a looooong layoff. Got a minor little pain in my left shoulder when pressing, near and at lockout, but no big deal so didn't sweat it. Last Weds., though, I was on my first warmup set and it just gave in. Sharp, sharp pain in the left shoulder - same spot as before - maybe a 7/10. Nearly dropped the damned thing on my head. Needless to say, I ended pressing there.

Went back on Friday to try to press again, and it was worse this time. Couldn't even do a set of five with the bar without the pain coming in pretty bad.

The pain is in the middle of the shoulder posterior/anterior-wise and a couple inches down from the end of the acromion. And - if this makes sense - it feels 'inside' the shoulder rather than near the surface. It doesn't feel muscular, though I wouldn't swear to that.

As I said, I only feel it near and at lockout (I'd say 3/4 way up and above) in the press. Nothing else aggravates it - I have full, pain-free ROM in every direction with my shoulder if it's unweighted; benching, dips, chins, etc. don't bother it at all; and it doesn't ache, hasn't swollen up, and isn't sensitive to touch. It's literally pressing overhead and that's it that bothers it, and it bothers it *a lot*.

So, two questions:

1) Any idea what it might be? Or is this just an MRI situation and I won't know anything until then?

2) In the meantime, my plan was to try to keep some activity on it with (very) light dumbbell presses for high reps, which I can do with about 10 lbs. without aggravating it, going up in small increments and letting pain be my guide. Any other suggestions?

Thanks a lot for any insights, and for all your help here.

[Tom Campitelli]

Still not sure where you are talking about here. When you say "a couple inches down from the end of the acromion," do you mean on the humerus? If so, that's not your shoulder proper, but your upper arm.

[kurt1911]

I'm not a coach but I hope you'll forgive me for jumping in since I dealt with the exact same situation a few months ago while working on my novice LP. No shoulder pain doing anything but presses but when I got near lockout overhead it felt like getting stabbed in the rear deltoid. My problem turned out to be trigger points. I found a very good massage therapist who specialized in trigger point therapy and got one (intensely painful) massage a week for about six weeks. One of the worst points for me was in the tricep. I was able to treat that one myself in between sessions with the therapist. It worked, no more shoulder pain doing presses. It hasn't come back and my last session was in October.

This is the kind of trigger point therapy I'm referring to. If you can find a massage therapist who's familiar with this book they can probably help you. Just bring something to bite on while they work because it HURTS.

[Milo's Ghost]

Yeah, it feels like it's at or near the top of the humerus. Definitely not a scapula issue. No idea if it's a bone or tendon thing, tho. Doesn't feel muscular.

[Tom Campitelli]

I cannot see the image. Use an image hosting site like postimage.org and then embed that here.

[Milo's Ghost]

Argh. I wasn't trying to post an image. I don't know what that was about.

I'm starting to feel like one of the retards on here I usually mock. Maybe I should take that as a sign.

[Greg Esres]

My problem turned out to be trigger points. I

This was going to be my suggestion. IMO, it should be the first thing anyone looks for when experiencing pain, absent some obvious cause, like a dagger planted in the chest.

[Tom Campitelli]

I am not sure what to tell you since I cannot really figure out where you are hurting.