Undiagnosed Shoulder Pain - Trap, neck, joint

Hi guys, I have been having recurring pain in my left trapezius and shoulder joint and in my neck when I overuse my trapezius. I have seen a shoulder orthopod about 6 times but I have not been able to receive any diagnosis as to what the pain is resulting from.
I have a tingling pain that begins where my trap meets my neck and then gradually expands until my entire shoulder is burning. At this point my neck starts to lock up. The pain has gotten so bad that I am unable to work in a white-collar office environment without muscle relaxants and ibuprofen and I have problems driving for extended periods of time.

About a year ago, (March 2010) I was doing a lot of handstand pushups, neck bridges, bench press, etc. I was doing a set of 185 singles on incline which was more than I had ever done on the incline. This resulted in immediate pain inside the joint and the back of my shoulder/upper back. I continued training but phased out benchpress mostly from my workout. A second painful event occurred about a month later (April 2010) when I was working on my car breaking loose some stuck lug nuts and operating a scissor jack. I went to Urgent Care that day, they did an X-ray, and told me I had a rotator cuff problem. This is the only X-ray i have received and it did not show anything. I stopped benchpressing completely and continued lifting, while working on doing rotator cuff stretches. This did not give me any relief. In July 2010, I was carrying a desk with a friend of mine to move out of my apartment. My friend dropped one end of the desk and the shock load made my trap hurt incredibly bad. I took a lot of ibuprofen and iced it / heat packed it when I had the chance. I had to move a great deal of furniture around early July because of moving between apartments. I took July through August off from lifting. I saw the orthopod for the first time in July, he indicated that it may be distal clavical osteolysis and ordered an MRI. At the follow up appointment, he told me I just needed to rest it for awhile and I could resume lifting with light weights. By November, the pain had gotten pretty intense and I had to stop lifting again. I would say that the pain is about a 4 out of 10 at this time.

I saw the orthopod at the soonest I could, which was January, and the orthopod indicated that the MRI failed to show distal clavical osteolysis. I have had two extremity MRI's of the shoulder. Since then, I have had an EMG test to see if I had damaged/pinched nerves in the shoulder. My nerves are apparently healthy. This past week, I have had a full MRI of the trapezius to check for tears and an MRI of the cervical spine. Both are healthy.

The doctor stated that he does not know what is causing it, and that I should pursue accupuncture treatment to stop the trapezius spasming. I do not know if the joint still causes pain because I have not lifted weights since early november. I have lost about 15 lbs of muscle since then and I have been pretty miserable. I am also not able to work on my car, which is my main hobby besides training. Right now the pain when it does occur is about a 8 out of 10 relative to the 4 out of 10 in november. At time it does not hurt, but the minute I start using my shoulder it comes back full strength.

I honestly felt better when I was exercising back in november, even though it hurt bad, it didn't hurt this bad. I have not exercised in any capacity since november.

I am considering seeing another orthopod. Any ideas? I have not used my left arm/shoulder with any intensity since November and it has only gotten worse. Is it possible that I have DCO? Trapezius strain? I do not know if the pain originates in the joint because I have not lifted in months. It does not appear to be healing, it actually feels worse with each successive day. I have only had the 1 x-ray back in April 2010. I have had 2 extremity mri's of the shoulder joint. I have had 1 full mri of my left trapezius, radiologist said did not indicate tears. I have had 1 mri of my cervical spine.


At present, my left shoulder is swollen and sits possibly an inch higher than my right shoulder. I have a prescription for Flexeril which I tried taking but it makes me feel awful. I also take ibuprofen but it has limited benefits. I feel like I am atrophying away and I am unable to do my two big hobbies, cars and exercising. I vowed to stop all exercise from November through March as a way of insuring that it could possibly heal, but it only gets worse each day. I was able to bench 235 a year ago, now I could probably bench 85 lbs. I'm pretty upset about the whole thing.

Ampire,

Your situation sounds like mine -- lots of tests, no diagnosis, spin wheels with multiple doctors, etc.

In Oct '09 I originally injured what I thought was my right trap area doing a latpulldown. I continued to train and then next thing you know I had trouble doing any pressing. Then, just like you, I had tingling and burning emerge on my scapula. I've been through many orthos, physical therapists, shaman's, etc. I continued to try and train during this time and I'm pretty convinced I drove my nervous system into the ground and it's quite possible I have something lurking in the shoulder joint (despite doctors that say my shoulder is fine).

