Shoulder PAIN !!!!

Quick question to all:
I have had a terrible pain in shoulder for 4 days now. Did nothing out of the ordinary while lifting. Pain began the day after chest workout. Did the usual stuff - bench press, incline db press, decline db press, incline db flies, weighted dips. Went a little heavy on bench, good form though. The pain starts when I lift my arm up as if doing a front raise and a lateral raise. Didn't notice anything or pain after chest workout until the next day. Pain is isolated to the front deltoid area. Hurts to lift a glass of water. Pain is not throughout range of motion, only from bottom to where arm is straight out in front. From there up, no pain until lowering arm again. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a classic definition of an acromioclavicular separation. AC Joint

I have suffered through this for the past two years. I could not get a cereal bowl out of the cabinet and driving was real fun crossing my arm across my body. Hurt to reach across my body to put on my seatbelt.

Depending on the grade of the separation there may be nothing you can do but rest it. I lived off of 800mg of ibuprofen for the first few months of the injury. My worst time was first thing in the morning. My shoulders tended to loosen up by the end of the day. Your days of flat bench my be over. I've not flat benched in over two years.

Wow. What about other exercises? Back, bi, shoulders. Should I lay off them too for while and for how long?

I could do just about every exercise it was just a matter of how much pain I could endure. Chest, anything straight bar is a no go. Since my injury I've pressed the 150 pound dumbbells on the incline for 10. Its crazy but that did not hurt. But if I put 135 on a straight bar and try to flat bench it one rep and my shit is killing me. Shoulders, I could do any presses I wanted to with very little discomfort, but a front or side raise would hurt like a bastard. Back, heavy rows or pull downs aggravated the injury.

I would just avoid anything that hurts. I just work around my shoulder issues. Most of the time I dont realize I've hurt it again until the following morning. It sucks but after two years It is what it is.

Thanks for the advice CH3NO2. Guess I'll live with it. Hurts like hell though.

im going to move this thread out of ther ARTICLES FORUM and into the main forum

CH3NO2 said:

Sounds like a classic definition of an acromioclavicular separation. AC Joint

I have suffered through this for the past two years. I could not get a cereal bowl out of the cabinet and driving was real fun crossing my arm across my body. Hurt to reach across my body to put on my seatbelt.

Depending on the grade of the separation there may be nothing you can do but rest it. I lived off of 800mg of ibuprofen for the first few months of the injury. My worst time was first thing in the morning. My shoulders tended to loosen up by the end of the day. Your days of flat bench my be over. I've not flat benched in over two years.

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Are you sure that it would be this and not just a strain to the rotator cuff? An injury of the type you describe is often from an impact, and I don't think he impacted anything during his training. However, before saying it's one or the other, it would be wise to get an xray if possible which can confirm whether or not it is in fact an acromioclavicular separation.

Your correct BigZ, no impact or fall. The only thing I did diff in workout was an increase in bench press. Nothing dramatic either (20lb increase for 2 reps). So close to reaching personal goal. The pain CH3NO2 described in his post is almost identical to mine. Trying to stay away from doc for now in case it is something more serious. Pain is better today. Ice and ibuprofen has helped. Thanks for your reply.

Its common in people who slip and fall and there is a great force or impact when bracing yourself during the fall. How much force is placed upon the shoulder when unracking a 400 pound bench? I dare say more than a 150 pound normal person falling.

AC separations are very common for weight lifters. Even more common in Crossfit( how I separated mine doing wall stands.) Again an exercise where force is driven into the shoulder through the arm.

tjx85, try to toss a tennis ball or make a throwing motion like throwing a baseball. Also point your arm out straight in front of you parallel to the ground with your palm facing up. Then rotate your palm so its facing downwards as far as you can while keeping your arm parallel to the ground. If you have pain in the back side of the shoulder than this may be a rotator cuff injury.

Being that its a shoulder injury its one of three things. Rotator Cuff, Labrum, or AC Joint... AC Joint is the weakest link and given the description of the injury this was my first guess.

Doesn't hurt while doing the throwing motion. The toss does when raising arm to the parallel position. Also, while arm is extended straight out parallel with palm up, if I try and press down with other arm, no pain. If I rotate palm facing down and press down with other arm the pain is there on the front part of shoulder around towards arm pit. ????? The pain is a lot less than before. Haven't worked out now for 3 days. Do you think time will heal? Don't won't to see doc unless absolutely necessary.

The 85 in your screen name leads me to believe that you were born in 1985. So you're 28? When I was 28 I was indestructible. Its really only in the last couple years where injuries have stacked up on me. It sounds like you're going to be fine if its getting better after 3 days.

I would just take it very easy on chest day. I'd also think about avoiding flat bench from now on. There is no benefit to doing it.

you said the pain is a lot less then before. Sounds to me like its going away. I think all of us who have
been around a while deal with shoulder issues. Good info already, and I would add, LISTEN to your body.
If something hurts, a bad hurt, not a little hurt, DONT DO IT. You learn to work around injurys. I blew out
a shoulder and couldnt bench for a year. I did any chest excercise that didnt hurt. Thought my barbell bench
days were over. One day tried it light and to my surprise, no pain. Listen to your body and work around
injurys. Keep us posted.

CH3NO2 said:

The 85 in your screen name leads me to believe that you were born in 1985. So you're 28? When I was 28 I was indestructible. Its really only in the last couple years where injuries have stacked up on me. It sounds like you're going to be fine if its getting better after 3 days.

I would just take it very easy on chest day. I'd also think about avoiding flat bench from now on. There is no benefit to doing it.

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Actually 85 is the year I graduated HS. Feel better now than I did at 28. Getting old and fighting it every day.

Asking questions and learning more about what we love to do is what this site and forum is all about. Helping each other be better at what we love to do. And, I have an extra passion for leaning toward the "Health" side of it cause I've been working in healthcare for almost 20 years. Shoulder injuries from Bench Press are like that. Actually, it happens to manifest the next day over half the time. If you know you hurt your shoulder at the time of the lift, more than likely its hurt pretty bad. Likely a tear of some kind. At least thats been my experience with what I've seen. Yours is more than likely just a strain on the rotator cuff or something in that area. I can dig a little more when I'm not so slammed at work, but these guys have a world of knowledge and will probably already have yaa taken care of by that time anyway....

Glad to have you here with us!!! Welcome to MC!!!!
Austin