Recovering from possible tendonitis around the supraspinatus

[liamg88]

hey, where exactly do you feel this pain when you abduct your arm?

could be something simple as an infraspinatus trigger point that needs working out..

Hi there. I feel the pain in the corner of my shoulder, perhaps ever so slightly more towards the front of the middle.

I'm starting to get very confused as to whether or not I have always had this pain.....or at least had it for a much longer time than the recent event.....

In any case, it seems to have become better since I posted. I haven't felt it or thought about it really. I also did some light sparring and that was fine, didn't feel anything the next day.


Would anyone recommend buying one of those 'posture' correcting type braces that loops around the shoulders? Or are those just a gimmick or something that could potentially make things worse?

[Musculoman]

Hay Liam,
Bracing can help protect a joint during competition or high impact/velocity situations, however I would recommend ONLY using it for these situations. If you are in the gym etc. work without it. The reason being you want your local support systems to have to work to stabilize your joint. If you constantly use a brace to do their job, they will waste away and leave you in a worse position.

By the way, those exercises and stretches etc. we talked about earlier, continue them at least 4 weeks into not feeling the injury any more, and always keep good shoulder position when working out etc. or you will likely repeat the same injury. The hardest thing to do in rehab is to keep the ideals/exercises going after all symptoms have disappeared but it is necessary.

Let us know how it goes!

Regards,
Musculoman.

Edit: Sorry didn't see you said "Posture" Brace, similar thing though, people become too reliant on posture braces and they end up in a bad place. Continue your exercises and shoulder stability work, be aware of your posture and not letting that shoulder draw forward too much.

[liamg88]

The following post is quite long, so I made the essential, 'summary' part bold in case you don't have much time:

I do have one issue: I sometimes experience a dull, very mild ache in my shoulder-blade and down my left arm. I think I've had this on and off for a long time, again, it sounds stupid, but I can't be sure. It might just be recent, or I might just be more...paranoid now....., whereas previously I would dismiss it and not even think about it. I experience it more at night, and it disappears when I rest with my arm behind my head.

Is this an indication that my tendonitis is lingering in the background waiting to re-surface if I resume full sporting activities? I'm really unsure. Or is it perhaps posture related? Perhaps, rather than being a symptom of the tendonitis, could it be caused by the same thing which caused my tendonitis?

It seems to follow long time spent at the computer (necessary for study), but it may also follow working out (not convinced about the latter, because when I do my weight workouts, I may have spent hours studying on that same day...)

My basic paradox is this: I am doing less activity (no boxing etc) in order to rest my shoulder. This inactivity could be resulting in my current problem (dull mild pain referred to my arm/shoulder-blade but not felt near the site of my tendonitis), or that problem may mean I am not resting enough....

Sorry, that is very long and convoluted. I am just trying to figure out if this pain may mean I am likely to experience tendonitis if I up things again. If you think this may be the case, I will more than likely go to my physio to see what can be done.

best wishes,
Liam


Also, I will most definitely continue doing back work, such as bent over rows, and the ones we discussed. They're an integral part of my weekly routine

[Musculoman]

Hay Liam,

There are a few reasons why you may be having the ache, and honestly I would probably need to really assess you to give it a good diagnosis. Could be a hypomobile shoulderblade? (hypo = tight). The shoulderblade accounts for a lot of the movement in your arm, especially when raised above your head, and sometimes following a shoulder injury, as you have not regularly been using this range, the body's use it or lose it policy kicks in, and your shoulderblade stiffens up. Doesn't make much sense as should likely be more uncomfortable when you bring your arm above your head, but maybe this is stretching it out and relieving your symptoms??? It does fit into your clinical picture of rest making things worse, as your not ranging your shoulderblade / gh joint. Also tight Scaps can also lead to tight Tx/Cx due to rhomboids, lev scap/few other local muscles dysfunctioning due to altered GH mechanics / activity, this could be referring pain to your shoulder/arm? Do you feel like you have a tight neck/middle back @ all?

Keep on the gym work keeping that shoulder technique, and pec stretches etc, can take > weeks to start to resolve!! Just have to be patient and consistent with those.

You could possibly have some further damage to your shoulder which is the cause of this however. An MRI would give you an exact picture of your shoulder, the labrum, local bursae, muscles, ligaments etc. If you got an MRI and posted the findings on here, we could definitely help you more! However I am not going to advise you to spend $300+ on an MRI without assessing you first.

If you have had it for a long time.. could be postural related? could be something to do with the martial arts too? It is murderous for shoulders sometimes

Sorry, would love to assess you to really give you an answer once and for all

Just to clarify, this is not the sharp pain you originally posted about right? That has resolved?

[liamg88]

The sharp pain has resolved - the 1% I spoke of has all but disappeared... sometimes I 'think' I detect something, but it's so ridiculously minor, I can't even be sure!

I actually do have a tight middle back and neck (the neck tightness is what a layman such as myself would call 'upper traps' and 'low' neck, or something...) I am even experiencing this right now. Silly of me not to think to mention it....