Thread: Screwed up rotator cuff...

did you go to the doctor and the cortisone shot was what they recommended?

why not take a break frm lifting and playing softball? As much as it sucks that is probably best.

Well I have for about a month. I've avoided any deltoid exercises or anthing that would cause discomfort. I can't stand it anymore. I want to stay even and not get disproportioned. I've only been working out certain parts of my body. THIS SUCKS!!

everything you do with the upper body uses your deltoids pretty much.

Are you sure it is one of the rotator cuff muscles? maybe you have an inflamation of tendons or your tendons are over streched/stressed? The only way to tell is to see a specialist.

Seen a specialist already. I decided to go ahead and do chest today (about an hour ago) anyways and right now my right arm feels good. I used low weight and kinda modified my workout using only DBs and kept them near my body instead of wide. We'll see how my arm feels today and especially when I wake up tomorrow afternoon.
(I did Flat and Incline Bench, Incline Flyes and Bench Dips.)
THanks!!

specifically what muscle/tendon has the problem or do you know?
usually it is a supraspinatus problem and p-funk is right...everything you do, especially chest and shoulder exercises, work the rotator cuff as it is really the only thing keeping your humerus in place.

i would do some light rotator cuff exercises and lay off all chest and shoulder exercises for a while...hopefully the rotator exercises will quicken your recovery and prevent further injury.

if you have more info about your condition please post it.

also....throwing a ball is REALLY a bad idea with a rotator cuff injury in most cases....that's why they take it so seriously in the major leagues when a pitcher has a rotator cuff problem....the positions and stress on your arm during throwing can greatly worsen the problem in most cases....take a break....a month off now is better than a more serious chronic injury that you may never fully recover from.

Going to see the specialist today so I post what I find. I wish they would just give me a cortisone shot and be done with it.

Massage, try it you might find it helps the healing process. also chiropractic, try everything you can, even prolotherapy before you even consider the knife

I know this is old, but I would like to know what you have done and what progress you have made, I'm Trying. I am in the same boat. Doc wants me to do a bunch of rotator cuff strengthening exercises and cut out the bench, shoulder press, etc for a month. But, if I have to get surgery, I am supposed to take 3 months off! Did your doc give you a bunch of exercises to do?

I tore my right cup doing pull downs. The doc gave me a large rubber band kind of thing and told me to work it out. I just hit the gym and did light workouts with “gurlie weights” (got hacked on by a few friends … “sure you can handle that 80 pound bench there big guy?”) till I improved and steadily increased my load till I was back to normal. The cup is still torn but I refuse to go under the knife and used exercise instead. It worked for me.

Good luck. I know it hurts, but you have more stones than the average guy and you will get through it!

Thanks BoneCrusher. The pain is certainly bearable. The doc gave me tons of exercises. I go back in 4 weeks for x-rays. I guess I need to back off the heavy weights on my chest/shoulder exercises. I don't know how I hurt it. Probably some overhead exercise.

Really light with lots of reps did it for me. The hecklers just motivated me ...

I had the same problem last year. The doc gave me a shot of cort. Felt great for a couple of weeks, but after that the pain was right back. Went back to the doc and got a referal for a spots doc. He told me it was not the rotor cuff, but my upper bicep, where it ties into the shoulder. I got another cort shot. Guess what a few weeks later it was back again.

After that, I just modified my liftin and everything is fine now. I brought my arms in closer to shoulder width for the bench and it helped alot. Just lay off or modify any exercises that hurt the area. At least that is what I did, and it seemed to work well for me!

Good luck with your injury!!

Thanks. I just went to get it x-rayed, and will get the results tomorrow. I incorporated a bunch of exercises to strengthen that area (doc's orders). Maybe I will just do this routine and leave out bench and above-the-head exercises for a few weeks. Hate to do it, but I have had this problem for about half of a year. I have noticed that bench feels much better with a narrow grip.

Wow does my shoulder hurt too. I injured what I assume is my rotator cuff two years ago working out. I believe it was during fly exercises with excessive weight... possibly pull downs. Anyways I thought it would heal with time and waited several months for it to improve. The pain went away finally as long as I avoid those exercises. To this day I can't do fly's and don't feel like working out if I can't build my shoulders and pecks. What a drag. Lately I also joined a softball league which I am excited about..I started to practice throwing the ball and the injury is starting again!!! I am very concerned that I won't be able to play when it starts and I'll be very upset. The type of pain I experience is as though somebody is sticking a red-hot poker in my outer shoulder. I can't believe major league pitchers cope with this and are able to resume. Any tips? Warm-up exercises?? Hope your's is feeling better!!

Thanks,
Worried.

Here is a link I was given awhile back from Monolith...
Cuff Exercises