The first thing that jumps out to me is the combination of diagnostics showing nothing plus the tingling/burning. Exactly my situation. It's my understanding that tingling and burning is a classic sign of a nerve related issue. EMG's are notoriously iffy for diagnosis so it's not surprising that it came up empty.

Couple questions:

* Have you ever just stopped working out? I know this was problem #1 for me and I didn't stop until my mess started taking off.
* Did you look into getting a cervical spine MRI? Brachial plexus MRI?

I'd really recommend you find a good manual orthopedic therapist to try and calm the situation down via some stretching of all your neck, back, pec, and shoulder muscles. My guy told me that your brachial plexus can get compressed due to overtraining and create many "nervy" symptoms such as the burning. Also, if you have a tight pec minor and weak scapular stabalizers you're going to run into all kinds of problems. It's so ridiculous how many PTs recommend doing rotator cuff strengthening exercises right away. The first thing you need to do is loosen things up so you can then learn to move correctly again and then strengthen.

You should also stop training. Don't end up like me. I didn't stop and my "nerve" issues ended up travelling down my arm and to my fingers and now I have an ulnar nerve entrapement to deal with as well. You need to make your primary objective getting better. Take the time now.

I also think accupuncture would be a good idea. Some tissue work plus accupuncture could help to "reset" your nervous system in order to lay the proper foundation for strength work again.

I can sympathize.

KY

[QUOTE=kyoun1e;629114773]Ampire,

Your situation sounds like mine -- lots of tests, no diagnosis, spin wheels with multiple doctors, etc.

In Oct '09 I originally injured what I thought was my right trap area doing a latpulldown. I continued to train and then next thing you know I had trouble doing any pressing. Then, just like you, I had tingling and burning emerge on my scapula. I've been through many orthos, physical therapists, shaman's, etc. I continued to try and train during this time and I'm pretty convinced I drove my nervous system into the ground and it's quite possible I have something lurking in the shoulder joint (despite doctors that say my shoulder is fine).

The first thing that jumps out to me is the combination of diagnostics showing nothing plus the tingling/burning. Exactly my situation. It's my understanding that tingling and burning is a classic sign of a nerve related issue. EMG's are notoriously iffy for diagnosis so it's not surprising that it came up empty.

Couple questions:

* Have you ever just stopped working out? I know this was problem #1 for me and I didn't stop until my mess started taking off.
* Did you look into getting a cervical spine MRI? Brachial plexus MRI?

I'd really recommend you find a good manual orthopedic therapist to try and calm the situation down via some stretching of all your neck, back, pec, and shoulder muscles. My guy told me that your brachial plexus can get compressed due to overtraining and create many "nervy" symptoms such as the burning. Also, if you have a tight pec minor and weak scapular stabalizers you're going to run into all kinds of problems. It's so ridiculous how many PTs recommend doing rotator cuff strengthening exercises right away. The first thing you need to do is loosen things up so you can then learn to move correctly again and then strengthen.

You should also stop training. Don't end up like me. I didn't stop and my "nerve" issues ended up travelling down my arm and to my fingers and now I have an ulnar nerve entrapement to deal with as well. You need to make your primary objective getting better. Take the time now.

I also think accupuncture would be a good idea. Some tissue work plus accupuncture could help to "reset" your nervous system in order to lay the proper foundation for strength work again.

I can sympathize.

KY[/QUOTE]

Hey dude, yeah as stated above I had a cervical spine mri last week and I haven't trained since november. No cardio, no weight lifting, nothing. Lost a ton of weight and strength, pain still constant. I also have the pain in my scapula off and on. I will continue my vow to stop training until mid march and I will get the acupuncture. IDK what else to do.

Find a good tissue person. Seriously. You could be all kinds of tight and have imbalances all over causing nerve compression. This plus accupuncture would be a good place to start.

Did you see a neurologist for the EMG? If you haven't seen a neurologist yet, that could be another next step. They are better at dealing with symptoms that are burning or tingling.

KY

[QUOTE=kyoun1e;629123373]Find a good tissue person. Seriously. You could be all kinds of tight and have imbalances all over causing nerve compression. This plus accupuncture would be a good place to start.

