@The ADD ,
@Dwayne Taylor
i went through all the stages. at first it started w minor pain here and there. then started getting worse, it would hurt after upper body workouts. then it started bothering me during workouts. after it got to the point of me only being able to do legs for weeks at a time i capitulated and went to first of 3 doctors.
he was the highest rated ortho surgeon in one of the better hospitals in manhattan so i assumed that was the right move. first he did an xray first to check for bone damage. then he had me come back in for an MRI. after evaluating my MRI he insisted i start w PT, for a surgeon he seemed to be massively anti-surgery. so i went w it. i did 16 weeks of PT 2-3x as week. it did absolutely nothing to help. after a few light wokouts the pain came right back. i got fed up w him and went to another doctor.
the second doctor had reviews from people w shoulder injuries that sounded similar and they said he helped, he had a very nice facility w in house PT. i guess at that point i wasn't fully set on surgery yet either. so he analyzed my MRIs from first doctor and insisted that his in house PT would be better than previous PT i did. i agreed to try that. i did about 3 months of his PT 2-3x a week and had the same experience. it did absolutely nothing to help. so i gave up on second doc too.
i remembered reading about
@Spliff having a shoulder injury and his advice being something to the effect of, "when you have an injury make sure you to go a practitioner who is truly of sports medicine." meaning that they understand which activities you ultimately want to be able to do without pain, and that they will help you get back to that the safest and fastest way possible. i feel like the first 2 doctors almost wanted to convince me to stop weightlifting and make that the solution. like accepting that i was no longer a kid and now some fragile old guy, and adjust my expectations accordingly. so i did different research for the 3rd doctor.
i found a doctor who had a documented history of true sports medicine. worked w nhl teams, college football teams, olympic athletes etc. actually understands how an athlete thinks. i finally got in to see him and he did new MRIs. he diagnosed my shoulder impingement, i actually had a bone growth at the tip of my clavicle that was rubbing. i had a bone spur that needed to be removed. i had terrible bursitis and tendonitis. and of course tearing in my rotator cuff. i explained to him what it is that i wanted out this whole ordeal, to get back to weights and occasional sports without pain and without restriction. he leveled w me and told that surgery is the only way to make that happen. he told me i don't have to have surgery. i could keep going as i was without working out, never really play sports again, maybe golf once a month, but anything beyond that = pain until surgery. he said he wasn't going to sell me on surgery, that was my decision. but the surgery was a means to an end and only i could decide what i wanted that end to be. so i booked my surgery for 2 weeks later lol. i had the procedure done on jan 31, 2014. i was out of a sling 2.5 weeks after. i was in PT by the last week of feb 2014, w his PT who was a true athlete herself. she understood that i wanted to be back in the gym asap. i was back in gym doing legs by late march - april 2014 w a trainer i had met who specialized in correcting form/posture issues, working w ROM and really understood how to get me back into it properly. i was easing my way back into upper body by summer 2014. i'd say after 6 months it was like the whole ordeal never happened.
i never have pain any more, i can throw a football, swing a golf club, shoot a basketball, military press, bench press etc. granted i lost a lot of raw strength. part of that is the fact that my lifestyle has massively changed, i'm busier w a bigger commute, a second kid, and more adult responsibilities like a new house, so i don't lift nearly as much and often as i used to. i also backed off of pushing my shoulder further than it needs to go. i've realized i don't need to bench 315 anymore. i don't need to try and military press 185 anymore. i don't push for upper body 1RMs any more. but i still lift and i'm good to go when i do.
