can't raise arm

[Mrbobcat]

My right shoulder hurts real bad, but only when I move my arm. It started on saturday. I woke up trying to sleep on that side and got a shooting pain. It got better on sunday, but when I went back to work on monday, it started hurting again. Today I tried to reach something overhead and could'nt, had to use my other arm to raise my right one. I tried to stretch it out and that made it worse. I did start a new routine working chest& back, 1 day rest, shoulders&arms, 1 day rest, then legs, 1 day rest, start over. I did'nt start that heavy, but is working the shoulders 2 days a week doing it or the fact that I use my shoulders all day at work (lifting 500-2000 times)? Or could it simply be out of place for some reason? I'm on glucosamine with msm, chrondroiton, anything else help like nutrajoint with gelatin (seems to upset my stomach though) and I'm not really supposed to take aspirin or ibuprofen...

[Patrick_Bateman]

Originally Posted by Mrbobcat

My right shoulder hurts real bad, but only when I move my arm. It started on saturday. I woke up trying to sleep on that side and got a shooting pain. It got better on sunday, but when I went back to work on monday, it started hurting again. Today I tried to reach something overhead and could'nt, had to use my other arm to raise my right one. I tried to stretch it out and that made it worse. I did start a new routine working chest& back, 1 day rest, shoulders&arms, 1 day rest, then legs, 1 day rest, start over. I did'nt start that heavy, but is working the shoulders 2 days a week doing it or the fact that I use my shoulders all day at work (lifting 500-2000 times)? Or could it simply be out of place for some reason? I'm on glucosamine with msm, chrondroiton, anything else help like nutrajoint with gelatin (seems to upset my stomach though) and I'm not really supposed to take aspirin or ibuprofen...

Ummmm go see a sports Doctor...

[Mrbobcat]

I took a couple naproxen on wednesday and it was almost completely better by thursday. I did my chest and back workout and all was fine until dips and upright row, which I could feel a little pain on the heavy sets, but not bad. Today (friday), it hurts a little again. Do you guys think its the upright rows? I am supposed to do shoulders and arms tommorrow and last week the 1-arm press really hurt, should I skip those adn or the upright row for awile?

[TRAZ]

Get some Cissus Rx...It is great for joint/ ligament issues...

[Mrbobcat]

update on my shoulder: I can lift my arm without pain now. It only hurts once in awile when I move a certain way and when doing overhead presses, laterals, dips or bench press (tried 135 the other day and it hurt so bad I could only do 1 rep, but to be fair, it was 2 days after training chest and I have'nt benched in about 6 weeks, but can do 80 lb. dumbells for 8 reps with no pain-weird). I have been taking the cissus rx for about 9 days now and trying some fruit pectin too. I also just started doing some very light rotator cuff exercises. Do you guys think I should take a break for awile, cut out all shoulder and chest work or just the exercises that seem to bother it, or go lighter on those exercises for awile? I'm in week 7 of my 12 week workout cycle and hate to stop it now as I feel my legs and arms are on the verge of making some gains...

[GoHardOrGoHome]

Does it hurt when you actively raise your arm? (muscularture) Or/and does it hurt when you have someone else move it for you (ligaments/joint capsule, etc.)

imo, I would take some time off just to be safe...you don't want to tear anything (like I did my pec b/c I'm an idiot) b/c then you'd be sacrificing the gains you could have made if you would've taken some time off. As for it hurting sometimes when you move your arm a certain way it could possible be a rotator cuff pathology (I'm guessing supraspinatus but don't quote me) but you could possibly see an athletic trainer/sports medicine person about this but they'll most likely have you do what you are doing....rotator cuff exercises, e-stim possibly

when you're doing these I would just start with either light or a theraband if you have any around since it's still a pretty actue injury and progress as the weeks go by like around 3-4 wks depeding on how you feel. What kind of exercises are you doing for your rotator cuffs? Internal/External rotation? or????

Also, since you can't take any anti-inflammatory's the best thing to do would be to ice it to help control the swelling

[CraigC]

Do you sleep with 1 arm under your pillow? I do and the exact same thing happened to me a while ago. I found it got better when i got a bigger pillow and slept on my side a bit more without putting my arm under my pillow. I know it sounds kinda weird but I have a friend and the same thing happened to him.

I took a few days off training, then skipped shoulder day for a week or two and everything was back to normal.

[Mrbobcat]

Yeah, it hurts when I raise my own arm, but not always. Right now it hurts if I lift it in a quick jerking motion. It does hurt when I lie on that side sometimes too. My nephew, who is a senior studying sports science, says to use the exercise bike with the arm apparatus to loosen it up before lifting. I did some more research on it and it sounds like either tendonitis or bursitis. They recommend not doing activites that irritate it, especially overhead presses. Thinking about it, whenever I do front presses for the last year or so, my right shoulder always feels funny the first rep, I have to use body motion to get the weight moving, but then it feels fine. Recently I've been doing 1 arm presses and that shoulder really hurts when unracking the weight (with powerhooks) and the first rep, but only on work sets. Lateral raises may be bothering it too, but the shoulder may be warmed up by then. It does feel a little better now. I think I'll try ligher weights on the presses, skip the laterals and dips for now. I wonder if anything else could be bothering it like dumb. bench, incline press, or upright rows?