Did you see a neurologist for the EMG? If you haven't seen a neurologist yet, that could be another next step. They are better at dealing with symptoms that are burning or tingling.

KY[/QUOTE]

The EMG was done by the neurologist at the ortho clinic I went to, as were the two extremeity MRIs but the cervical spine and trapezius MRI (both done back-to-back in a full size MRI machine) were done offsite at a hospital.

I have that sort of tightness and sometimes moving around makes it feel better, other times it makes it feel worse. The cold makes it worse. I think I will look into acupuncture, than physical therapy and maybe another ortho. My goal is to start lifting by July... I gain pretty fast, but I also loose really fast so its frustrating as it is.

[QUOTE=ampire;629131553]The EMG was done by the neurologist at the ortho clinic I went to, as were the two extremeity MRIs but the cervical spine and trapezius MRI (both done back-to-back in a full size MRI machine) were done offsite at a hospital.

I have that sort of tightness and sometimes moving around makes it feel better, other times it makes it feel worse. The cold makes it worse. I think I will look into acupuncture, than physical therapy and maybe another ortho. My goal is to start lifting by July... I gain pretty fast, but I also loose really fast so its frustrating as it is.[/QUOTE]

Also, this might sound crazy but the left trap spasms up into a tight knot and I've found that having a strong mixed drink tends to relieve the spasm better than anything else and once that knot relaxes it gets close to normal.

[QUOTE=ampire;629100243]Hi guys, I have been having recurring pain in my left trapezius and shoulder joint and in my neck when I overuse my trapezius. I have seen a shoulder orthopod about 6 times but I have not been able to receive any diagnosis as to what the pain is resulting from.
I have a tingling pain that begins where my trap meets my neck and then gradually expands until my entire shoulder is burning. At this point my neck starts to lock up. The pain has gotten so bad that I am unable to work in a white-collar office environment without muscle relaxants and ibuprofen and I have problems driving for extended periods of time.

About a year ago, (March 2010) I was doing a lot of handstand pushups, neck bridges, bench press, etc. I was doing a set of 185 singles on incline which was more than I had ever done on the incline. This resulted in immediate pain inside the joint and the back of my shoulder/upper back. I continued training but phased out benchpress mostly from my workout. A second painful event occurred about a month later (April 2010) when I was working on my car breaking loose some stuck lug nuts and operating a scissor jack. I went to Urgent Care that day, they did an X-ray, and told me I had a rotator cuff problem. This is the only X-ray i have received and it did not show anything. I stopped benchpressing completely and continued lifting, while working on doing rotator cuff stretches. This did not give me any relief. In July 2010, I was carrying a desk with a friend of mine to move out of my apartment. My friend dropped one end of the desk and the shock load made my trap hurt incredibly bad. I took a lot of ibuprofen and iced it / heat packed it when I had the chance. I had to move a great deal of furniture around early July because of moving between apartments. I took July through August off from lifting. I saw the orthopod for the first time in July, he indicated that it may be distal clavical osteolysis and ordered an MRI. At the follow up appointment, he told me I just needed to rest it for awhile and I could resume lifting with light weights. By November, the pain had gotten pretty intense and I had to stop lifting again. I would say that the pain is about a 4 out of 10 at this time.

I saw the orthopod at the soonest I could, which was January, and the orthopod indicated that the MRI failed to show distal clavical osteolysis. I have had two extremity MRI's of the shoulder. Since then, I have had an EMG test to see if I had damaged/pinched nerves in the shoulder. My nerves are apparently healthy. This past week, I have had a full MRI of the trapezius to check for tears and an MRI of the cervical spine. Both are healthy.

The doctor stated that he does not know what is causing it, and that I should pursue accupuncture treatment to stop the trapezius spasming. I do not know if the joint still causes pain because I have not lifted weights since early november. I have lost about 15 lbs of muscle since then and I have been pretty miserable. I am also not able to work on my car, which is my main hobby besides training. Right now the pain when it does occur is about a 8 out of 10 relative to the 4 out of 10 in november. At time it does not hurt, but the minute I start using my shoulder it comes back full strength.

I honestly felt better when I was exercising back in november, even though it hurt bad, it didn't hurt this bad. I have not exercised in any capacity since november.

