Hi

I really hope someone can help me before i actually go visit a Physio. About 20 years ago i partially dislocated my left shoulder. I never did anything to rehab it. Over the years i always had mobility issues with the shoulder but not really any pain. It was still as strong as my right shoulder. I am an athlete who now mostly trains in Olympic Weight Lifting, 38 years old, diet on point and cardiovascularly in great shape (5'9'', 180 lbs, 8% bodyfat).

Last week i went to see my massage therapist just to get rid of some overall tightness in my hips, shoulders and upper back (deep tissue). She realized from the start that the only issue i really had was that my left shoulder was really knotted up so she pretty much worked on that for about an hour. Everything felt great, took the next day off from training and went back the day after. I did some push presses and chin ups and went home without any issues. The next day i had some major tightness and mild pain in the shoulder. The pain and tightness only occurs when i raise my arm over my head or when i try to do a pressing movement. I have no pain or loss of ROM in any other movement. I can still bench press heavy, i can still do lateral raises with weight, squat, deadlift etc etc but anything that has me raising my arm over my head you can forget about. I feel slight pain when trying to grab the chin up bar and i'm afraid to do any type of overhead pressing. I also do hear some popping or cracking when doing some other movements even without any weight. No pain with the cracking/popping.

For the last few days i have been taking an OTC NSAID 400mg ibuprofen three times daily, i've been icing it 3 times daily and i've also been sitting in a hot epsom salt bath twice daily. I also foam roll my upper back / shoulders / lats / triceps NUMEROUS times daily. While it is getting better i still feel slight pain when lifting my arm. My right i can reach over 180 degrees + without issues but my left i can get around 160 degrees before i feel some soreness. I also feel some pain when getting into the shoulder with my fingers. The pain is mostly in the posterior deltoid. I am also wondering if i could try to stretch my arm overhead or should i refrain from that?

I have also been doing a ton of stretches that i've seen from reputable physios based on rotator cuff issues.

Does anybody know what this could be? Is it tendinitis, impingement etc? I just find it strange that i can lift a lot of weight when it comes to anything at or below shoulder level but i can't even raise my arm 180 degree over my head.

Thanks

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