[Patrick_Bateman]

Originally Posted by Mrbobcat

Yeah, it hurts when I raise my own arm, but not always. Right now it hurts if I lift it in a quick jerking motion. It does hurt when I lie on that side sometimes too. My nephew, who is a senior studying sports science, says to use the exercise bike with the arm apparatus to loosen it up before lifting. I did some more research on it and it sounds like either tendonitis or bursitis. They recommend not doing activites that irritate it, especially overhead presses. Thinking about it, whenever I do front presses for the last year or so, my right shoulder always feels funny the first rep, I have to use body motion to get the weight moving, but then it feels fine. Recently I've been doing 1 arm presses and that shoulder really hurts when unracking the weight (with powerhooks) and the first rep, but only on work sets. Lateral raises may be bothering it too, but the shoulder may be warmed up by then. It does feel a little better now. I think I'll try ligher weights on the presses, skip the laterals and dips for now. I wonder if anything else could be bothering it like dumb. bench, incline press, or upright rows?

Sounds like a torn rotator cuff


See a Doctor son

[gymNut]

Bump on the answer that talked about sleeping on your arm. I had ongoing shoulder pain until I figured out a way to put less pressure on my arm and shoulder at night. Now I have no probs. Also have to watch when doing shoulder presses - a machine that presses straight up gives me no trouble. One that is at a bit more of an angle towards the front will cause pain. You gotta figure out which things cause the pain and avoid them...

[Mrbobcat]

Yeah, I figured out that 1-arm press, side laterals, dips and even dumb. bench are all causing me pain right now. So I went real light on chest workout (like warmup weight) and already my shoulder feels better, not 100%, but at least it doesn't hurt during normal activites nearly as much. I think I'm gonna stay light on those exercises for the next 5 weeks (maybe do 2 sets of 12 and slowly add weight) and concentrate on my lats, arms, and legs.

[Mrbobcat]

Shoulder still hurts! I may have to see a doctor. I've been trying to work around it and It felt a little better, but today, just doing 30 lb dumbells on bench hurt. I could do incline and declines with minimal discomfort, but only with 115 lbs. I hate to see a doctor because funds are running low and I know they'll want to take ex-rays and I have a 250 deductable. Maybe i should cut out chest and shoulder exercises completely for the next 2-3 weeks and see if that helps...

[Patrick_Bateman]

Originally Posted by Mrbobcat

Shoulder still hurts! I may have to see a doctor. I've been trying to work around it and It felt a little better, but today, just doing 30 lb dumbells on bench hurt. I could do incline and declines with minimal discomfort, but only with 115 lbs. I hate to see a doctor because funds are running low and I know they'll want to take ex-rays and I have a 250 deductable. Maybe i should cut out chest and shoulder exercises completely for the next 2-3 weeks and see if that helps...

If you had stopped all pressing work 6 weeks ago, went to a doctor and did some rehab work you would be ok by now. Had to learn the hard way.

[Mrbobcat]

I wonder if CraigC is on to something? I took it easy this week, did'nt have any jobs that irritated it at work, laid around the house yesterday and got up this morning and both shoulders were really bad! The left one is bothering me too, my left hand has been tingling occassionally also. They do seem to be worse in the morning and I sleep on my side with one of those thin conture pillows so my neck doesn't hurt. My back was bothering me for awile a year or two ago and I got one of those air mattresses, but took it off the bed awile ago...I just can't see what could have irritated my good shoulder, unless it is upright rows that don't seem to bother me when I'm doing them. Or maybe just work, using my arms and shoulders on the line all day...I hate my job too, but they are hard to come by right now.

[Mrbobcat]

Made a doctors appointment for tommorow. The sports clinic would'nt see me until I saw a doctor first. I hope they won't take x-rays, because I can't afford them right now, but at least I'll have a record I saw a doctor if it hurts really bad at work. Probly should tell the doctor it happened at work too, it may have...

[Mrbobcat]

Ok, saw the doctor. Had to take x-rays and could'nt see anything major, just some small calcifications which he said was an early form of arthritis. He thinks its a torn rotator cuff and put me on celebrex and said I should go to the rehab and don't lift at all. I got the rx, but did'nt go to the rehab yet, insurance probly won't pay and I think I know what they are going to do anyway (rotator cuff exercises). The doctor said if it does'nt improve in about 10 days, I may have to get an mri and go from there.