I am considering seeing another orthopod. Any ideas? I have not used my left arm/shoulder with any intensity since November and it has only gotten worse. Is it possible that I have DCO? Trapezius strain? I do not know if the pain originates in the joint because I have not lifted in months. It does not appear to be healing, it actually feels worse with each successive day. I have only had the 1 x-ray back in April 2010. I have had 2 extremity mri's of the shoulder joint. I have had 1 full mri of my left trapezius, radiologist said did not indicate tears. I have had 1 mri of my cervical spine.


At present, my left shoulder is swollen and sits possibly an inch higher than my right shoulder. I have a prescription for Flexeril which I tried taking but it makes me feel awful. I also take ibuprofen but it has limited benefits. I feel like I am atrophying away and I am unable to do my two big hobbies, cars and exercising. I vowed to stop all exercise from November through March as a way of insuring that it could possibly heal, but it only gets worse each day. I was able to bench 235 a year ago, now I could probably bench 85 lbs. I'm pretty upset about the whole thing.[/QUOTE]

Wow. This sounds exactly like what I'm going through. About a year ago I was really into weight training (specifically doing a lot of chest and shoulder exercises) and I strained my trap/rhomboid. I had a very stiff neck and trap and I decided to go to PT. The therapists worked with me and got me out of pain, however when I started to work out again I re-injured it while bench pressing. I thought it would be a simple fix, just some rest and a few massages and I would be back to normal. however, it only got worse and worse. I went back to the original therapists who helped me the first time, but the second time around the same therapy was not working. In fact, it made it much worse. I got an MRI for my neck, and of course it came back clear. I only had a minor disc bulge in my C4/C5, but nothing significant.

At this point I was extremely frustrated, and tried seeing a multiple shoulder doctors thinking it could be a shoulder issue. However, they all told me that it was a cervical issue, and that my shoulder was fine. I then tried doing acupuncture and went to a chiropractor for Active Release Therapy, none of which helped. Each time I try a new technique, it seems to make my shoulder/trap worse and I get a burning sensation. I feel like I have tried everything, but none of it helps. I have yet to get a shoulder or trap MRI because I am afraid that it will come back clear and I will spend enormous amounts of money for nothing. I was also told to get an EMG, but again I don't think it will show anything.

I have stopped working out completely, and it is to the point where I can focus on anything because my trap is so tight and my shoulder hurts all the time. I am beyond frustrated, and I am open to trying anything at this point. Have you been able to find any relief? If so, what?

[QUOTE=tdo0518;766168083]Wow. This sounds exactly like what I'm going through. About a year ago I was really into weight training (specifically doing a lot of chest and shoulder exercises) and I strained my trap/rhomboid. I had a very stiff neck and trap and I decided to go to PT. The therapists worked with me and got me out of pain, however when I started to work out again I re-injured it while bench pressing. I thought it would be a simple fix, just some rest and a few massages and I would be back to normal. however, it only got worse and worse. I went back to the original therapists who helped me the first time, but the second time around the same therapy was not working. In fact, it made it much worse. I got an MRI for my neck, and of course it came back clear. I only had a minor disc bulge in my C4/C5, but nothing significant.

At this point I was extremely frustrated, and tried seeing a multiple shoulder doctors thinking it could be a shoulder issue. However, they all told me that it was a cervical issue, and that my shoulder was fine. I then tried doing acupuncture and went to a chiropractor for Active Release Therapy, none of which helped. Each time I try a new technique, it seems to make my shoulder/trap worse and I get a burning sensation. I feel like I have tried everything, but none of it helps. I have yet to get a shoulder or trap MRI because I am afraid that it will come back clear and I will spend enormous amounts of money for nothing. I was also told to get an EMG, but again I don't think it will show anything.

I have stopped working out completely, and it is to the point where I can focus on anything because my trap is so tight and my shoulder hurts all the time. I am beyond frustrated, and I am open to trying anything at this point. Have you been able to find any relief? If so, what?[/QUOTE]


Hey well normally i wouldn't respond on forums but being that i was dealing with the same problem everyone here was including you i figured i would put in my two cents. I pulled my trap muscle working out maybe 3 or 4 years ago and i just delt with it never did anything i kept working out etc and it stopped hurting as much but was always a little pain that i would relieve with the trigger point but there was alway pain. Well i got a job as a border patrol agent which some what required me to work out to stay in shape which was fine because i always did. So maybe a few months ago i pulled it again tryin to lift more then i know i should have but this time it was even worse then the first time. I could barely turn my neck i had pain constantly every day. Even walking upright (which most cavemen eventually could do) gave me pain. I was so so so so miserable for the past few months i just hated life. It was like tourcher. Hell i couldn't even sit at a computer without pain. I had to stop working out which i love doing and pretty much sat around on the couch trying to find a position i could lay in and not hurt. Well i dont mean to ramble on just trying to give some background on the constant hurt that i was dealing with and trust me i feel your pain 100% it is the worst and almost makes you want to give up on life...

