Injury while Pressing - Upper Back

[sirawesomes]

Hi Rip,


I used the search function, but couldn't find anything resembling my injury:

Age, Gender, current training status (new to training, experienced lifter, elite competitor, etc.)
20yo, male, novice definitely NDTP for months, currently trying to rectify this. Deloaded presses from 59kg to 55kg this session.

Chief Complaint (what hurts and what makes it bad enough to seek help on the board)....example, "my right shoulder hurts when I try bench pressing"
Pain/tightness in upper back to the left of spine, near start of ribs.

Narrative describing the mechanism of injury: In your own words, explain what happened, what you were doing, where it hurt, how long has it been since you first injured it
During the first warm up set for presses (20kg), locked out the bar violently and felt a strange pain in upper back.

Pain (on a scale of 1-10) At the time, about 2-3. Continued workout, ended up clean & pressing 60kg after worksets (for no fucking good reason).
Currently (approx 3 hour post injury), pain is about a 5-6, more uncomfortable than pure pain.
Describe the pain (burning, shooting, aching, deep, sharp) Aching pain and tightness in region.
What makes it better? Sitting motionless.
What makes it worse? Moving, especially anything involving thoracic extension.
How do your symptoms behave throughout the day? Not sure yet.

Signs and Symptoms (describe what the area looks like....swelling, bruising, etc.) and describe briefly what you can or can't do as a result of the injury Slightly swollen and red around area, no visible bruising (yet). Can't comfortably do much involving motion of thoracic spine (rotation, flexion, extension, lateral flexion).

I theorise it could be a tear in one of the muscles that are involved in thoracic extension, as I possibly was not maintaining tight extension during the light pressing, and locked out the bar a bit violently which results in some motion of my upper body. I do know this is uncommon, but if I'm injuring myself with a warm up, something uncommon is happening.

I plan to do a Starr rehab for presses, and likely do the same for squats (or deload at least, other form issues) and probably abstain from deadlifts until I'm 100% better.

My questions are:
1. Have you ever seen this sort of injury involved in pressing?
2. Would Starr's rehab protocol work for this case? Is there any advantage in using the protocol for squats as well as presses (unfortunately it seems every lift involves thoracic extension)?

Thanks for your time. This kind of access to such expertise and experience is uncommon, especially for free, and I want to let you know that I appreciate it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What has the chiropractor said about this?

[StrongLiftMyBalls]

What has the chiropractor said about this?

I would imagine at 20years old he may not have the money, or inclination to go straight to the Chrio. You're his first port-o-call is my guess. (its because you're cheap)

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'm also at a remote location. Many of you people fail to understand that this is a major factor.

[sirawesomes]

I might have been a bit premature in posting this question. After 5 days the pain has diminished to about a 1/10 if I sit for too long, and completely disappears with my first warm up set for squats. I'll continue to train unless it gets worse.

I would imagine at 20years old he may not have the money, or inclination to go straight to the Chrio. You're his first port-o-call is my guess. (its because you're cheap)

I'm also at a remote location. Many of you people fail to understand that this is a major factor.

Cheap is true, but I'm not stupid; I don't expect a diagnosis and full treatment plan from halfway across the world. Just hoping to access some of Rip's experience with strength training related injuries. I half-expected the chiropractor question, and would have seen one if the pain hadn't disappeared so quickly.

Thanks for your time anyway Rip, it is much appreciated.

[Will Morris]

Sounds contractile.....if so, the dulling of the pain suggests you are ready to begin rehabing it. By the way, the Starr protocol for muscle belly injuries is exceptionally sound in application according to the science of soft tissue healing.

[sirawesomes]

Sounds contractile.....if so, the dulling of the pain suggests you are ready to begin rehabing it. By the way, the Starr protocol for muscle belly injuries is exceptionally sound in application according to the science of soft tissue healing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a contractile injury (I'm assuming you're speaking in terms of muscle belly injuries) unlikely to occur with a submaximal load with a muscle that isn't really involved in a large range of motion of the skeleton?

I know I stated in my original post that I suspected it was something to do with a muscle involved in thoracic extension, but I suspect now it's more likely I "squished" something in my spine and it became inflamed, and the inflammation has since settled down, and can therefore be trained through. It's really less of a dulled pain, as much as a disappeared pain.

I might be wrong, and if my back suddenly explodes, I'll be off to the chiropractor/doctor/emergency room. But I've squatted, pressed and deadlifted heavy since the injury, and have experienced zero problems.

[Will Morris]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a contractile injury (I'm assuming you're speaking in terms of muscle belly injuries) unlikely to occur with a submaximal load with a muscle that isn't really involved in a large range of motion of the skeleton?

I know I stated in my original post that I suspected it was something to do with a muscle involved in thoracic extension, but I suspect now it's more likely I "squished" something in my spine and it became inflamed, and the inflammation has since settled down, and can therefore be trained through. It's really less of a dulled pain, as much as a disappeared pain.

I might be wrong, and if my back suddenly explodes, I'll be off to the chiropractor/doctor/emergency room. But I've squatted, pressed and deadlifted heavy since the injury, and have experienced zero problems.

So, you think it is more likely you injured bone, ligament, or intervertebral disk than a muscle belly because you weren't using a heavy weight? Further, you think it is more likely this pain has dulled as much as it has being a bone, ligament, or disk injury than if it had been a muscle belly strain?

If you think of what has happened since the injury in terms of tissue healing, which type of tissue do you think is most logically at fault here?