Impinged shoulder anyone?

maxdown

Fractal Fanatic
Starting a few days ago I can't lift my left arm more than about 30 or 40 degrees in any direction.

Have consulted a chiropractor and normal GP - both did the same push/pull tests and concluded it was impinged (no shit sherlock!) but not a full on 'frozen shoulder' which is apparently excruciating and can end up taking 18 months and needing surgery to fix.

Chiropractor did a bit of hammering on neck and upper bicep/tricep muscles with some pneumatic rubber hammer thing and GP doc just pushed me anti-inflammatory pills and said come back in 2 weeks if not back to normal to arrange physio (that will take months to get an appointment with a NHS physio)

It's apparently not a major tear somewhere because they can lift my arm straight up vertical from the shoulder without excessive pain .... but no way can I lift it up under its own muscles or hold it up if it's lifted for me. The muscles just quit and I end up contorting trying to compensate using neck muscle instead.

Anyone else had this guitar playing killing condition? Does it go away? How do I make it go away?

Regards

Dr. Strangelove
 
I have this at the moment. Why is it so hard to see a physio? They are everywhere here in Sydney.

You will probably need scans to see exactly whats up, and a physio to tell you what needs strengthening. For me, the pain almost always comes when i try to lift arm when slouched forward. Straighten your back, pull back your shoulders and see how far you can lift the arm now
 
I was referring to an "NHS" physio - our free healthcare system. I'd definitely be going private I think rather than wait for them to spare me 5 minutes 6 months from now. Just want to give the anti-infammatories a week first before doing that.

It doesn't matter what posture I take - the arm just runs out of steam after about 40 degrees travel forwards, sideways or backwards and falls back
 
I was in the same boat. I got a cortisone shot and started doing stretches and rotator cuff excercises everyday. It took a few months but My shoulder is back to normal now
 
Anyone else had this guitar playing killing condition? Does it go away? How do I make it go away?

Sure did and it was painful, especially when I made a sudden, reflex movement or rolling over in bed!!! I had swelling of the bursa sac., which caused the impingement. I couldn't raise my arm fully for nearly a year and a half. Soon after the shoulder came around, I had the same thing in the other shoulder, but not as severe and thankfully it didn't last as long.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but the worst thing you can do is not use the shoulder, as painful as it can be. I found that Ibuprofen, with applications of hot and cold, in 10 minute cycles, along with some cable exercises helped get me through it.
 
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cortisone shot will go a long way, dont SLEEP ON YOUR BAD SHOULDER either, sounds silly but thats what causes many! (after years and years) ice it nightly and everytime you play. go on youtube learn a bunch of stretches.
 
An impingement is generally mechanical and a general doc isn't usually equipped to deal with that. You should find someone that deals with joints specifically. A chiropractor probably can't fix an impingement. I have had Frozen Shoulder. Outside of strength picking up a guitar I could still play.

I also have had an impingement in my hip. It was caused by my femur being bigger on the right which caused some massive bone spurs. It took years for it to develop into a problem. I had to have surgery to get it fixed. An impingement is generally not something you wake up with. If it is an impingement you most likely have had it for years and didn't know it. Doesn't sound like an impingement.
 
Had this and a frozen shoulder due to calcium (?) buildup. Ageee a physical therapist is what you want. You’ll need stretches and some exercises to build up the deficicient muscles that aren’t pulling their weight.
 
Get yourself a stretchy band and do rotator cuff phys therapy. I’ve been there. My doc had me start by just shoulder raise near a wall, use your fingers to walk up when you can’t lift any higher. Might not be what you need but it’s easy to try. When mine starts acting up I can usually fix it within a few weeks with the band.
 
The pros should know what excersise is best for the individual. Im doing sort of the opposite with the stretchy band, i.e. straight arm starting at 45 degrees from vertical then rotating down until it is at my side. And pec stretches against a wall.

Get yourself a stretchy band and do rotator cuff phys therapy. I’ve been there. My doc had me start by just shoulder raise near a wall, use your fingers to walk up when you can’t lift any higher. Might not be what you need but it’s easy to try. When mine starts acting up I can usually fix it within a few weeks with the band.
 
Thank you all for the replies.

I'd already decided that the chiropractor and GP were out of their comfort zones. The chiropractor I use isn't the kind of guy that adjusts stuff just to put on a snap crackle and pop show and he already has told me I can come back but it would be mainly muscle massage.

I did/do have a problem with a couple of cervical vertebrae that flared up from time to time and affect the ulnic nerve - causes numbness in pinky and ring fingers and extreme pain under shoulder blade and elbow. Chiropractor fixed that like magic .... walked in with my hand on my head as that was only relief position and walked out 20 mins later pretty much normally ..... that was after 3 weeks of extreme pain trying the anti-inflammatory pills the doc gave me (and trying to dissuade me from chiropractic therapy).

