Clicking in Shoulder

[JRAK12]

Hi All

For some time now i have had a degree of clicking in my left shoulder whenever i rotate the arm. It is not particularly audible, but i can certainly feel it "click" as i rotate the arm in either direction. Also, after doing dips for about five seconds it is quite painful, whilst the right shoulder is not.

In my very un-professional opinion, it kind of feels like there was a tendon or muscle on one side of a bone, and as you rotate the shoulder and stretch it more it finally gets to a point where it snaps over the bone and makes the click.

It does not seem to cause any pain in the shoulder, although there is a slight twinge when looking downwards in the middle of my upper back.

All i have been doing in the last 4-5 weeks is bodyweight exercises (situps pushups chinups and dips) and some very easy high rep dumbbell exercises with two small 10kg weights i had lying around, so i have certainly not been lifting anything excessively heavy.

Thanks for any ideas as to what could be the cause/solution!

[Eruption]

I have a similar clicking issue, i'm not experienced in health by any means, but i can recommend just working with less weight until you are comfortable moving up.

I believe i injured my shoulder as a kid, just never took notice. Probably from pitching the baseball or lifting things improperly.

Hi All

For some time now i have had a degree of clicking in my left shoulder whenever i rotate the arm. It is not particularly audible, but i can certainly feel it "click" as i rotate the arm in either direction. Also, after doing dips for about five seconds it is quite painful, whilst the right shoulder is not.

In my very un-professional opinion, it kind of feels like there was a tendon or muscle on one side of a bone, and as you rotate the shoulder and stretch it more it finally gets to a point where it snaps over the bone and makes the click.

It does not seem to cause any pain in the shoulder, although there is a slight twinge when looking downwards in the middle of my upper back.

All i have been doing in the last 4-5 weeks is bodyweight exercises (situps pushups chinups and dips) and some very easy high rep dumbbell exercises with two small 10kg weights i had lying around, so i have certainly not been lifting anything excessively heavy.

Thanks for any ideas as to what could be the cause/solution!

[Nuttynutskin]

You've probably injured your rotator cuff just like countless other weightlifters. Ditch the dips, those are pretty hard on your shoulders, especially if you've had injuries.

[JRAK12]

Ditch the dips, those are pretty hard on your shoulders, especially if you've had injuries.

How about the pushups and pullups/chinups, are they particularly bad on the shoulders?
If i can't do those there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of other bodyweight stuff i can do until i start going back to the gym.

[Nuttynutskin]

How about the pushups and pullups/chinups, are they particularly bad on the shoulders?
If i can't do those there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of other bodyweight stuff i can do until i start going back to the gym.

Pushups are quite hard on your shoulders. Pull-ups use a lot of shoulders too especially wide grip. Chin-ups are probably the least strenuous. I would just take it easy and not do anything that hurts, and slowly work back up to lifting.

[Nuttynutskin]

Also, once you think you're healed up enough you should do some resistance band excercises and maybe some LIGHT cuban dumbell presses with 5-10lbs before you hit the weights again. Just listen to your body.

[andrewmc]

Hi All

For some time now i have had a degree of clicking in my left shoulder whenever i rotate the arm. It is not particularly audible, but i can certainly feel it "click" as i rotate the arm in either direction. Also, after doing dips for about five seconds it is quite painful, whilst the right shoulder is not.

In my very un-professional opinion, it kind of feels like there was a tendon or muscle on one side of a bone, and as you rotate the shoulder and stretch it more it finally gets to a point where it snaps over the bone and makes the click.

It does not seem to cause any pain in the shoulder, although there is a slight twinge when looking downwards in the middle of my upper back.

All i have been doing in the last 4-5 weeks is bodyweight exercises (situps pushups chinups and dips) and some very easy high rep dumbbell exercises with two small 10kg weights i had lying around, so i have certainly not been lifting anything excessively heavy.

Thanks for any ideas as to what could be the cause/solution!