Now with that said it's been about 4 weeks and at the risk of jinxing myself im 100% better i work out now i can walk with no pain i can TURN MY NECK!! thank god! Anyway what i did was simple. I went to an Accupuncturist.... I know most logical people such as myself would say nahhh that's lame it wont work bla bla bla....Well that goes to show you how much pain i was in because for me to actually go see one says ALOT. i wont go into details but just put it like this first treatment i could actually turn my neck and for a while i almost forgot i had pain....it of course came back but it is not supposed to be cured after just one time....anyway today i just got back from my 4th time and i was debating cancelling today because i feel fine. I still went as a just in case thing but point is after about 2 years walking around in pain within 4 weeks 1 treatment a week i finally feel good. Now i dont know if this will help everyone or anyone but it's fairly inexpensive and what do you really have to lose giving it a shot?? I dont believe in mirical cures but i'll be damned if this isn't close as they come for me. Well i thought i would just leave my 2 cents in for everyone to take it or leave it. I sincerely wish nothing but good luck and well being to people dealing with this constant pain because it is one of the most painful depressing things to deal with. I just thank god i found something that helped me after all this time and i urge others to at least give it a session or two from a GOOD accupuncturist... It worked for me is all im saying....

Just wanted to follow up a year later, finally started making progress after 2 years of straight misery. I had to go on medical leave because my whole upper back went nuts. My neck was so stiff I couldn't even sit upright or drive my car.
I have found an amazing physical therapist who specializes in trigger point - dry needling and postural correction. I have fixed about 50% of the issues so far and hope to be fully recovered in another 2 months. It was a trigger point (myofascial) problem just like you all said here. This thing ruined my life for the past 2 years. I lost all of my muscle and strength, spent about a year straight on the couch playing video games and it put me out of work for the past 7 months. I wish doctors knew more about these things.

When I started doing my PT exercises 2 months ago I was so weak I couldn't even pick up 5 lb dumbbells to do shrugs on the PT's Rx. !!!! **** trigger points, seriously! This coming from a guy who had a 450 lb raw deadlift at 165 lbs bodyweight.


To any admins, is there anyway we could have a stickied article on trigger points? these things will ruin your life, make it impossible to do anything, and make you severely depressed.

This sounds interesting.. i'll mention it to my physio, hopefully after over 3000$ of physio, quitting my job for 2 years, having dysthymia, sleeping 20 hours a day. Who knows, maybe this will work -.-

I'm happy for you, take advantage of it.

Update #2, been a month since last update and PT says I can go back to the gym tomorrow as long as I keep it light. No powerlifting style training for another 6 months or year probably, but I'll be happy to even do any workout. My cervical spine pain is greatly reduced as I am doing deep neck flexor exercises (head lifts and chin tucks). Still have a bunch of muscle knots/trigger points but they no longer have as many taut bands, they are now just discrete nodules of pain.

I made a lot of progress all at once 2 weeks ago when my PT released my pec major and minor through dry needling and stretching, my shoulders moved back several inches and my trapezius muscle is no longer loaded at all times (which makes taut bands more likely to persist)

[QUOTE=KazuyaMishima;856853613]This sounds interesting.. i'll mention it to my physio, hopefully after over 3000$ of physio, quitting my job for 2 years, having dysthymia, sleeping 20 hours a day. Who knows, maybe this will work -.-

I'm happy for you, take advantage of it.[/QUOTE]

Kazuya, take a look at Clair Davies Trigger Point Therapy Workbook (google it, I can't post links yet). Sections of the book are probably available online, if not the book is $13 on amazon. If you follow the instructions in the book and find you have trigger points, then its money well spent! Another good (and free) resource is Pressure Pointer dot com.

Also look for therapists in your area that are kinetacore certified, I have found kinetacore pts to be awesome at dry needling.