I've taken care to since then to make sure I stretch those vertebrae to keep them apart and adopted a better sleeping position with pillow height that keeps my neck straight. (I used to sleep on my belly .... which is not a good idea). No re-occurence of that one in about 5 years but I have had a slight 'weak' feeling in my left arm for quite a while which I sort of was putting down to those vertebrae being damaged/tilted (there's always a slight stiffness in my neck but it's just background noise and nothing like the pain I had previously)

I agree with the majority here and think a physio is the best plan for this particular one .... they can assess the injury and give me the correct stretches/exercises plan for whatever tendons that are affected.

Weird thing is that first thing this morning when I woke up in bed I could lift my left arm (albeit with some painless internal popping) while lying there. As soon as I got up though that mobility disappeared again .... but I'm taking it as a good sign that somethings getting better with just time and ibruprofen.
 
You weren't using it so it rusted shut. You can move it a little, move it a little more, and beat on it somehow until it breaks loose. Then move it a lot. The shoulder isn't really a joint, it's a stick held down into a divot with ropes, if those ropes stay tight too long they get stiff. Loosen the ropes. There's a bar across the top the connects at the neck (clavicle) that is held down to the shoulder with ropes too (AC joint), if they don't get used they'll get stiff too and won't move when you need them. Break it all loose, might hurt at first, but once it's loose it will heal, then keep it moving or it will freeze again.
 
Yeah .... I can relate to that. The chiropractor has been hammering them with a rubber tipped jackhammer machine pistol thing.

I have favoured my left arm more due to the very painful experience brought on by the irritated ulnic nerve stemming from my neck vertebrae I had years ago so I've unconsciouslessly been hunching up that shoulder ever since because the previous pain was worst under my scapula and the only little relief I managed before the chirpractor adjusted me was by putting my left hand on top of my head which shifted the scapula up a bit. Hopefully the physio will show me the way to stretch things and drop the scapula down a bit and re-train the 'rusty' muscles/tendons to work
 
You've got opposing muscles everywhere, if there's a pinched nerve somewhere, there's another set of muscles you can tighten to take pressure off of it. I've got one between C7 and T1 that turns my left arm basically off, fortunately the truck pulls hard right all day, so my left shoulder gets proper pounded keeping it out of the ditch.

Just the other day it occurred to me I could take pressure off of nerves if I put pressure on muscles somewhere else. Tried sitting up straight, relaxing the left shoulder, putting all the torsional tension on the spine and ribs instead of the shoulder, pulled both shoulders back to get the left scapula to stop smashing the nerve, pulled neck and head back. It felt so good so fast I almost started crying!
 
I had a similar problem with my right arm. I think it was mainly caused by playing guitar sitting down with the guitar on my right leg, which causes you to lift your arm at the shoulder slightly. Also, I carry stress in my chest muscles, which caused the shoulder to rotate forward and impinge something. My big mistake was doing nothing for months, until it was totally frozen.

Off to the MD I went, followed by PT and drugs, which did almost nothing. They suggested surgery to break it loose. Instead I tried my wife's chiropractor. He would stand behind me, and with a strange looking device between his chest and the back of my shoulder, would wrap his arms around me and squeeze. The device would pop somehow and deliver a blow to my shoulder. I would leave his office whimpering, but after a few times my range of motion started to come back. After a dozen more trips (or so) and many hours of painful stretching, I regained 80% motion. It took a couple of years to get all of it back.

My lessons learned:
1) Play your guitar standing up with a strap. If you have to sit down, put the guitar on your left leg or straddled between your legs.
2) Don't "hike" your shoulders.
3) Stretch your shoulders if you feel them tightening. I do this by putting my arms straight up in the air, moving them forward and backward a few inches. Or, walk up to a doorway with your arms raised. Let them be gently pushed back as you push your body forward.

This stuff works for me. YMMV.

Best wishes @maxdown!
 
https://www.betterfx.physio/bursitis-the-stubborn-shoulder-injury/

U r smashing your own power cables up in there and wouldn't even know it. Take 1000mg of magnesium with some food and move that stuff around till the one enthusiastic idiot muscle calms down and stops pulling on everyone else. If drugs won't get him to calm down, you'll have to resort to beatings.

suprascapular_and_axillary_nerves_02.jpg
 
I'm just gonna pull the pin on a thought grenade and throw it over the fence. A lot of the physical issues experienced here are due to lifestyle. We are sitting too much at work and sitting with the guitar and sitting hunched over the keyboard yet no one in this thread complaining about pain has even once mentioned how these issues are impinging on their exercise regimens. Because we don't have any. I'm making broad generalizations, but we know who we are. I started back in the gym hardcore in January, first with the rowing machine pulling 5 km in 30 minutes and then running on the treadmill doing whatever C25K (Couch to 5K) tells me to do.

That was said as a guitar player, former Marine, guy with back problems, and current med student. I know there are a few saltier medical professionals on this board nodding north to south and saying "Yup".

Get out and get moving. It's the best analgesic there is. Get your Apple Watch, get your Fitbit and get at a minimum 10K steps a day, 30 minutes of exercise, burn at least 500 kcal above your base metabolic rate. Get some.

There are paraplegics doing BJJ right now. What's your excuse?
 
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