My shoulder is frustrating the sh** out of me.

[Federico del pueblo]

Since December I have some chronic shoulder pain. I have an appointment with a orthopedic doctor, but it's in over two weeks...

I was doing some simple work on the ground, like screwing together some stands that can be used as a barbell rack.

I wanted to change the position of my knees, so I supported my upper body for a moment to be able to move my knees further back.

Seems like I lowered my upper body a bit to fast so I hurt my shoulder from the impact.

It hurt but it seemed like something that would probably go away after a few days of rest and protection. After all I had hurt that same shoulder in the past doing reverse flys with a bit too much weight/intensity and it was recovered after a week.

The pain is still persistent.

It seems like it's getting better overnight, but never entirely.

And it also seems like I can't simply completely avoid any movements that might perpuate the pain because my arm/shoulder would have to be plaster cast to avoid any "bad movement".

It's incredibly frustrating to be basically completely unable to do upper body exercises now, even lower body/legs exercises are very limited, because holding on to something heavy must be avoided.

I'm boiling in anger by now. What a ridiculous pain in the ass that is.

Do any of you know about anything I could do until I have my doctor's appointment?

I have no idea if this is impingement or an irritated tendon, or a small muscular rupture/pull or whatever.

The pain mostly occurs right below that roof of the shoulder (acromion) where the muscles "begins", but also in the middle of the shoulder muscle, probably the rear deltoid.

Thanks!

[puporing]

Would you consider seeing a chiropractor as well? Maybe something got misaligned and can be re-aligned. Shoulder blades easily do that, sometimes also happens when we sleep in a weird position and just never notice.

[Preety_India]

1 minute ago, puporing said:

Would you consider seeing a chiropractor as well? Maybe something got misaligned and can be re-aligned. Shoulder blades easily do that, sometimes also happens when we sleep in a weird position and just never notice.

I agree. 

[Federico del pueblo]

16 minutes ago, puporing said:

Would you consider seeing a chiropractor as well? 

I would consider anything if it's promising, even a shaman at this point ?

I'm gonna look up tomorrow if that doctor where I have my appointment is also a chiropractor (I think I might be vaguely remembering something).

What I do know is that the head of my arm bone (sorry, too lazy to look up the fancy medical term) did not jump out of its normal position, but who knows maybe something in the shoulder blade did.

[mysticalninja]

The orthopedic doctor should be able to do movement tests to see if something is legit torn or if its a smaller tear in a muscle/ligament, by the sounds of it probably not.  These things take time to heal, start with some short term rest for a week or 2 then slowly build up.  No offense, but you sound very impatient - 2 weeks isn't very long.  Trust me dont rush it - i had a climbers elbow tendonitis that I kept climbing with.  It got way worse and ended up having to take months off and do a bunch of antagonist exercises to correct imbalances and then it did eventually heal.  (Then I returned and completely messed up my entire knee - but thats a different story).  Chiropractor probably wouldn't hurt, but it is a very elusive field - so I would definitely find a good one if you decide to go that route.

[Preety_India]

@mysticalninja how much time does it take for a sprained leg to heal? 

[mysticalninja]

@Preety_India It definitely would depend on the severity and whether we are talking about a knee, ankle, or hip.  After 2 weeks it should start to have significant improvement or else it could be something more severe.  Sprain would usually be just a stretch in the ligament, so once that initial inflammation has gone down you would usually then slowly begin to increase usage and see how it feels.  I am not an expert on this stuff though, im just used to answering tons of random medical questions - and ive injured myself in many ways.

[Federico del pueblo]

@mysticalninja  Thanks for the info.

Yes, I sound impatient because I am at this point ?

Though, it's two weeks until the doctor's appointment, but it was in December when I injured myself, so it's been over two months. And since in the beginning it felt like "no big deal" I didn't even consider a doctor and thought it would probably vanish rather quickly, but it didn't

Edited February 26, 2022 by Federico del pueblo

[Federico del pueblo]

@Medhansh

Thanks! I'll look it up.

[puporing]

@Federico del pueblo Yeah I can't say for sure if chiropractor would help you coz I don't know your condition, but mine did! I had neck pain for almost a year after a rear end accident, and tried massage and stretching and stuff but none of that resolved it. I was pretty misaligned according to him. Definitely takes a bit of trust and make sure to find a reputable guy if you're trying this route. Good luck! 

[Rigel]

Great opportunity to do some inner work on that anger if you can’t work out anyway. Who knows that might help your shoulder too. 

I am not saying it is your case I am no doctor but psychosomatic injuries are a thing. 