Just going to put my myofascitis/whiplash recover log here
Start Date: April 3
Start Weight 162 lbs Waist 31" Height 5'9
Previous max lifts (2009): bench 240 squat 405 deadlift 445 @ bodyweight 181

Tuesday
Barbell Bench Press 45x10 65x10 85x10
Dumbbell Row 30x10 30x10 30x10 30x10
Cable Tricep Extension 50x10 50x10 50x1050x10
Dumbbell Rotator Cuff Rotation 10x10 8x10
Abdominals Bodyweightx10 Bodyweightx10


notes: first workout. Had dry needling yesterday so things are sore today and lots of bruises in my upper back. Nothing hurt while lifting but things feel slightly more sore after, I think. I am going very conservative on all weights so its going to be light and slow progression for the next few weeks. Foam rolled for 5 minutes after.

Friday
Lat Pull Down 60x20 70x20 70x20
Dumbbell Fly 10x10 10x10 10x10 10x10
Dumbbell Shrugs 25x10 25x10 25x10 25x10
Barbell Curl 45x10 45x10
Face Pulls 30x20 30x20
Abdominals Bodyweightx10 Bodyweightx10

Notes: Had intense needling session Thursday. Felt sore going into the gym but felt pretty good coming out. Most difficult exercise of the ones performed was the curl with the bar (45 lbs). Shrugs didn't feel like a good movement, I think because of soreness in my levators from the dry needling and because I had my pec major and minor needled, relaxing the chest and moving my shoulders further back about an inch, so I am not used to the new shoulder position. I have resisted temptation to lift heavier. The worst part is the mental aspect.

Areyou focusing on scapular depression as well as scapular retraction exercises? Thoracic extention?

Sunday
Barbell Squat 15x12 35x12 35x12
Dumbbell Shrugs 20x20 20x15 20x15
Band Scapular Retractions Bandx20 Bandx10
Barbell Curl 45x10 45x10

Notes:
Notes: Gym closed for Easter so improvised with the old weights in my basement. Helped friend with motor pull and drove 2 hours on Saturday, which was a workout as well in my current state. Actually a lot of leg DOMS Monday morning from the squats.


Monday
Barbell Bench Press 45x10 95x10 85x10 85x10
Dumbbell Row 30x10 30x10 30x10 30x10
Cable Tricep Extension 50x10 50x10 50x10 50x10
Dumbbell Rotator Cuff Rotation 10x5 10x5
Abdominals Bodyweightx10 Bodyweightx10 Bodyweightx10 Bodyweightx10

Notes:
Muscles feel inhibited, usual stiffness from 2 step forward 1 step back of needling treatment. Pushed it a bit on benchpress to increase progression, not very difficult. I am using the weights that are the maximum I can do and still be strain free, translation: easy weights.

[QUOTE=gekkoboy14;861608201]Areyou focusing on scapular depression as well as scapular retraction exercises? Thoracic extention?[/QUOTE]

I do door frame stretches overhead for thoracic extension. I am doing scapular depressions on a foam roller along my spine. I also do chin tucks, neck flexor head lifts, and pec stretches on the foam roller. I use the roller a lot and do spine mobilization with it. I also sit in nothing but hard wood chairs at the moment. Once I get my upper back spasm free I will work on fixing my anterior pelvic tilt which was problematic and has only gotten worse.

I have noticed a pattern from kinetacore style dry needling/intramuscular stimulation:
Day 0: very painful and muscles are loose
Day +1: painful but muscles feel great
Day +2: feels really tight and unpleasant, no specific pain like previous day but its more unpleasant because I feel movement inhibited.
Day +3: less painful and less tight, so its like I moved 2 steps forward and 1 step back net of treatment.

Wednesday
Lat Pull Down 60x20 70x20 70x20
Dumbbell Fly 12x10 12x10 12x10 12x10
Barbell Curl 45x10 45x10
Face Pulls 30x20 30x20
Abdominals Bodyweightx15 Bodyweightx15

Notes:
Curl feels significantly easier. Removed shrugs from workout for now.

Friday
Dumbbell Lateral 5x8 5x8 5x8
Barbell Front Squat 45x10 45x10 35x8
Scapular Retraction Bandx10 Bandx10



Notes:
Side laterals have less popping symptom, probably due to inactivation of some trigger points in deltoids. Don't feel like going to gym so I am using home weights for this workout and front squat is easier to get onto upper body.


