Shoulder injury pain when doing any kind of presses, forget anything overhead!

scottkeen · 09-11-2009, 05:00 AM

(long post, my question is at the bottom but please read about my situation.)

How It Happened
3 months ago, in early June, I injured *something* when doing cable crossovers. I was just just starting the set, pulling down the cable handle. The weight was too much and I (stupidly) yanked down the handle. As soon as I did, I felt a rrrrr-rip in my left shoulder across the front delt. There was a sensation of a rush of warm fluid and numbness.

The following day, I couldn't raise my left arm any higher than level with my chest.

Over the following months, I could rotate my arm all the way up, if I took pauses and did it slowly.

ContinuedTraining
I've never rested fully. The most rest I've given myself in 3 months was taking 10 days off from doing upper body work.

(Stupidly #2) I assumed I was recovering, thinking "well, it's certainly a lot better now that it was the day it happened!", I continued training. Lateral dumbbell raises with about 70% of the weight I was doing before, and front dumbbell raises with about 50% weight (these hurt bad). I tried machine military presses and quit that immediately because of the unbearable pain. I can do no incline presses of any kind or any kind of press above my head.

However, I can do flat bench dumbbell presses with moderate pain and about 70% of the weight I was doing before. Also, same goes for machine wide grip decline presses. When doing the machine wide grip decline presses, the pain is less if I keep the movement restricted to not letting the handles all the way back and keeping the presses at the top of the press with short movements.

Describing the Pain
The pain ranges from an immediate acute "OUCH!!!" pain, to a chronic aching pain which sets in later. Most of the day, I'm fine if I didn't train upper body the day before. The pain is the worst when I've done (ranked from worst pain to least pain):
1. Chest - flat bench dumbbell press
2. Chest - machine decline press
3. Traps - upright barbell row
4. Biceps - hammer curl, very light
5. Shoulders - front dumbbell raise

It almost doesn't matter how much weight I use, if I do any of these I can be guaranteed a night of terrible pain and wrapping my shoulder with an ice pack and popping ibuprofen. (Stupidly #3) I do these exercises because I want to train, even knowing that I am guaranteed pain later. The desire to train is very powerful, as I'm sure you all know.

While training, I almost never have any of the aching pain at all, none whatsoever. But I know it's coming later when I'm rested!

Sleeping
When sleeping, aside from needing an ice pack almost every night, I found that the best positions for me are:
1) lying on my right side, tucking in a pillow close to my body and lying my left arm over the pillow for support
2) lying on my back with my left arm rotated all the way back. This has to be done slowly. This is also not my preferred way to sleep.
Lying on my back with my left arm at my side starts out fine but eventually becomes quite painful.

OK, so here's the point of this post...

With all the shoulder injuries other people have reported here, there must be other people who have had the exact same injury as mine.

What is this injury?
Is it permanent?
What can I do to heal and rehab on my own?

I know the "see a doctor and get an MRI" reply is the obvious advice, but I don't have health insurance and money is very tight for me and I cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket. Even if I begged and borrowed money for a diagnosis, if the answer is "permanent damage only fixed with surgery", the diagnosis is moot as I certainly cannot afford surgery.

So, I need a) God to heal me!, b) allow my body to recover on it's own but I need advice how to do this, c) if it is permanent, then how to live with this considering I can't afford surgery out-of-pocket.

I appreciate your replies. Thanks and aloha.

ProTec · 09-11-2009, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottkeen

I know the "see a doctor and get an MRI" reply is the obvious advice, but I don't have health insurance and money is very tight for me and I cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket. Even if I begged and borrowed money for a diagnosis, if the answer is "permanent damage only fixed with surgery", the diagnosis is moot as I certainly cannot afford surgery.

The diagnoses would be moot? I don't think so. It would tell you to either be patient or to give it up and try another activity. Your shoulder is messed up.
A ripping feeling, followed by a sensation of warm fluid and numbness sounds to me like you have not pulled a muscle, but ripped off a tendon (maybe partially)

Sounds like a serious injury and usually if your body hurts... it's trying to let you know something. In your case I'd say it's shouting something at you!

Just mo

Mich

scottkeen · 09-11-2009, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProTec

The diagnoses would be moot? I don't think so. It would tell you to either be patient or to give it up and try another activity. Your shoulder is messed up.
A ripping feeling, followed by a sensation of warm fluid and numbness sounds to me like you have not pulled a muscle, but ripped off a tendon (maybe partially)

Sounds like a serious injury and usually if your body hurts... it's trying to let you know something. In your case I'd say it's shouting something at you!

Just mo

Mich

Mich, thanks for the reply. I guess I didn't word that right -- the diagnosis of a permanent injury only correctable with surgery wouldn't help me recover because I cannot afford surgery. Fair enough, the diagnosis would let me know something but it may not change anything.

I figure there would be one of two possible prognoses from paying $$$ to have this injury diagnosed:
1) "Your injury is not permanent and will heal on it's own, just give it rest." I am on this path already. I'm stopping all upper body training for at least a month.
2) "Your injury is permanent, you need surgery." Can't afford it anyway. I'll just have to live with this injury, train with the pain as best I can.
Neither of these prognoses really would change anything other than to satisfy curiosity since I cannot afford surgery if it's a permanent injury. If rest will heal it, then I'm starting to do that already.

Considering the number of forum members who have shoulder injuries, I'm hoping that some people who have the same symptoms as I have described will be able to tell me what this injury is and how to recover.

I appreciate your thoughts that this may be a partial rip of a tendon. Do these things heal on their own?