injuries

ronbyrne2005

damned im pissed off. have had a shoulder injury since early december,rested till after xmas and there was no improvement,went to physio and after six weeks there no improvement,physio refers me to a consultant who gave me a cortisone injection last thursday and there still no improvement,he said i had inflamed bicep tendon but now im thinking its not bicep tendon as the pain/discomfort is higher up on shoulder than where the bicep tendon is.

added to this i have "jumpers knee"(inflamed patellar tendons) on both knees from injuring them(maybe partial tears) while squatting two years ago,cant do any running/football or weights and i am waiting to see another consultant in may.
all i can do for exercise now is cycing and i do this 3or 4 times a week for an hour and a half at a time but its boring and im going insane with lack of enjoyable exercise, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

BrianD3

Yes, injuries suck big time. I think everyone who trains with weights has some level of addiction to their training so being forced to stop through injury is intensely frustrating. Obviously being very strict with form and being cautious can reduce the chances of an injury. Anytime I feel the slightest twinge or get the feeling I'm pushing too hard /unable to maintain good form, I back off, reduce the weight, take some rest. It is annyong to have to do this but its a million times better than having to take weeks or months off due to a bad injury.

Reyman

What are the symptoms of the shoulder injury? Where is the pain? What exercise caused it ?

ronbyrne2005

Reyman wrote:

What are the symptoms of the shoulder injury? Where is the pain? What exercise caused it ?

the shoulder injury occured gradually in early december,felt discomfort when doing dips but kept doing them for a few more workouts,then when doing lat pull downs to chest i felt more intense pain in upper front of shoulder.
now and since then its sore/uncomfortable when i lie on my side and just throughout day it feels uncomfortable sore much of time,its not bad pain but rather discomfort which is worse when i do any activities with shoulder.

Reyman

I don't want to cut across your consultant/specialist because obviously these guys are the experts.

But it sounds like you have a problem to what I had a few years back. Often referred to as shoulder impingement/shouder rotator problems

It's common among weighlifters and usually caused by overdoing chest exercise like the bench press and not doing enough back exercises. eg. dumbell rowing. i'd stick to just doing Rowing type back exercies for a month or two and see how you get on. Also develop your external shoulder rotators to get more stability on your shoulders

Two exercises to avoid - Barbell shoulder press behind the neck and Upright Rowing. These are not good long term exercises

Degsy

I had ashoulder injury a little while back,it was caused by bad form lifting weights years ago,and aggravated by bad posture in work.My gp decided i had arthritis without taking any further tests and tried to talk me into a cortisone injection.I told him to go to hell..injecting cortisone into a joint is a very good way to end up permanantly disabled as it destroys the joint over time.The shouldre eventually recovered(ittakes time!!)and hasnt caused me any problems since in spit of the "doctor"'s dire warnings.Basicly its probably a damaged nerve/muscle/ligament/tendon and these take months to resolve,do not let quacks inject you with cortisone,it does far more harm than good.

Rogueish

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

have had a shoulder injury since early december,rested till after xmas and there was no improvement,went to physio and after six weeks there no improvement,

Bummer. Looks like your physio just doen't have the tools/knowledge/ knowhow to address your particular problem. I'd advise going to someone else for a second opinion. They may have a better insight into your problem. Check for a physiotherapist in your area that has a postgratudate qualification in sports medicine. Or check out a sports rehabilitator in your area - they specialise in sports injuries and functional rehabilitation.

physio refers me to a consultant who gave me a cortisone injection last thursday and there still no improvement,he said i had inflamed bicep tendon but now im thinking its not bicep tendon as the pain/discomfort is higher up on shoulder than where the bicep tendon is.

What was the consultant in? Orthapedics? You have three biceps tendons. The biceps muscle has two heads the long head starts just under the bony end of your shoulder (supraglenoid tuberosity of the scapula) and the short head is deeper follow your collar bone in from the end of your shoulder where it curves upwards just underneath if you dig deep your'll find the bony point where the tendon starts (apex of coracoid process of scapula). the third tendon is where the bicep muscle inserts into your forearm to allow you to bend you elbow. It could be any one of those.

added to this i have "jumpers knee"(inflamed patellar tendons) on both knees from injuring them(maybe partial tears) while squatting two years ago,cant do any running/football or weights and i am waiting to see another consultant in may.

When you go to get a second opinion ask them to check out your knees to see if there is any way that you can take the pressure off them e.g. patellar taping, orthotics, graded rehabilitation....... it maybe an option.

all i can do for exercise now is cycing and i do this 3or 4 times a week for an hour and a half at a time but its boring and im going insane with lack of enjoyable exercise, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Have you tried the crosstrainer - it is non impact and gentler on the knees. If it irritates your shoulder just don't use the moveable arms hold onto the stationary handles. Also if you are a memer of a leisure centre with a pool try some deep water running (not swimming cos that will irritate your shoulder). Trust me 20min deep water running is equivalent to a 2hour run. Get the swimming instructor to show you how or the lifeguard on duty. The top long distance olympic runners do this as part of their training to reduce the impact on their lower limbs while still 'running'.

If you have any trouble finding a therapist in your area to give you a second opinion give me a pm and I maybe able to recommend a suitably qualified person.

ronbyrne2005

My problems persist and no improvement. I went for an arthrogram and mri on my shoulder 2 months ago and there was a load of hassle with hospital leading to dely in getting results (dont ask) and then returned to orthopaedic consultant last week, he said the images seemed fine and said i still have the bicep tendonitis and he could operate but there was only a 60-70% success rate with the procedure(bicep tendoneosis) and if it was him he wouldnt resort to surgery at this stage but it was up to me, i said i didnt want to resort to surgery yet especially i theres only 60-70% outcome so he offered another cortisone injection which i had (8 days ago), it again hasnt helped and im mighty p1ssed off, he suggested trying going back weight training and doing more exercises but none than aggrevate the long head of bicep tendon. the pain is not severve but uncomfortable and irritating and limiting my activites. I also went for an mri scan on both knees but have yet to hear back from that consultant as he's away on holidays for july.
any ideas?

Boru.

A couple. Off hand it sounds like cold invasion of the knee joint and Qi and Blood Stagnation of the biceps and shoulder. I'd need to check the actual route of the pain but thats what I'd go with from a TCM perspective.

Are you in Dublin? If so I cna bring you into my clinic and I can take a closer look and see if I could help. Pm me.