Long standing bicep/front delt injury that can't be figured out...

[eferguson8]

Hey everyone,

For the past 2+ years I've been dealing with an injury that's located mid/upper arm more so on the side of the arm. It just got progressively worse over time while doing pushing movements. There was never an instant snap or shot of pain, it just got progressively worse to the point I couldn't bench a 25lb plate on each side. I've seen a doctor, chiropractor, massage therapist and sports therapy to remedy this issue. The best answer I got was that over time my tendons basically couldn't deal with the workload and gave up. Chiro and massage therapists are still stumped by it because I can't get back to 100% and they're still going back and forth of what the issue could be. It's still a soreness/tightness I feel every day but it's manageable. The best remedy has been using bands to strengthen the tendons and that's allowed me to get back in the gym for a while now but I can't give it 100%, especially during shoulder days and certain chest movements. I always warm up with the bands, use light weights to get into the working sets and stretch the chest/arm area between sets but there's been no improved progress in months. Strange enough for the location of the injury, I can do any arm workout without any pain or aggravating the affected area. That's drawn some of them to it being more of a delt issue. I still continue the band work and go for at least 2 massages a month to keep things decent. Shock therapy and acupuncture weren't of much help. Lastly, the area cracks a lot. My worry is that there's a bunch of scar tissue that's build up around that area and it can get irritated quick while doing shoulder presses for an example even with light weight. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give as much info as I could.

I appreciate any responses to help remedy this issue further!

 

[fasttwitch]

Hey everyone,

For the past 2+ years I've been dealing with an injury that's located mid/upper arm more so on the side of the arm. It just got progressively worse over time while doing pushing movements. There was never an instant snap or shot of pain, it just got progressively worse to the point I couldn't bench a 25lb plate on each side. I've seen a doctor, chiropractor, massage therapist and sports therapy to remedy this issue. The best answer I got was that over time my tendons basically couldn't deal with the workload and gave up. Chiro and massage therapists are still stumped by it because I can't get back to 100% and they're still going back and forth of what the issue could be. It's still a soreness/tightness I feel every day but it's manageable. The best remedy has been using bands to strengthen the tendons and that's allowed me to get back in the gym for a while now but I can't give it 100%, especially during shoulder days and certain chest movements. I always warm up with the bands, use light weights to get into the working sets and stretch the chest/arm area between sets but there's been no improved progress in months. Strange enough for the location of the injury, I can do any arm workout without any pain or aggravating the affected area. That's drawn some of them to it being more of a delt issue. I still continue the band work and go for at least 2 massages a month to keep things decent. Shock therapy and acupuncture weren't of much help. Lastly, the area cracks a lot. My worry is that there's a bunch of scar tissue that's build up around that area and it can get irritated quick while doing shoulder presses for an example even with light weight. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give as much info as I could.

I appreciate any responses to help remedy this issue further!

Hey brother.. Sorry to hear this.

I take it you haven't had an MRI yet? In your shoes I'd find a good orthopedic doctor and have him order an MRI.

Do you have insurance?

 

[eferguson8]

Hey brother.. Sorry to hear this.

I take it you haven't had an MRI yet? In your shoes I'd find a good orthopedic doctor and have him order an MRI.

Do you have insurance?

I have good insurance and a good family doctor (I'm in Alberta). I haven't had an MRI yet but worst case I'd be fine just paying out of pocket if they don't think it's a big enough concern to get me booked in without waiting months. Thanks for the reply.

 

[genetic freak]

I went through something similar for a couple years and tried by best to work around it. They did all the imaging and an ortho sent me to physical therapy. I was in and out of there for two years with almost no improvement. I went back to my PCM who happened to also be an ortho (military medicine). He took one look at my images and told me I wasted two years. It could never be fixed with any amount of physical therapy. Basically, the end of my clavicle, which is supposed to be round looked more like a midevil mace. They went in, cut it off, took out the scar tissue, did some work on my rotator cuff that had been getting destroyed due to poor mechanics caused by the clavicle and I was out of sling in two weeks. Able to function full ROM in 4 and lifting in about 8 weeks. Lifting balls to the wall a few weeks after that.

Not saying this is your issue, but imaging would help. Also, check out Dr. Christopher Marvin on YouTube and IG. He is a performance chiropractor. I use a lot of his warm ups and tricks to improve my ROM and unlock, locked up joints and muscles. The dude is magic.

 

[Therealkiller]

There is a condition called weightlifter's shoulder. It occurs in us (from overhead presses) and throwing athletes. The end of your clavicle develops stress fractures. I had it and the ortho took off 3cm of my right clavicle, recovery is minimal. Obviously you would need imaging like others have said.

 

[Friggemall]

Does it sorta feel like rotator but also bicep?
I fought it in both “shoulders” for a year when Scott McNally suggested to me that it was bicep tendinitis. Scott told me to use my massage gun 2-3 times a day and dig it deep in the armpit area where the pec & pit meet. Right in the front crease pushing from the side into the pec where the bicep tendon ties in to the pec. 2 weeks and my agonizing pain was gone and haven’t had any issues since.

 

[eferguson8]

There is a condition called weightlifter's shoulder. It occurs in us (from overhead presses) and throwing athletes. The end of your clavicle develops stress fractures. I had it and the ortho took off 3cm of my right clavicle, recovery is minimal. Obviously you would need imaging like others have said.

The more I look into this the more I believe that's the issue. It's unfortunate, it looks like there's no other way of fixing it without surgery.

 

[eferguson8]

Does it sorta feel like rotator but also bicep?
I fought it in both “shoulders” for a year when Scott McNally suggested to me that it was bicep tendinitis. Scott told me to use my massage gun 2-3 times a day and dig it deep in the armpit area where the pec & pit meet. Right in the front crease pushing from the side into the pec where the bicep tendon ties in to the pec. 2 weeks and my agonizing pain was gone and haven’t had any issues since.

It's not in my bicep at all; it's for sure more shoulder related. My symptoms relate pretty closely to weightlifters shoulder unfortunately.