I've had a clicking in my left shoulder for as long as I can remember. If you're looking at me from the left side, and I do a clockwise arm circle, the click happens at about 2:45. I've only actually had discomfort from it once or twice, and it's never stopped me from doing any exercises. My rotator cuffs take a beating from gymnastics training 5 days/week, and it hasn't gotten any worse. Mind you this includes flyaways and muscleups on the rings (muscleup=pullup->a dip), i.e. the dipping motion from it's lowest possible point.

That being said, I wouldn't worry too much about doing any exercises, but I AM NOT A DOCTOR, so please don't sue me if your arm falls off. However, I've managed to build great shoulder flexibility and tendon/ligament strength despite this issue. If it gets worse, then yeah see a doctor, but from talking to the team trainer, my understanding of it is that it's either a piece of cartilage that's interrupting the motion, or more likely the bones in the shoulder shifting when stressed.

[TheHulk305]

I have it to and have had it for a long time, probably 3-4 years now.. Sometimes during my chest workout i cannot dip without being in horrible pain. It sucks but what can you do ? I just started to do BW dips and been trying to build up my shojulders more to see if that helps.

[JRAK12]

I have it to and have had it for a long time, probably 3-4 years now.. Sometimes during my chest workout i cannot dip without being in horrible pain. It sucks but what can you do ? I just started to do BW dips and been trying to build up my shojulders more to see if that helps.

Have you figured out any way to make it go away to any extent?

[Jack_Lupino]

my jaw clicks. should i stop eating?

[e90MThree]

Do any specific movements trigger the clicking OP?

My right shoulder has been clicking recently. It only happens when I do certain movements. If I make a fist and place it on my belly button (elbow at a 90 degree angle) and rotate my arm outward, I get a click 90% of the time. I can raise my arm above my head (not being able to is usually a rotator cuff problem) without any issues and I have no pain. It just scares me cause it happens all the time and its fairly loud. Alot of my other joints click too, my elbows, knees and ankles all do it fairly frequently.

I've noticed certain movements like dips and benching produce the clicking too. I've read up and discovered sometimes the clicking can be caused by muscle imbalances. I've noticed my chest and front delts were ALOT stronger then my rear delts and back. I'm starting to do more back and rear delt exercise while laying off front delts and chest for awhile.

As someone in this thread already said, look into doing rotator cuff exercises. I do cuban presses with just the bar to warm up my shoulders on shoulder day. Its helps a little.

[T. Bone]

I have this in both my shoulders. I'm 31 and have had the clicking for about 5 years or so. I had an MRI done and it was discovered that I've lost a considerable amount of cartilage in my AC joint. Doc said that cartilage needs to last me my whole life, since as of right now, there is no way to replace it (although medical science is working on it, I guess), and that I should stop weight-lifting. Rather than stop, I've simply modified my shoulder and chest workouts so that they aggravate my shoulder as little as possible. Mainly I just lowered the amount of weight I lift. I also completely stopped barbell bench press and military press, and switched to dumbbells only. Seems to have helped measurably, and my shoulders and chest are actually growing faster than before. Probably because I refined the lifts a fair amount over the years.

[JRAK12]

I have this in both my shoulders. I'm 31 and have had the clicking for about 5 years or so. I had an MRI done and it was discovered that I've lost a considerable amount of cartilage in my AC joint. Doc said that cartilage needs to last me my whole life, since as of right now, there is no way to replace it (although medical science is working on it, I guess), and that I should stop weight-lifting. Rather than stop, I've simply modified my shoulder and chest workouts so that they aggravate my shoulder as little as possible. Mainly I just lowered the amount of weight I lift. I also completely stopped barbell bench press and military press, and switched to dumbbells only. Seems to have helped measurably, and my shoulders and chest are actually growing faster than before. Probably because I refined the lifts a fair amount over the years.

I guess i might have what you described here, but as i said i have not done any heavy lifting for the last month and a half, and it has been during this time that the clicking has started. I guess ill lay off dips and pullups and see if it gets better. Thanks for the help guys.