Shoulder impingement syndrome

[skullcrusher]

There must be a few of u on hear that have suffered with this, i had a cortisone injectiion about 5 years ago and the sharp pain i was gettin went away never to return. I trained hard and heavy last year with no probs until i done a few sets of upright rows last feb, big mistake. I trained through until about 2 months ago and now can only do arms and legs, bummer! If i lay off the trainin it does improve but i'm seriosly p****ed off, if any of u have had this would u recommend an op or just give up the heavy trainin. By the way i am 48. 

[Swedish Viking]

nahh, the answer is almost never to just give it up-especially if you are 48!-man, now is the most important time to stick to it!  Maybe balls to the wall type training might not be the best, but you need to keep your muscle mass and strength.  I have had several shoulder impingements and the answer is always the same and it works pretty much every single time-strengthen the upper back, rotator cuffs, rear delts, and improve your posture and you'll probably be ok before too long.  Until then, you usually don't have to give up on bodyparts at all-for chest, for example, try doing nuetral chest presses instead of conventional-they almost never hurt someone with an impingement...a nuetral chest press is just one with your elbows tucked in tight to your sides instead of out.  They're best with DBs but you can do them with a BB as well-preferably an EZ bar.  Same with shoulders-nuetral shoulder press, scaption...any number of different exercises.  Giving up entirely is the most extreme answer...not the best one.

[skullcrusher]

Cheers bud, the last thing i wanna do is give up, but i will continue to do arms and settle back in to chest light and as u say usin a narrow grip, i dont really want an op cause when i did mention it to a top orthopedic surgeon he didnt recommend training whether i had an op or left it alone. 

[pumpster]

Any questions like this tend to repeat-take a look at previous similar posts like this..

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=183796.0

[skullcrusher]

Already done a search but cant find anyone with this problem that has had an op and what the outcome was.

[pumpster]

Already done a search but cant find anyone with this problem that has had an op and what the outcome was.

Read the other threads dude, instead of assuming what will happen and getting ahead of yourself. You don't know if an operation's necessary yet.

You'd have to get a couple of opinions from docs rather than post here. Other than having an operation, my advice on the other threads stands-i had more than one cortisone shot and managed to avoid problems without any operation from then on by avoiding the problem-causing exercises after recovering either naturally or with the help of cortisone-once recovered you have to stay away from the problem causers.

If/when recovery occurs, don't continue to "work through" exercises that cause problems.

[skullcrusher]

Ok , good advice man, well appreciated. Thanks.

[pumpster]

i had surgery for an impingment syndrome 3 months ago.

OK, now share those experiences..

[tonymctones]

There must be a few of u on hear that have suffered with this, i had a cortisone injectiion about 5 years ago and the sharp pain i was gettin went away never to return. I trained hard and heavy last year with no probs until i done a few sets of upright rows last feb, big mistake. I trained through until about 2 months ago and now can only do arms and legs, bummer! If i lay off the trainin it does improve but i'm seriosly p****ed off, if any of u have had this would u recommend an op or just give up the heavy trainin. By the way i am 48. 

good shit still lifting at 48 man, I may not have the best perspective as ive never had cortisone shots or surgery but i too have rotator cuff issues and continue to train. I always i mean always do external and internal rotations before any shoulder or chest workout. These seem to help if im consistent with them, I also elimiinated all problem exercises which included upright row which sucks cause i loved them. The way i look at it is you train b/c you love to train and you have to do what allows you to train. I loved upright rows and behind the neck presses but if i continue to do them chances are I wont be able to train at all.

[eho]

Read the other threads dude, instead of assuming what will happen and getting ahead of yourself. You don't know if an operation's necessary yet.

You'd have to get a couple of opinions from docs rather than post here. Other than having an operation, my advice on the other threads stands-i had more than one cortisone shot and managed to avoid problems without any operation from then on by avoiding the problem-causing exercises after recovering either naturally or with the help of cortisone-once recovered you have to stay away from the problem causers.

If/when recovery occurs, don't continue to "work through" exercises that cause problems.

I agree with Pumpster.    Not knowing your particular situation, it might be something functional you can correct like posture.  Allowing your scapulae to roll forward can increase the likelihood of impingement syndromes.  In this case, attention could be paid to scap. stabilizers (rhomboids/lower traps) to help retract your shoulders.

However at 48, you could have a bone spur which is causing the impingement, in which case, they'd see this on CT/MRI and surgery "might" help.

Calcification in the tendons also mimics impingement pain syndromes, soft tissue work from your chiropractor might clear it up.

Finally, people, be wary of how many cortisone shots you're getting in a year.  While it might be safe once or twice in the year, if you are continually getting them and relief is not permanent, it's probably not fixing anything.  Continued cortisone injections puts you at risk of losing bone density and thus stress fractures.

[skullcrusher]

Ok, little update, havent trained chest or shoulders for a little over 2 months, its slowly getting better, i have now introduced front raises and do all arms and now putting the weight up on back exercices, its a slow process but when u have an injury stop doin an exercise that aggrivates it! Upright rows were the culprit and as tony says , shit cos its a great exercise. While i am not training chest or shoulders i have no pain whatsoever, so i will be lookin at goin back to some light chest in a few months. Will keep u updated as a nd when.

Cheers.

[pumpster]

its slowly getting better, i have now introduced front raises and do all arms and now putting the weight up on back exercices, its a slow process but when u have an injury stop doin an exercise that aggrivates it! Upright rows were the culprit and as tony says , shit cos its a great exercise. While i am not training chest or shoulders i have no pain whatsoever, so i will be lookin at goin back to some light chest in a few months. Will keep u updated as a nd when.
Cheers.

I can't believe you're doing front raises coming out of shoulder pain, it's  crazy. That's assuming you're doing front lateral raises. Forget about front delts, let them heal and let other indirect work hit front delts. Read the training section and you'll see that most don't even do direct front delt work.