shoulder injury feel?

[Desert Eagle]

after a long period of inactivity I overexerted with the Tibetan rites and after a day or a half I started feeling a dull pain. I move around my shoulder and there is a tendon or muscle ending that feels out of place. i can maneuver it to feel impeded then a clicking noise. no real pain not in the slightest.

 

if the tendon or muscle ending was dislocated or partially torn, would it feel that way? or would it give more generalized pain?

 

I went to a doctor who gave me anti inflammatory drugs and recommended phys therapy for shoulder muscle impingement.

 

still 3 weeks later and I did not do the phys therapy yet. the musc/tendon still feels abnormal.

 

is there a way to determine exactly what is the problem besides surgery?

Edited June 9, 2011 by Desert Eagle

[ChiDragon]

1. Tendon and muscle may be partially torn but they do not dislocate. If you do, you will have constant pain.

 

2. If you can maneuver it to feel impeded then a clicking noise. no real pain not in the slightest. It seems like your shoulder joint is slightly dislocated.

[Otis]

Hi Desert Eagle,

 

I can't tell you what's going on for you, of course.

 

But I've spent years freeing my own shoulders, and what you're saying matches a pattern I've seen in myself, many times.

 

After some extensive/intensive new exercise or stretch, the habits of certain muscles shift out of their ordinary balance. Some fibers release, as their habit becomes less distinct. And other fibers go into spasm, a muscular form of low-level panic. That spasm can last for a while, especially if I don't keep that area active.

 

When I do keep the affected area active, then the panic doesn't stay. If I stretch and play with the fibers in spasm, then they lead to new release. I have to remain diligent, in activating the irritated parts, and not allowing myself to tune the sensation out.

 

If I were experiencing what you say you do, I would immediately get that part activated, and make my meditation about that. How does the shoulder want to move? Where is there resistance? Where flash points? (Only questions; allow my body, rather than my ego, to decide my pace and my vector). Where is the "delicious stretch"? Where is the cutting edge, wherein pain and pleasure become non-distinct? If I can find the pleasure in the activation of the injury, then my attention flows there naturally, and the healing speeds up, exponentially.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Otis

[doc benway]

after a long period of inactivity I overexerted with the Tibetan rites and after a day or a half I started feeling a dull pain. I move around my shoulder and there is a tendon or muscle ending that feels out of place. i can maneuver it to feel impeded then a clicking noise. no real pain not in the slightest.

 

if the tendon or muscle ending was dislocated or partially torn, would it feel that way? or would it give more generalized pain?

 

I went to a doctor who gave me anti inflammatory drugs and recommended phys therapy for shoulder muscle impingement.

 

still 3 weeks later and I did not do the phys therapy yet. the musc/tendon still feels abnormal.

 

is there a way to determine exactly what is the problem besides surgery?

Western medical perspective:

If you are relatively young (let's say 40's or less), the chance of you having a torn tendon is very small without significant injury. Older - it's very common to have some degenerative tearing of the rotator cuff tendons or the biceps. The clicking you're feeling could be some inflammed tissue that lines the subacromial bursa rubbing between the undersurface of the acromion and the rotator cuff tendons. This is the most likely explanation by far. Also possible that your shoulder could be unstable due to muscle weakness, causing it to slide partially in and out of concentric alignment between the humerus and glenoid - this is called subluxation. I'm pretty sure your shoulder joint is not dislocated or dislocating. Tendons and muscles around the shoulder generally do not dislocate. It can happen on rare occasion but usually associated with a lot of pain and trauma.

 

An accurate diagnosis can generally be made by a doc who treats a lot of shoulder problems (orthopaedist who specializes in the shoulder for example). MRI is very helpful in looking for tears - probably 95% accuracy in a good scanner read by the right person. Caution - a lot of these specialists are fairly quick to recommend surgery. If you have a small, partial thickness tear - no need to rush into surgery. Physical therapy and other modalities (acupuncture, TCM, anti-inflammatories, chiropractic, and so on) are usually enough but it's slow - as much as 4-6 months depending on the severity of the tear. If you have a large, full thickness tear of the rotator cuff - that should be fixed as there's good data to show that people who do not have it repaired after serious shoulder issues years later. If you just have some inflammation (by far the most likely), most folks will improve within 6-8 weeks of PT and whatever other treatment they choose.

 

Eastern medical perspective:

Out of my league!

 

Good luck!

Edit - I really like Otis' approach

Edited June 9, 2011 by steve f