[Asayake]

My mother had a shoulder impingement that bothered her a lot during her sleep. Things like pulling your shoulder blades down & back and lightly lifting your chest on a regular basis, especially when carrying things seemed to help her recover faster. Before she was doing this the pain persisted for many weeks. When she started actively becoming conscious of her upper back posture like this the problem was gone after about a week. So if it's impingement you could try that. If that doesn't hurt/make it worse you could try it anyways because it helps open the shoulders which takes strain of them in general. It's the same posture one would use for a farmers walk pretty much. You can also engage your core muscles and glutes and tuck your tailbone downwards to create a neutral hip position to give your lower back more stability. Stability seems to be built from down up.

These are the tips I would give you. I am just figuring things like this out myself too though so take it with a grain of salt. I have kyphosis and scoliosis myself so I've had to research a lot regarding posture, stretches, yoga, strength training to help with my back issues.

[Arcangelo]

Be patient, it will heal.

Trust me bro.

[Average Investor]

Go check out some videos on proper sleeping positions for shoulder pain. Give it like two weeks of seriously trying to work on how you sleep. It would be very optimal if you can sleep on your back and not have your should pinched at all. I recommend getting some melatonin to make it easier as well.  

[Federico del pueblo]

20 hours ago, Rigel said:

Great opportunity to do some inner work on that anger if you can’t work out anyway.

Yeah, I've done that. I've released some anger. It didn't help with the shoulder issue, but it's good to reduce overall anger levels

[Federico del pueblo]

5 hours ago, Average Investor said:

Go check out some videos on proper sleeping positions for shoulder pain. Give it like two weeks of seriously trying to work on how you sleep. It would be very optimal if you can sleep on your back and not have your should pinched at all.

Currently I'm just avoiding sleeping on my left side (where the shoulder pain is).

I sleep on my back too, but only sleeping on my back seems hard. Like at some the urge to turn on the side becomes too big.

Can you sleep only on your back?

 

@Arcangelo  ? I'll be strong.

@Asayake  Thanks for the info.

[Average Investor]

@Federico del pueblo I have been working on it for months and it is pretty tough to just sleep on your back. Last night I sleep on my back most of the night. I hit the snooze for 10 mins and I was laying directly on my arm crunched without a pillow, when I woke back up lol. 

I find building a really strong sleep schedule can really assist this. If you struggle falling asleep in the first place it is going to be even harder to make good position habits. Sometimes I will lay on my side to get me more tired, then switch to my back as well. 

[Barbara]

Do you work on a computer all day? Might be your sitting position and the way you are holding the mouse. 

[Federico del pueblo]

On 8.3.2022 at 8:47 PM, Average Investor said:

@Federico del pueblo I have been working on it for months and it is pretty tough to just sleep on your back. Last night I sleep on my back most of the night. I hit the snooze for 10 mins and I was laying directly on my arm crunched without a pillow, when I woke back up lol. 

I find building a really strong sleep schedule can really assist this. If you struggle falling asleep in the first place it is going to be even harder to make good position habits. Sometimes I will lay on my side to get me more tired, then switch to my back as well. 

But isn't it a thing that people develop bedsores on the back when they only stay in the same position all night?

Like elderly people who are in need of care need to be turned a few times a night to not get bedsores, or is that just because they're old and old bodies react differently to the strain.

Do still somehow change your position (while staying on the back) a few times, as in shifting the pressure a little bit to one side or similar things?

 

On 8.3.2022 at 9:35 PM, Barbara said:

Do you work on a computer all day? Might be your sitting position and the way you are holding the mouse. 

Yeah I'm sitting a lot and it does make healing the issue harder, not due to how I hold the mouse, but more because there is some pressure of the backseat against the shoulder blades (which 'helps' to perpetuate the irritation in the shoulder joint).

I try to avoid it as much as possible.

I'm now also gonna incorporate some light (rehab level resistance) rotator cuff exercises. Seems like these are the affected muscles and usually the ones that do external rotation are underdeveloped compared to muscles that internally rotate the shoulder => more proneness for shoulder injuries...

Edited March 10, 2022 by Federico del pueblo

[Average Investor]

2 hours ago, Federico del pueblo said:

But isn't it a thing that people develop bedsores on the back when they only stay in the same position all night?

Like elderly people who are in need of care need to be turned a few times a night to not get bedsores, or is that just because they're old and old bodies react differently to the strain.

Do still somehow change your position (while staying on the back) a few times, as in shifting the pressure a little bit to one side or similar things?

I could not really confirm that. I still do have to move my head and neck etc. I still do a bit of side to side. Hard to just be in one position only. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/BobBrad

This channel has a lot of good sleeping demos that would help you. I find it very useful