Sunday
Dumbbell Benchpress 30x11 30x10 30x10 30x10
Dumbbell Row 30x10 30x10 30x10 30x10
Cable Tricep Extension 40x15 40x15
Abdominals Bodyweightx15 Bodyweightx10


Notes:
Switched to dumbbell benchpress to improve muscle recruitment and relax my ego. Things are feeling better than last week. Main pain areas now are subscapularis, romboid, deltoids, and C4-5 area

Trigger points are hell. They ruined my life for a year. I second the notion to have a "Trigger point" thread stickied. Where they are most common and the proper procedure for each muscle group would be fine and dandy.

I appreciate your agreement elizzle, these things will wreck you and most docs and even sports orthos are ignorant to their existence.

Tuesday
Lat Pull Down 70x20 70x20 70x20
Dumbbell Fly 15x10 15x10 15x10
Barbell Curl 45x10 45x10
Face Pulls 20x15 20x15 20x15

Notes:
Increased weight on fly. PT worked on subscap and rhomboids yesterday, shoulders now move a lot easier. Still need work with trapezius and some touch up work on the subscap and I am experiencing a snapping sensation in my left shoulder when moving heavier objects around, probably infraspinatus or teres minor roping around. Big reduction in overall pain from last week. I see PT again tomorrow.

Friday
Barbell Front Squat 35x10 35x10 35x10 35x10
Dumbbell Lateral 5x8 5x8 5x8 5x8

Helped a friend move to a new apartment, which was strenous enough for my current condition. Just moved lightweight stuff so it wasn't too taxing but it was mentally stressful.

Sunday
Dumbbell Benchpress 35x10 35x10 35x10
Dumbbell Row 30x10 30x10 30x10 30x10
Cable Tricep Extension 50x10 50x10 50x10 50x10
Abdominals Bodyweightx15 Bodyweightx15


Tuesday
Lat Pull Down 80x20 90x20 100x20
Dumbbell Fly 15x10 15x10 15x10 15x10
Barbell Curl 30x10 50x10 50x10
Face Pulls 20x15 20x15 30x15


Notes:
Muscle memory has “kicked” in this week, started increasing strength dramatically without feeling like I am exerting myself on any of these exercises. PT was on Monday and I will have injections from Dr. on Wednesday. I will see PT again Thursday. I hope this blitz of trigger point treatment will accelerate my recovery.

[QUOTE=ampire;629100243]Hi guys, I have been having recurring pain in my left trapezius and shoulder joint and in my neck when I overuse my trapezius. I have seen a shoulder orthopod about 6 times but I have not been able to receive any diagnosis as to what the pain is resulting from.
I have a tingling pain that begins where my trap meets my neck and then gradually expands until my entire shoulder is burning. At this point my neck starts to lock up. The pain has gotten so bad that I am unable to work in a white-collar office environment without muscle relaxants and ibuprofen and I have problems driving for extended periods of time.

[/QUOTE]

I have almost the identical injury as you....have you found any help? My pain is constant ranging betwen 4-10 on a daily basis.

I desperately am looking for some help - any advice is welcome. I hurt my trap about a 1 year ago doing bent over rows with heavy weight. It felt like someone stuck a knife down into my trap between my neck and shoulder. I did PT and massage for awhile and it improved some. Recently in September I had my labrum front and rear and rotator cuff repaired from tears. Since then my trap has been getting worse - I am in pain almost all of the time (all resonating in the upper trap / neck region on my left side) additionally when I move my arm up and down or in circular motion my scapula crackles and pops clicks. Which is painfull. I've continued to try to PT but it only seems to temporarly help it then the pain comes back. I have been taking pain killers and all they do is make the pain managable and create an addiction. Any thoughts? I can get in more detail if anyone is interested in helping me. Thanks so much.

