pain in upper back

**musclestack** · 05-27-2015, 07:06 AM

I started to get this pain in my upper back when I do front raises during my shoulder workout. It started about 3 weeks ago. It is in my upper right portion of my back and only happens when I lift my right arm. Feels like I'm getting shocked/tazed; I'm thinking I'm pinching a nerve or something. It's so uncomfortable that I stopped doing front raises, which sucks because I love this exercise.

Is there anything I can do to rectify this? I was thinking about getting a massage to work it out. Do you think that would help?

**Buster Brown** · 05-27-2015, 07:26 AM

I bet time away from that exercise is the best thing to do. You can try them seated using light weight, use a plate instead of dbls. Are your elbows bent slightly? Your front delts get pretty beat up from doing chest alone so it's not like they aren't being stimulated. You could go the route of anti inflamatories but I would just rather pick a different exercise.

**musclestack** · 05-27-2015, 07:40 AM

Thanks, Buster. I'll give the exercise a rest for now. And I'll also try with a plate rather than a dumbell to see if there's any difference. Any idea on what's causing this by the description I gave? I truly think it has something to do with a nerve since it feels like I'm getting shocked, and I'm not so sure that anti-inflamatories would do the trick.

**600@50** · 05-27-2015, 08:20 AM

Sounds like nerve impingement. Try using a lighter weight and really concentrating on keeping the shoulders down and back when raising the weight. Sometimes in an effort to increase weight our form starts to suffer and little injuries can crop up. I've had the same thing in my back and shoulders from bad trigger points and impingement. Acupuncture helped a bunch with the pain but it shows up periodically just to remind me they're still there.

**Buster Brown** · 05-27-2015, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by musclestack

Thanks, Buster. I'll give the exercise a rest for now. And I'll also try with a plate rather than a dumbell to see if there's any difference. Any idea on what's causing this by the description I gave? I truly think it has something to do with a nerve since it feels like I'm getting shocked, and I'm not so sure that anti-inflamatories would do the trick.

Sounds like 600 nailed it. I had something similar in my elbow from Paul Dicks presses a while back, stopped them and pain went away.