Reoccurring neck and shoulder injury

[MJay]

- Age, Gender, current training status: 24. Male. Currently novice strength standard. ~4 years ago did do SS and olympic lifting to intermediate standard.

- Chief Complaint: Rear right side of neck I feel a muscular strain that limits movement. Pain felt roughly where the right trap meets the neck. Other complaint is pain/inflammation felt on the underneath of both shoulder blades, generally toward the inside toward the spine.

- Narrative describing the mechanism of injury: Neck was originally strained just short of 2 years ago doing overhead press. I felt something wasn't right/changed and I foolishly carried on. My right rear side of my neck was painful doing just about anything but the pain subsided after 2/3 days and entirely gone after 1/2 weeks with normal movement back. Since then I also felt discomfort on the underneath of my shoulder blades. I can't easily identify a direct cause but it was certainly worse after any significant training session involving shoulder movements (circuits more than anything) - however it has never really felt painful, more like inflammed or uncomfortable and like I was doing myself damage in long term or having a real injury looming over me.
After that weights session I emphasised general cardio/fitness stuff since I was going on to do 1 year of basic training. I also saw a physio that didn't really identify anything concrete or think there was much of a problem since I had mobility and just prescribed rest. On maybe 2 occasions during the year of training I noticed that same feeling in my shoulders - I think after sessions with a lot of pressups and burpees.
Now I am clear of that regime I have restarted doing SS. During OH press I got the same muscle strain in my neck although not nearly as bad and I have had a similar recurrence of the shoulder inflammation/thing - but again not particularly bad.
My chief concern here is fixing what is a recurring problem. I think form has something to do with it (I have previously moved my neck forward too much doing OH press) but I'm also concerned it may be some particular muscular weakness or inbalance or flexibility thing as well.
I will be going to the physio where I am stationed at the moment but any advice or pointers would be appreciated so I fix this and better understand it.

- Pain (on a scale of 1-10): Neck 2-6, Shoulders 1-3.
- Describe the pain (burning, shooting, aching, deep, sharp): Neck - sharp, shooting, muscular strain sensation. Shoulders - more aching, deep, but more of an 'injury' sensation than normal ache I would expect.
- What makes it better? Rest. But only temporarily if the movements below are being challenged.
- What makes it worse? Neck - OH press. All subsequent neck movement. Shoulders - most pressing, particularly bench and pressups, and also pullups/chins.
- How do your symptoms behave throughout the day? Neck - when it was strained, pain be tolerable if I made a very conscious effort to keep it still. Shoulders - feel them subtly from time to time during the day/s after significant shoulder movements but effectively unnoticeable ~2/3 days after.

- Signs and Symptoms: no external signs/symptoms that I am aware of.

[Joe Mummery]

Hi, MJay, I'm currently experiencing a similar problem, I'm waiting to see a doctor on monday to try and get a diagnosis or a referral for physio. In the meantime I've been looking at upper cross syndrome, which may be the reason I got injured in the first place, not sure yet until I see a professional. I've been stretching the tight areas, the levator scapulae, upper traps and pecs, and been doing some exercises to activate my lower traps, serratus anterior and rotator cuffs. I figured that even if it isn't upper cross syndrome, stretching, foam rolling and activating that area will help out anyway. I have had some relief from doing these exercises but it's too early to say whether it will make a difference long term. Hope this helps

[vanslix]

Any neuro symptoms at any point in either arm/hands/fingers like numbness, tingling, weakness, burning, etc? If so, an MRI is warranted.

A form check is a good place to start. But from your description it's a bit hard to specifically nail down. Is the neck pain in the trap or the muscle fibers underneath? A good masseuse to identify any trigger points would be helpful to figure out the problem, too. The other pain, if it's in between scapula and spine, that's your rhomboids, levator scapulae, and possibly traps. Working at a computer with normal posture (ie poor) is notorious for causing this. Having a ten+ pound bowling ball on your spine leaning towards a desk with slumped shoulders will add up quickly. Then again, I may be completely misunderstanding your description.

[atabi]

I had a pain pattern similar to yours (including no radiating pain or numbness). Major contributing factor was mild to moderate cervical disc arthritis. Major instigator was pulling from overhead (e.g. chins).
Best "medication" was time and Rip's advice to suspend exercises that hurt during or afterward. I did go to a chiro, a doctor, x-rays, pain killers, etc.
Best recurrence prevention advice was from Rip: do not move your neck under load.
I had a mild recurrence last week. Best as a I can tell, it was due to Presses, and it was probably because to get under the bar I led with my neck instead of pushing my whole body/torso under the bar (i.e. I moved my neck under load).
Also helpful are some targeted warmups for the shoulder region.
Good luck.