Recovering from possible tendonitis around the supraspinatus

[liamg88]

Thankyou so much for the detailed response. My physio recommended the very same back exercises, as well as bringing my shoulder blades together as you described for ten reps every hour or so.

One thing I may not have mentioned in the initial post, is that I only get this pain when I do the movement very slowly. When I raise my arms, thumb pointed up. When I move more fluently, like normal arm 'windmills' if you like, I don't notice/feel anything.


Given all of this, should I take time off bench pressing until the slight 'catch' and momentary instance of pain is gone? Or is this unecessary? I have not been doing much military press since it happened, though I did do 4x10 reps earlier last week. I do a strength routine in the gym - bench press, deadlift, squat, power cleans, bent over rows, and usually military press too.

[Musculoman]

Hmm, interesting that it only happens when you move your arm slowly. This could be due to a few reasons which would take a lot of explaining in this post.

My suggestions are to continue your gym program if it is really only 1% residual pain as you described. Focus on good shoulder position and technique, continue with the exercises the physio gave you, stop any aggravating activities as soon as you feel them (can try dropping weights if any of your gym exercises provoke pain, if pain continues cut the exercise), and if following a few more weeks you still have the 1% pain, go back to your physio. He can assess how things are coming along and give you further advice. I strongly reitterate not to continue with any aggravating activities however, even if it is only a slight discomfort, as the last thing you want is to be back at SQ1.

Hope it helps, if things get worse / pain is still an issue in 2 weeks. Let me know as well, I will try to help out!

[liamg88]

Thank-you so much for the response. In the meantime should I keep icing it after every workout? I am icing it 1-2 times per day, for 15-20 minutes at a time. Would heat creames such as 'deep heat' be suitable? Or neither of these things?

Thanks for all of your advice, I will definitely take it and see my physio in a few weeks time if it hasn't improved. But I am obviously hoping it will.

[Musculoman]

No problem Liam, glad to help.

Most reasearch shows us that ICE is only effective for acute swelling up to about 48 hours, and you are well past that. I know it sounds strange but iceing it is likely not doing anything at the moment. If you feel it is irritating / flaring up still try to avoid those aggravating activities more or possibly try some non-steroidal anti inflammatories i.e. voltaren. I suggest the topical cream over the tablets, but it is completely up t you (please if you have any medical conditions / taking any other medications consult with your doctor before taking any medication prescribed on the interweb! )

You might find that heat creams could help improve things, but from a mechanical point of view you will probably still find the same issue. However heat creams can give you afferent input / make the body more aware of a body area during a work out and therefore improve local stability etc. Give it a shot, only just before your workout however, and see if it makes any difference. If not, don't continue using it.

Other than that just continue with my advice from the previous post, keep on top of your technique and with everything you do have that shoulder sucked in and in line with your body, don't let it fall forwards or draw backwards

Good luck! Let me know how things go.

Regards,
Musculoman.