Coaches My stupid shoulder

[twisting007bigflip]

Has been bothering me for the better part of 2 years, and has hurt daily for the past 6 months. I finally broke down and saw the ortho today.

So the diagnosis is that I have Biceps Tendinitis. Obviously, he goes on to tell me to have someone spot for me for awhile. Gives me several options for physical therapy and ultrasound and and and...he then says he thinks that this is ready for injections. I'm like WHATTTTT???? Sounds scary. Anyone had injections before?? This scares the crap out of me and I'm wondering what it's like. He put me on oral steroids for the time being, so I hope these help...but when I go back for the recheck in a couple weeks, he want to do an injection :/

Anyone??

 

[CoachTodd]

depending on what he's injecting, it helps the tendonitis. Some folks say the stuff they inject hurts a bit when they inject it but it goes away.
That's about all I can tell you. I had to have one shoulder repaired already .

 

[twisting007bigflip]

I can't remember what he said he would be injecting. My mind kind of went into shock when I heard "injection" and the next thing I know he has pictures pulled up on the computer of bulging biceps tendons that had ruptured and crawled down the arm closer to the inside of the elbow...he then said "you have to promise me not to spot anyone for at least 3 weeks after this injection or THIS can happen and then it's surgery". I was like woah.

 

[iwannacoach]

If things are still the same as when I had my problems, you're probably looking at a cortisone injection. You'll get a local anesthetic to numb your shoulder from the top of your biceps muscle to the point where your collar bone, scapula, and humerus come together to form your "shoulder."

It takes very little time for the anesthesia to kick in, so don't get all stressed when the doc whips out a syringe with something on it that looks more like a dagger than a needle. Seeing the needle was kinda freaky, but hey, me? no problem.... I sat up on the little table and watched him do the entire injection. It ain't no thing, but my advice is to find something better to do with that moment than to watch, because if I had to do it again, at my age, I wouldn't watch.

Just relax, trust the doc, and everything will be skippy. Your time for concern is the three week period of rest. Absolutely, positively, follow the docs advice with no exceptions or fudging. I'd ask him if a sling would be a good idea, because when I had mine the doc just said no strain or pressure for 3 weeks...... but hey, he never warned me about doors swinging into my arm, or people bouncing off of me while entering/exiting a crowded building, or reaching out quickly to catch myself after being bumped by some random stranger. That's the stuff that hurt me the most during the "rest and recovery" period.

Whether you get the injections or not, you still gotta ice that dang shoulder for 20 minutes at the end of every day in the gym. That worked as well as anything else, as it kept me from hurting the next day after workouts while in college. While I can't be certain the cortisone did any good, I have no way of knowing if that's what made it possible to recover with just a 20 minute, full tilt, ice session.

There's another thread similar to this in the mag section. Maybe checking those posts will offer something for your problem.

 

[twisting007bigflip]

It takes very little time for the anesthesia to kick in, so don't get all stressed when the doc whips out a syringe with something on it that looks more like a dagger than a needle.

Lol! This is exactly what I'm afraid of I'm totally fine with the pain of the needle and injection, I just hate the idea of a giant sword entering my shoulder

everything you said about following the dr's orders and no fudging:

This is GOOD to know - I wouldn't have thought about any of those. I'm just really bad about thinking that when I feel good, I can function normally. I'm afraid that I'll use my arm without thinking about it and mess it up even more...if that makes sense.

 

[iwannacoach]

I'm afraid that I'll use my arm without thinking about it and mess it up even more...if that makes sense.

Makes sense to me. Hey ya never know, maybe the kids will see your arm in a sling, and figure they're just gonna have to suck it up and do some of those skills without being spotted........ or maybe they'll find other ways to improve...... like working on form, correct shapes, and technique. Maybe they'll figure out that they can put more effort into their conditioning in an effort to contribute more to the skill work when you can finally spot again.

Well, maybe..... and maybe not, but it is nice to dream, isn't it!

 

[fuzi]

I'm a wimp that passes out from the dilating eye drops at the eye doctor and I've had both cortisone injections in my shoulder and (many many) prolotherapy injections in my achilles tendon. I won't say they didn't hurt, but neither was as bad as I expected. Depending on what he is injecting, it might help a lot (like it helped my achilles). I'm sure glad I did that.

