How bad is my shoulder injury?

I had serious shoulder injury that I couldn't rise my arm above my head,that happened bc I did shoulder press with unbalanced Smith machine. Any way I stopped lifting weights for 5 months and my shoulder became fine during that time I was doing rotator cuff exercises and I was using glucosamine and b12 shots, now the problem is 3 days ago when I did 200lb incline bench press I felt pain again in the same place of my shoulder but didn't feel pain in other exercises I did 200lb machine press and I was fine. Now how bad is my injury and should I stop lifting weights? Before serious injury occur again? Is this sample pain is sign of serious injury that May happen?

It seems that most shoulder injuries take months to heal. You may have some lingering pain while doing certain movements. Warm up well. Take small jumps in weight. Stretch after your workout.....not before. I know my shoulders usually take close to a year to be fully pain free after an injury. If the pain is debilitating then stop immediately. But if it's more of a nagging sort of pain then I'd proceed slowly and adjust my workouts accordingly.

Shoulders take a very long time to heal. One because they are a very mobile joint and two because the two main pain generating structures don't have a great blood supply. (Labrum & Rotator cuff)

They main thing with shoulder injuries is patience,You must let them heal. It can take a year or more for a quarter size tear in the RC to heal. You can still workout but you may need to modify your workouts. Barbell bench press and overhead press are two exercise that will greatly slow healing. Even heavy bicep curls can keep the shoulder irritated.

Rhomboid work is paramount to helping speed up the process. The rhomboids stabilize the entire upper girdle, these are often overlooked and improperly trained. For example, reverse flies, Lowee cable rows, bent over rows etc are often done with too much weight. The rhomboids are a small muscle group compared to the traps and are often missed entirely when doing back workouts. When to much weight is attempted, the traps will take over as the prime mover leaving very little stimulation to the rhomboids themselves. EMG studies show that with a simple modification to your exercises and reduction in weight. The rhomboids can be isolated. Look up on YouTube on how to perform a shoulder packing modification.

My advise on shoulder injury is such:
1. isolate the rhomboid during your workouts with no more than 10-15 lbs of weight. Focus on high rep, lower weight and strict form.
2. Avoid barbell pressing movement during recovery.
3. Ice your shoulder as needed AFTER a hard workout or workday. (research is still very strong on the benefits of icing)
4. Be patient, it will take time.
5. Limit the long term use NSAIDs, your body needs some inflammation to heal. Studies show that continued use of NSAIDs drastically reduced healing recovery after 2-3 weeks of continued use. Try to use them to take the edge off if you are really hurting. Avoid using them prophylactically to keep pain levels down. I learned this one the hard way. ( college baseball pitcher)
6. See number 4. :-)

Hope that helps!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MuscleScience

Shoulders take a very long time to heal. One because they are a very mobile joint and two because the two main pain generating structures don't have a great blood supply. (Labrum & Rotator cuff)

They main thing with shoulder injuries is patience,You must let them heal. It can take a year or more for a quarter size tear in the RC to heal. You can still workout but you may need to modify your workouts. Barbell bench press and overhead press are two exercise that will greatly slow healing. Even heavy bicep curls can keep the shoulder irritated.

Rhomboid work is paramount to helping speed up the process. The rhomboids stabilize the entire upper girdle, these are often overlooked and improperly trained. For example, reverse flies, Lowee cable rows, bent over rows etc are often done with too much weight. The rhomboids are a small muscle group compared to the traps and are often missed entirely when doing back workouts. When to much weight is attempted, the traps will take over as the prime mover leaving very little stimulation to the rhomboids themselves. EMG studies show that with a simple modification to your exercises and reduction in weight. The rhomboids can be isolated. Look up on YouTube on how to perform a shoulder packing modification.

My advise on shoulder injury is such:
1. isolate the rhomboid during your workouts with no more than 10-15 lbs of weight. Focus on high rep, lower weight and strict form.
2. Avoid barbell pressing movement during recovery.
3. Ice your shoulder as needed AFTER a hard workout or workday. (research is still very strong on the benefits of icing)
4. Be patient, it will take time.
5. Limit the long term use NSAIDs, your body needs some inflammation to heal. Studies show that continued use of NSAIDs drastically reduced healing recovery after 2-3 weeks of continued use. Try to use them to take the edge off if you are really hurting. Avoid using them prophylactically to keep pain levels down. I learned this one the hard way. ( college baseball pitcher)
6. See number 4. :-)

Hope that helps!

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Thanks I didn't know about Rhomboid also I don't use NSAIDs. I feel fine with most exercises except barbell press and incline barbell press and front shoulder press. What make worry is I don't want something happen that can lead to life time injury or surgery. I think since I can do 200lb dumbbell press my injury is not big deal?

Dumbbell and barbell press have drastically different biomechanical forces in the shoulder joint. Barbell doesn't allow the shoulder joint the freedom of motion throughout an exercise as dumbbell does, that is why you have little pain while performing those exercises. Your shoulder injury seems severe enough to me, to warrant avoiding barbell presses of any kind for awhile.

Edit: to avoid barbell presses

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MuscleScience

Dumbbell and barbell press have drastically different biomechanical forces in the shoulder joint. Barbell doesn't allow the shoulder joint the freedom of motion throughout an exercise as dumbbell does, that is why you have little pain while performing those exercises. Your shoulder injury seems severe enough to me, to warrant avoiding dumbbell presses of any kind for awhile.

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So you suggest I take off for a while? or just avoid any exercise that make the pain worse?

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Originally Posted by zenvost1

So you suggest I take off for a while? or just avoid any exercise that make the pain worse?

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I would avoid the exercises that aggravate it and start doing those rehab exercises I mentioned above.

I can't bench more than 225 on barbell bench anymore or do tricep dips or my shoulder will be sore as hell. If I avoid those two things I can keep my shoulder from hurting. I had two shoulder surgeries from baseball.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zenvost1

Thanks I didn't know about Rhomboid also I don't use NSAIDs. I feel fine with most exercises except barbell press and incline barbell press and front shoulder press. What make worry is I don't want something happen that can lead to life time injury or surgery. I think since I can do 200lb dumbbell press my injury is not big deal?

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I too have had to adjust my training and some exercises are just not worth the irritation.

I am of the opinion once there is damage to the RC, you are more susceptible to re-injury.

Good luck!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MuscleScience

I would avoid the exercises that aggravate it and start doing those rehab exercises I mentioned above.

I can't bench more than 225 on barbell bench anymore or do tricep dips or my shoulder will be sore as hell. If I avoid those two things I can keep my shoulder from hurting. I had two shoulder surgeries from baseball.

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Ok I will adjust my workout again to avoid any pain. Thanks anyway

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zenvost1

Ok I will adjust my workout again to avoid any pain. Thanks anyway

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"Thanks anyway"? Really dude? What were you expecting? You got some very good advice from people who were honestly trying to help you. If it's not the information you wanted then go to a shoulder specialist and have a MRI done on your shoulder.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MuscleScience

I would avoid the exercises that aggravate it and start doing those rehab exercises I mentioned above.

I can't bench more than 225 on barbell bench anymore or do tricep dips or my shoulder will be sore as hell. If I avoid those two things I can keep my shoulder from hurting. I had two shoulder surgeries from baseball.

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I really appreciate your help and your info thanks

No worries bro, if you need anymore help hit me up. I probably have helped rehab 20-30 shoulder injuries in the past year. Just be patient with it and keep the rhomboids strong:-)