Dan

I haven't updated this thread in awhile, here was my few last workout, weights are increasing rapidly but I am being very careful not to strain

Saturday may 5
Dumbbell Benchpress 30x10 45x10 50x6 50x8
Dumbbell Row 40x10 40x10 40x10 40x10
Cable Tricep Extension 70x10 70x10 70x10
Abdominals Bodyweightx15 Bodyweightx15 Bodyweightx15


Tuesday may 8
Lat Pull Down 110x15 140x10 140x10 140x10
Dumbbell Fly 30x6 30x6 30x6
Barbell Curl 65x10 65x10 65x10
Face Pulls 30x20 30x20
Abdominals BWX15 BWX15 BWX15

[QUOTE=claybox;880113541]I have almost the identical injury as you....have you found any help? My pain is constant ranging betwen 4-10 on a daily basis.

I desperately am looking for some help - any advice is welcome. I hurt my trap about a 1 year ago doing bent over rows with heavy weight. It felt like someone stuck a knife down into my trap between my neck and shoulder. I did PT and massage for awhile and it improved some. Recently in September I had my labrum front and rear and rotator cuff repaired from tears. Since then my trap has been getting worse - I am in pain almost all of the time (all resonating in the upper trap / neck region on my left side) additionally when I move my arm up and down or in circular motion my scapula crackles and pops clicks. Which is painfull. I've continued to try to PT but it only seems to temporarly help it then the pain comes back. I have been taking pain killers and all they do is make the pain managable and create an addiction. Any thoughts? I can get in more detail if anyone is interested in helping me. Thanks so much.

Dan[/QUOTE]

Dan,

I recommend looking into this book: The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Edition. This will help you self treat your muscle pain. I also recommend looking at the site: pressure pointer dot com.

It is likely that you have a similar soft tissue injury to what I have. After the injury (muscle tear/strain) heals, trigger points build in the tissue resulting in decreased strength, range of motion, and much pain. These lead to incorrect compensatory movement patterns and bad posture which lead to further trigger points. I am doing PT with a kinetacore PT. I recommend this type of PT as it is trigger point focused. www dot kinetacore dot com. I tried a regular physical therapist and he was pretty much worthless. In fact he made the pain worse due to manipulation of the tissue without treatment of the trigger points. I saw the regular PT for about 5 months. The PT I am seeing who has the kinetacore training (dry needling / intramuscular stim) has a doctorate in PT from a big school so I trust her judgement. I rapidly improved under the kinetacore style treatment. That site has a link to find a physical therapist in your area.

I can't post links yet due to post count, so please google kinetacore, pressurepointer, and trigger point therapy workbook LOL

I am not taking painkillers or muscle relaxers at the moment, but when I took muscle relaxers I found they did not provide anywhere near the benefit of treating the source of the pain, the trigger points. Actually the muscle relaxers made me pyschotic. I do not take painkillers because I was scared of being addicted to them. I am still in a high level of pain at night but during the day it is not manageable and I can do most things. I am hoping by August to be fully normal but scared I will be laid off from my job.

Another month goes by since last time I posted here. Recovery is slow but I have some rapid strength increases in the gym. I have been taking vitamin b6 (b complex) in addition to a regular multivitamin because i have read that it helps with trigger point therapy if someone is deficient, don't know if I am deficient but it can't hurt.

Benchpress is now 75 lb dumbbells for 5 reps
Row is now 60 lb dumbbells for 8 reps
Fly is now 30 lb dumbbells for 6 reps
Curl is now 30 lb dumbbells for 8 reps
Shoulder press is now 20 lb dumbbells for 20 reps
Shrugs is now 45 lb dumbbells for 8 reps
Chinups (dead hang) is now 5 reps with bodyweight

I started deadlifting again today but I do not trust my traps completely. I used 135 for 5 reps. My neck is really small, I definitely need to increase my strength in the neck but I am worried about reinjury. Shrug's and similar exercises are very iffy. Also I have a snapping sensation in my left upper back when doing some rowing or curling motions, I believe its the serratus posterior. Things overall feel very weak outside of the gym but I am hoping that eventually my strength will translate to increase in overall functionality. By this I mean I still feel very fragile and its difficult to carry objects even lightweight objects for any length of time. However, the weights I am currently lifting in the gym would be impressive to an average person (though not to me haha)

Problem areas currently are in my serratus posterior, subscapularis, infraspinatus, rear deltoid, serratus anterior, and the paraspinals of the cervical and thoracic. I think my trapezius are too weak so I am currently targeting them to gradually increase their strength.

Mentally I feel very depressed because I can't do normal activities well right now and I still can't run. I have intermittent extreme neck pains that make me very angry and antisocial. Its hard to explain.