I have a lingering injury, help me out

[KKD70]

So I've had a shoulder pain for a LONG time. It's the left shoulder and it seems to be a tendonitis pain, I have asked a doctor and after he made me do some range of movements determined it wasn't a torn rotor or anything severe. If I flat bench it's immediately apparent, if I incline it seems ok, if I do flies its fine, when doing shoulder workouts my lateral raises are fine. A day after doing military presses I want to fucking die!! Tips from my go too people?????? also-if I sleep on my left side my whole arm will go completely numb, and if not it will become feverish in my shoulder to the point it wakes me up. I need this fixed as my training has suffered for over a year now, this summers race season for me matters a lot , I NEED this remedied!!

[millenium girl]

Try and work out around your injury (avoiding what really hurts). You could also try acupuncture, if it's a tendonitis, it could help.

[Darkness]

You sound like you have a strained rotator cuff for sure. I have never had one but peeps I train with have had this issue. There are some excercises you can do to make them stronger and help get that healed up. I will let you google it rather than me fail at describing them. In the mean time you will likely have to lay off the heavy bench presses and militaries for a while.

[Kcrealsly]

Ice it, whirl pool (soak)
Take Fish Oil
Sling your arm for a day or two, if it gets severe, as this will help with pain and rest the joint.
Stay away from military presses for a while.
Do rotor cuff strengthening exercises (light at first, reps)
Lay off of the joint so you don't do more damage or develop scar tissue.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/164214-how-to-know-if-you-have-a-rotator-cuff-injury/

[John Benz]

You need to find a chiropractor who is certified in A.R.T.

http://www.anabolic-enhancement.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23094

[nightrain116]

could also have a labrial(spelling) tear. it is the soft tissue inside the shoulder.. i had to have that repaired in my left shoulder... it is better but somedays not as good as others.. I have noticed that if i train with specific movements..(dumbells) like lateral raises and rows with light weights it has improved a lot.

[KKD70]

I appreciate the ideas and info and will look into each of them, thanks guys and gals!!

[Magnesium]

i have a similar issue, i just switch to dumbells for a while, then back to flat and repeat. I do higher reps with less weight with the dumbells and never notice any pain, and after i do that for a while i can usually go back to making strength gains on flat bar.

after my workout i then do a series of workouts like darkness mentioned. light weights and pinky above thumb.

[Remo]

I had a similar injury that was so chronic that i quit working out all together. I should have found a way to work around it. Shoulders are funny. They take so long to heal (depending on age). Once i left my former job which required constant activity on that (left) arm, it was probably every bit of a year before i felt no pain at all with normal daily activities.

[Dawgpound_Hank]

I don't know your age, but I know many guys whos lifted heavy for many years and are like 40+ have certain exercises they just have to avoid. It's simple really - avoid bench & militaries and don't sleep on that side - problem solved! I haven't flat bb benched in over 10 years due to shoulder issues. Same with bb squats - many past lumbar issues stemming from squats so gave em' up. Just having to give up a few exercises is no biggy really.

I will add this - there were many more exercises I couldn't do due to shoulder pain, ie, incline bench even on a smith, any overhead pressing. When I moved to Philippines, the gym I workout at has no air-con. The tropical humidity makes it like working out in a sauna literally. Because of that, my shoulders rarely hurt anymore! I can do heavy inclines, heavy militaires and even heavy cg benches on tri-day. That wet heat must be the key, because my shoulder has done a 180 since moving here, and prior to that it killed me all the time working out in Ohio. Sorry for the book, but the point is start using some wet heat on it and see how it works out.

[lion333]

i had a nearly identical symptom list..and my exercise/pain list was nearly the same as well.

For me it was a labral tear and easily fixed with surgery..after which my fixed shoulder was better than my original equipment shoulder...

an MRI should give you a clear answer..

prior to that, ice- fish oil, rest and see how it responds.

[water43]

well i do relize this is an old thread but it may help somebody out ! i had the same type of problem in my r. shoulder only it wwas severe pain to bench or press in general even certain movements it felt like my arm was gonna fall off ! all from a wrong move benchin too heavy one day. so i got an mri confirmation , yep rotor cuff/small tear in my labrum...some pinch btwn those things by rolling my shoulder when i benched 325lbs one day , i guess just showin off , well after phys. therapy shots in my shoulder and not wo for around 5 yrs finaqlly this year my shoulder feels strong/good and i'm back to workin out and up to 280 lb on the bench ! see my doc orthopedic surgeon told me that i wouldnot be a good candidate for surgery since i'm disabled and i wouldnt rehab very well but since it was a very slight(nick type)that if i followed the regimen i could possably recover +-, so many shots deep in my shoulder(yrs)and rehab rest ,iceings after shouder exercices for range of motion and i still do these rotor cuff exercises and i try to very alert of my shoulder when i bench all weight !....i hope this helps give hope to somebody !

[millenium girl]

All I know is that my heavy lifting days are over and benching deep is out of question.
I hope that the MRI of my neck will show what the problem is (yes, the doc seems to think that my shoulder issue could be caused by .... my C3-C4 vertebrae).