 

[CoachGoofy]

I'm looking at one of these soon too. I'm planning on spending a LOT of time fixing basics, getting stronger, doing things that i absolutely will not need to catch them on. The sling thing is also going to be a thing here--whether the doctor says it's 100% necessary or not, I don't want to be tempted.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I can't remember what he said he would be injecting. My mind kind of went into shock when I heard "injection" and the next thing I know he has pictures pulled up on the computer of bulging biceps tendons that had ruptured and crawled down the arm closer to the inside of the elbow...he then said "you have to promise me not to spot anyone for at least 3 weeks after this injection or THIS can happen and then it's surgery". I was like woah.

water soluble cortisone. it's worth a try. hardly ever does a thing. rest is best. well, the oral steroids work pretty well though. just be careful if your voice changes to much...lol...just kidding.

 

[BlairBob]

On Tendonitis | Eat. Move. Improve.

Yeah, I posted this over in the MAG thread for some T10 kid over there. He's all messed up. Fractured ankles and wrists and a fracture in his back.

Prolotherapy is what I'm thinking by injections but could be PRP. I know there is some other super neat stuff that you can inject into your elbow and I looked into it for awhile. PRP sounds pretty cool.

Then again I HATE needles.

I know last week my elbows and shoulders were getting worn out not having spotted in 9 months while I was spotting on bars all day. I spotted one of the teenage L4 on a drop kip and nearly crumpled and couldn't spot her on the 2nd drop kip.

Having gone through really bad shoulders a few years ago to just mildly ok shoulders that crack and pop a lot, I would highly recommend doing a lot of shoulder mobility. Shoulders are complicated. Lots of using light DB for high reps and bands.

To note, spotting bars was probably harder on my elbows and shoulders than doing Snatches and Cleans and Jerks 6x/week. And I didn't spot one HS press on floor or any back tucks/handsprings in 3 days. I would have really been mussed up if I had to.

 

[twisting007bigflip]

water soluble cortisone. it's worth a try. hardly ever does a thing. rest is best. well, the oral steroids work pretty well though. just be careful if your voice changes to much...lol...just kidding.

"Hardly ever does a thing" like probably won't help?? That sucks. I'm on my last day of oral steroids and they did help but I'm still hurting bad enough that I can only spot a few kips before I'm "done"...I really just have to rest and I know that but I really suck at resting my body.

I'm seriously just thinking about calling to see if I can just get the injection like tomorrow or the next day. At this point, I guess the sooner I get the injection, the sooner I can be back to "normal"

 

[iwannacoach]

Ice worked better than the shot. That and 4 aspirin, before workouts, taken with a glass of milk to protect my stomach lining.

 

[twisting007bigflip]

water soluble cortisone. it's worth a try. hardly ever does a thing. rest is best. well, the oral steroids work pretty well though. just be careful if your voice changes to much...lol...just kidding.

Well, I sucked it up and made an appointment to get the injection. Had it done a little over a week ago. Has helped some, but not entirely.

The actual injection itself wasn't bad at all! Nothing compared to the pain I was having in my shoulder anyway

 

[Iwannabemargo]

When I had tendonitis pt gave me exercises, told me no over-shoulder arm activity for 8 weeks, total arm rest for 2 weeks and taped me up. The tape helped a lot, plus NAIDS before exercise. Rest is the only thing that really works.

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[Gymsanity]

Well, I sucked it up and made an appointment to get the injection. Had it done a little over a week ago. Has helped some, but not entirely.

The actual injection itself wasn't bad at all! Nothing compared to the pain I was having in my shoulder anyway

Really glad to hear you got it done, sorry it wasn't the complete cure. I found this an interesting thread, as I thought I was the only coach out there with a bad shoulder that gets worse with time. With a day or two of rest it gets better, but I don't want to ruin it to the point I will need something else like what you and some of the others have had to go through. I already have a partially torn bicep which limits me a bit. I hope with a little more time and rest your shoulder gets better. Good luck.