Got Shoulder Pain?

[WillBrink]

One Possible Solution to Chronic Shoulder Pain: The Rotater

Aches and pains are very common to athletes and people who exercise regularly. The shoulders are a common area for chronic aches and pains. Some times the pain is due to a specific injury which needs to be diagnosed and treated by a medical professional.

However, much of the time the aches and pain in the shoulders are due to muscle imbalances in the rotator cuff muscles, which can be stretched and or strengthened to both improve function and reduce pain.

One simple gizmo I have found very helpful is called The Rotater. It’s a simple yet effective method of both stretching and strengthening the rotator cuff muscles.

If interested in additional information on how The Rotater can be used to strengthen the shoulders, improve function, reduce pain, and so forth, my vid/write up on it:

http://www.brinkzone.com/injuries/got-shoulder-pain/

[Packman73]

Thanks for posting. I'm on the mend now but I was dealing with rotator cuff pain for well over a year caused by the way I was sleeping at night. Had to do some specific exercises and train myself to sleep with my arm in a different position.

[keller]

I need to get mine xrayed. Have broken and torn it in the past.

[WillBrink]

Thanks for posting. I'm on the mend now but I was dealing with rotator cuff pain for well over a year caused by the way I was sleeping at night. Had to do some specific exercises and train myself to sleep with my arm in a different position.

The Rotater both stretches and can be used to strengthen rotator cuff muscles. I find the stretching really helps.

[Packman73]

I agree, I stretch it out quite a lot and I feel almost 100% again.

[Watrdawg]

Over the last 2-3 years I've had significant pain in my shoulder when doing heavy flat benches. Mainly in the frontpart of the Delt but deep down and next to the pocket between the Delt and the Pectoral muscles. This has been in both shoulders but the pain has been more intense inthe right shoulder. Other shoulder movements do not bother me usually. I've wondered if this has been a rotater cuff issue but have not had it checked out. 1st does this sound like a rotater cuff issue and 2nd do you think this product might help in relieving those types of shoulder pains?

[WillBrink]

Over the last 2-3 years I've had significant pain in my shoulder when doing heavy flat benches. Mainly in the frontpart of the Delt but deep down and next to the pocket between the Delt and the Pectoral muscles. This has been in both shoulders but the pain has been more intense inthe right shoulder. Other shoulder movements do not bother me usually. I've wondered if this has been a rotater cuff issue but have not had it checked out. 1st does this sound like a rotater cuff issue and 2nd do you think this product might help in relieving those types of shoulder pains?

I can't diagnose such a thing via the 'net, so consult a medical professional on that. From description of location, sounds like ACL to me, but that's a WAG on my part. I recommend a Physiatrist:

http://www.aapmr.org/patients/aboutpmr/pages/physiatrist.aspx

As a rule, shoulder issues with weight training are caused by over use syndromes, too much pressing, not enough pulling (causing imbalances), excess volume, and other possible factors. Tight, and or weak/unbalanced rotator cuff muscles are also one possible cause for sure.

If the only thing that hurts is flat benching, then stop flat benching. Unless you're a competitive power lifter who has to bench to compete, there's no particular reason it has to be in your program, and flat benching causes a lot of shoulder issues for a lot of people.

I suspect you would benefit from dropping the flat benching for a while, reduce volume of pressing movements, make sure equal amount of pulling movements happen, and perhaps stretching with The Rotater would be helpful, but if in doubt, get basic diagnosis from appropriate med professional or a good PT at least.

[Watrdawg]

Definitely something to consider. Thanks Will!!

[FredBart]

Note to Mr Keller: X ray will not show tears. Unfortunately, you will need expensive scan. You may want to try stretching and exercise therapies first. Good Luck.

[LMT42]

Over the last 2-3 years I've had significant pain in my shoulder when doing heavy flat benches.

I recently started having shoulder problems from BP too. Some information I've read says that barbell BP puts a lot of stress on your shoulders and that it should be ditched in favor of dumbbell presses. I've read other information that says barbell BP is fine and it's all about proper form and range of motion.

Edit: Good video on proper form. I've been lazy with mine - flat back, wide grip, high chest and shoulder flare down position - probable culprit of my should pain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg28flJLEiA

[hickuleas]

Rotator cuff issues seem to very common. I had pain and difficulty raising arm. After a MRI was done i had surgery and after a slow recovery i am like new. The pain this issue causes was unbelievable. My doctor said because mine was torn repeated exercise could harm my shoulder. He said the MRI is the best way to determine damage but they don't know the full damage done untill they open your shoulder.

[WillBrink]

Rotator cuff issues seem to very common. I had pain and difficulty raising arm. After a MRI was done i had surgery and after a slow recovery i am like new. The pain this issue causes was unbelievable. My doctor said because mine was torn repeated exercise could harm my shoulder. He said the MRI is the best way to determine damage but they don't know the full damage done untill they open your shoulder.

A regular schedule of strengthening and stretching the rotator cuff muscles can go a long way (eg, "pre hab") to avoiding such injuries, and The Rotater can help a great deal there. Can also be used for re hab, but clear with doc first in your case.

[Blstr88]

A regular schedule of strengthening and stretching the rotator cuff muscles can go a long way (eg, "pre hab") to avoiding such injuries, and The Rotater can help a great deal there. Can also be used for re hab, but clear with doc first in your case.

This - any regular schedule of LIGHT strengthening exercises seems to help.

I hurt my left rotator cuff badly about 9 years ago when I was at college. I went about 2 years just living with the pain before finally getting to a doctor and having some MRI's done. They sent me to a physical therapist to help try and fix the problem.

It helped for a while but eventually I stopped going and the pain returned. It actually got better when I started getting into lifting weights. I was limited to light weights initially because of the injury but as I grew some strength it seemed to hurt less and less until finally it barely ever bothered me.

I stopped lifting about 2 years ago now and only do cardio nowadays and the shoulder pain is back. I am convinced by keeping the muscle strong in the area it helps to alleviate the pain.

[WillBrink]

I am convinced by keeping the muscle strong in the area it helps to alleviate the pain.

Then get back a regular schedule of balanced training and stretching of the rotator cuff muscles.