Question for Glassgowkiss

[DPS]

Last winter I hurt my shoulder ice climbing. The doctor said take Alleve and stay off it. I followed his advice and it slowly improved. I re-injured it the other day bouldering at the gym. Not sure what exactly is injured, but it hurts pretty much all the time and especially when I do certain motions like turning a car steering wheel with that arm.

 

Any idea what it is and any stretches, etc I can do to promote healing?

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

[glassgowkiss]

first of all start icing it, much better then ibo or alleve. second start with gentle stretching. ab, addduction, internal/ external rotations. i'll write much more, but i am just back from poland, so give me a day or so to catch up. also you can just call me 360.319.7311 since i need a bit more info on this injury to give you a proper advice.

[glassgowkiss]

ok, #1 is to get rid off apin. use ice, then ice/heat treatment. ice till the stinging on the surface of the skin is gone. ice-heat 3 min each and finish with heat. as far as stretching- go to a pt ot someone who does sport rehab. rule #1- if it hurts- DON'T DO IT!. as far as treatment- it depends what u have- so get a proper diagnosis of the condition. there are several things that might be happening and your treatment options depend on what u actually have. u might need more of the strenghtning and muscle balancing program rather then stretching. imo most of the shoulder injuries among climbers are due to muscle imbalances, bad posture and overdevelopment of muscle groups (like strong latissimus dorsi, weak rhomboids and tight pectoralis/serratus anterior combined with protracted neck).

a side note- that md, who gave you advice just wasted a bunch of your time. in general a lot of md's- surgeons in general think that the surgery is an answer and their rehab knowledge is minimal to put it mildly. so my advice is to go to a pt or a chiropractor- specially someone who works with athletes.

in a moths or so i should be able to write something more comprehensive on shoulder rehab on my web page. like i said, you also can always call me for advice- ciao- r

[DPS]

Thanks a bunch! I agree with your comment about MDs, they seems very prescription oriented rather than rehab. I am currently following a weight lifting program designed to balance out the muscles. It was working great until I started hanging out in the monkey cave =(.

[glassgowkiss]

u have to give weights at least 8- 10 weeks for your muscles and tendons to catch up. so don't start till then i suggest. any time u are re-tweaking it u set yourself back by days sometimes by weeks.

[rbw1966]

On the subject of MD vs. PT, I had recurrring shoulder pain for quite some time, and even dislocated it once in Boston Basin. CT scan showed small tear, doc wanted to operate. I decided to wait until after a trip to the Tatras. Following Bob's advice of ice/heat/stretching & strengthening I have been over a year pain free now. No surgery.

 

Fuck doctors.

[hopalong]

I've a question. What the hell is your avatar?

[DPS]

Its a photo of me nearly getting hit by lightning. My mother in law thinks its a particularly good one of me. Alex took it.

[layton]

cross friction massage on the posterior glenoid labrum (excrutiatingly painful) for at LEAST 5 minutes 4 times over two weeks should be on your plan if it isn't contraindicated. sounds like impingement syndrome, esp the supraspinatus. don't exercise it yet! do proprioceptive training 1st (make a sword drawing motion under the watchful eye of a chiro or pt, the B.O.I.N.G. device, etc...) you need to re-educate you muscles. bouldering isn't such a good idea. also e- stim and ultrasound techniques are very very good on this too. try getting it adjusted by a d.c. also.

I have the same problem on both shoulders.

[syudla]

Diagnosed with impingment as well. Unfortunately had the surgery last year (on doc's recom) with 0 positive results, and actually its a bit worse. Pulling motions such as ice climbing don't hurt too bad, (except for tool removal) pushing much worse.

[DPS]

The pain in my shoulder is in a horseshoe shape, sort of around the socket. It hurts most when I reach across my body, not so much pulling straight down. I have not had a chance to see the doc yet.

[syudla]

Sure sounds like the same thing.

[DPS]

Doh!

[chelle]

What GK suggests is great: ice, heat, rest, rebalance. When I injured my shoulder last summer ('03) I went to a sports rehab PT and we did rest, ice, TENS, then strengthening and worked on rebalancing the muscles. I eventually progressed to what Layton suggested and more strength stuff. I was not getting better and was actually feeling worse after the proprioception training and increase weight exercises. This was about $750 into my PT treatments and 5 weeks of my summer. So I went to see an awesome massage therapist. She worked to relieve the inflammation and relieve adhesions in the individal muscles involved. 3 weeks later I had my range of motion back and slowly got back to climbing. If you want a referral pm me for the info.

[layton]

proprioceptive training is not stregnth training and should only be done sub-acute. I find the PT's try to push too soon on the weight