Shoulders going left and right

[Chris Mathison]

heres another shoulder question. I was diagnosed with a mild shoulder impingement about 2 weeks ago. The injury is about a month old now. well, my doc forgot to mention recovery time. He just told me to lay off the weights (ya right) So my question is has anyone completely recovered 100% from a shoulder impingement? if so what was the time frame like. Mentally this is killing me. I cant do overhead and numerous other moves because it aggrevates it. In the past I have recovered from other injuries super fast. pulled muscles are no problem for me. recover in a week mostly. so whats with this shoulder BS

[Liz Cawley]

I dislocated my shoulder at the gym about 2 years ago. It took a doctor and two nurses to try and get it back in and about 3 months of physical therapy to get it back functioning properly. To this day, the shoulder I dislocated is still noticeably weaker than my other shoulder. It really sucks to have shoulder injuries, because there is a 98% chance of re-injuring that same shoulder. In your case, I would say be careful with your training but definitely still work out and try to keep that area as strong as possible. If you feel it starting to have problems again, back off the weights for a little bit and BE CAREFUL!
Hope that helped.

[craig kruse]

shoulder impingement is very different than a shoulder dislocation.
with shoulder impingement concentrate on increasing the strength of your rear delts, lats, and rotator cuff. stretch your posterior capsule. make sure you are having equal volume of rear delt and lat work as you are with shoulders and chest. It will recover.
ice, ice, and ice
nsaids

[Ann Collins]

Since this is what I work with everyday as a PT I need to add my 2 cents. Leave the deltoid work out of it because that's where the imbalance is. Delts are much stronger that the cuff muscles and the cuff can't counteract the upward vector of pull that the delts cause. Focus on the cuff, scapular stabilizers and stretching the joint capsule. In general it takes 6-8 weeks of doing the appropriate exercises to resolve the impingement.

[Pete Berg]

I had my collar bone pull down on my shoulder and that cause the impingement I had and it didn't take to long to recover but I did change my training alot. Since my focus was strongman I dropped bench press and focused on only OHP and dropped the assistance moves all together except for some rotator cuffwork. I figure that with all the tri , back and OHP work with log, axle and bar or DB's my shoulders get enough work. Now my shoulder feel better than ever.

[Kristyn Vytlacil]

Chris, you may want to consider taking some time off, as in actually not working out, in order to give your shoulder a rest. Otherwise, you're just keeping it in its mild state of inflammation, rather than letting it heal, even if you're only doing light weights. I had the same problem in 2003, but because I didn't rest like I should have, I managed to get myself 3 cortisone shots, then surgery. So, if I could give myself advice back then, I would say, REST REST REST. I wish I would've listened to myself...

[Chris Mathison]

I think your right about resting. I have already cut out anything that irritates it. like overhead, bench, dips and so on. Ive actually noticed alot of improvement in the last few days. its been farther and farther in between pinching pains. I should have nipped it in the bud a month ago and rested a few weeks. I think ill take that advice now though. thanks everyone who chimed in. p.s. whats a posterior capsule and how does one stretch it?

[Ann Collins]

The capsule is a connective tissue that surrounds the entire joint and sits deep in the shoulder providing stability. When it becomes inflamed it thickens up and forms contractures which will limit your range of motion. To stretch it reach the involved arm across towards the opposite shoulder. Use your free hand to help pull across. The stretch should be felt on the back side of your shoulder, but you may also feel some pinching in the front as well as slight discomfort radiating into the upper arm. Hold 30 sec to 2 min and repeat 3 to 5 times at least twice a day.

[Chris Mathison]

To stretch it reach the involved arm across towards the opposite shoulder. Use your free hand to help pull across. The stretch should be felt on the back side of your shoulder, but you may also feel some pinching in the front as well as slight discomfort radiating into the upper arm. Hold 30 sec to 2 min and repeat 3 to 5 times at least twice a day.

Cool. you were dead on. I felt it stretch my rear delt and the pinching pain was mild but it was felt at the top of my front delt. It went away as I held the stretch. only lasted a few seconds. Thanks a bunch Ann. consider this posterior capsule stretched!!