UKC

HI,
I wondered if anyone had any similar experiences or advice for an on-going shoulder problem which has stopped me climbing. I started climbing around 4 years ago at an indoor wall & progressed to outdoor climbing about a year later. I climbed indoors about twice a week and outdoors once a week. I should mention I am quite heavy for a climber at around 16 stone. I try to push my grades and climb hard-ish stuff, for me anyway.

So about a year ago, I developed an acute pain in the right shoulder and to cut a long story short, after two cortisone injections and more physio than I can afford, I haven't climbed in 3 months. I have been told my shoulder position is forward of where it should be and I need to strengthen the muscles that will bring it back to the correct position therefore removing the posture that causes the impingement/back pain/neck stiffness etc. There's a lot going on, ha! I have tried the exercises I saw on the here but they tend to cause me more pain as there is inflamtion which is aggravated by movement.

I have been told I have tight chest muscles and need to stretch these, again this causes shoulder pain. I have been to my docs who are no use, but have a specialist to see in Feb which is good but leaves me in pain for another 8 weeks and popping ibuprofen like it's sweets can't be good . Anyone got any suggestions or similar experiences with happy endings?
Any help would be eternally appreciated.
Many thanks in advance,
Mark

In reply to dakidunn:

Tough one.

I've had two occurences of a shoulder impingement. The first time it went away fairly easily (I'd guess within a month) with stretches and using a thera-band.

It has now happened again, but the stretches I was doing last time are too painful to stick to, it's not the stretch itself that hurts, it's returning my arm to its usual position after the stretch is completed which causes the problem. I have to move my arm back to my side in an awkward two-stage process to avoid pain.

I'm getting pretty fed up with it now!

In reply to dakidunn:

Hi,

I have had successful keyhole surgery on both shoulders in 2006 and 2011 and now climb as well as ever (never very good!)following problems due to muscle imbalance and poor posture. They shaved a bit of bone away to allow the supraspinatus tendon to move freely.

So I would recommend getting referred to a good surgeon that specialises in shoulders. As regards rehabilitation afterwards, I used (and continue to use) the shoulder exercises by Gabriella Frittelli on this website to stabilise and strengthen the shoulder before gradually returning to climbing. It worked well for me. I also found it helpful doing pilates and tai chi exercises which make you focus on core and leg strength rather than upper body strength.

I am lighter (now 10 stone) and probably older (now 63) than you, but I hope my experience encourages you to get that shoulder sorted and continue climbing.

Regards
Richard

In reply to dakidunn: I'm in the same position as Richard - and with similar results. Operation on the L shoulder about 7 years ago left me pain free but a combination of climbing and racket sports has aggravated the R shoulder. I am trying a series of stretches and very light weights to try get things moving - and the physio recommended rolling a tennis ball round between the muscles in the upper back and a convenient wall - seems to help. I'm hoping to avoid the surgeon but after a 3 mon th lay-off it may be necessary.

See if you can find a sports physion - there are some about.

Roger

In reply to dakidunn:

I've had a couple of fairly serious rotator cuff injuries, cortisone injections, some minor impingement when not injured etc.

I'm also married to a physio so have been able to cut through most of the bullshit re shoulder injuries you can read online.

I found I could be disciplined enough to do the Thera band rehab stuff while injured but not really put the effort in when I was back climbing again. This becomes cyclic and if you don't fix the root cause ( shit posture) you will get injured again.

I've found ashtanga yoga to really be helping me. 1.5 hour class per week, with some short home sessions on top of that. Lots of press up / shoulder press type moves helping to sort the posture, plus the generally better flexibility doesn't go amiss for climbing. The real reason it's working is I pre pay the classes, so i am actually doing it each week. Better that than money down the drain. If I ever get stuck away from home with work, I now do lots of shoulder work in the gym I.e. Bench press, overhead press etc rather than hit the lats which is essentially just climbing.

So you really need to fix your posture for a long term fix. Kinesio taping can help to open your sub acromial space if you are constantly impinging. I wore tape at work and to the wall for a while, it helps hold you in a good posture so you get an idea of what you are aiming for but it isn't a long term fix.

Also if you are heavy then this will be placing additional load on your shoulders while climbing. try to get this sorted while you are injured (run!) and your shoulders will stand a better chance when you come back to the climbing.

In reply to dakidunn:

I am nursing a similar injury, and have similarly spent too much money on physio, chiro, ya di ya. On a whim, I tried a yoga class - it really, really helped. Even if it doesn't fix the problem long term, it has given me enormous relief from the constant ache,

In reply to dakidunn:

Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the replies, info and insight. I have an appointment to see a shoulder specialist in February. My doctor made the appointment suggesting the specialist would be able to locate the exact issue using a higher resolution ultrasound scan.

The same referring doc did my first cortisone injection which worked very well. It almost instantly stopped the pain and rather stupidly, I started climbing too soon and of course the problem came back. When it did, I had an ultra sound guided cortisone injection. This highlighted some inflation to the tendons and bursa, but luckily no tears, bone spurs or ruptures. This time the jab didn't have such an instant effect. Sadly repeat injections, I understand can lead to ruptures/tears, so I'm thinking more jabs are not an option for a while.

I have actually been doing yoga foundation pose practice for about a year and a lot of core stability exercises for a couple of years before that. Sadly, those excellent exercises had taken a bit of a back seat to climbing and on your suggestions I am going to restart and get my posture back to how it should be.

I have found a very effective stretch for the tight chest muscles involving a shoulder blade squeeze etc. Above everything, this seems to be having a big positive effect. I had been doing the theraband stretches and lifts etc but I think because of the underlying problem, this was doing more harm than good. Once the chest is stretched a bit I hope to be able to resume this, which I will do daily from then on.

Thanks again for the tips chaps, I hope we all don't get too much more crocked and get back onto the rock again soon.
Best wishes and thanks again,
Mark

In reply to dakidunn:

I had it for a while but in my case I believe it was due to muscle imbalance, lifting mindlessly (my son in my case) and most importantly, bad posture on the computer while working.

I had to work on improving all 3 - took a while but it did go away. I did do light exercise (including pushups) regularly but from previous experience, I would recommend yoga!

I think the biggest gain came from taking some time off from the computer and sorting out my workstation. Are you doing anything similar that might be aggravating it?

In reply to thermal_t:

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. It does seem we have similar problems. I had a Youtube trawl to find some answers and found a fab stretch and exercise which has really helped. The problem is not solved wholly, but the symptoms are greatly reduced. I also did the theraband "paper under the arm" stretch with hands by my side but without the theraband and rotated the hands slightly downwards at the end of the movement. I didn't use the theraband as it was painful and at least with no band I was able to get the whole range of movements. Maybe give this a try as all the stuff the physion and docs gave me were too painful to do. I have been able to do these two things in pain and instead of making it worse it has helped a lot. Hope you get pain free and back on the rock soon.
M
youtube.com/watch?v=b89yZz9rqEA&

In reply to Simos:

Hi Simos,
I think you have hit the nail on the head! I use my laptop a lot, and from now on, I'll try to use it less/differently. Thanks for the tip. M

In reply to dakidunn:

Laptop is the number one problem, believe me I suffered a lot in the past. These days I always use an external keyboard, mouse and screen at eye level. Especially the laptop keyboard and mouse pad are really bad.

Also the height of the desk compared to the chair matters a lot. If the desk is too high you will basically have tension in your shoulder all the time. If it's too low probably your back/neck will hurt.

Also take frequent breaks when spending long periods in front of the computer, walk and stretch a bit and rotate your shoulders.

I think if you do these together with some pushups, yoga etc you'll notice a massive improvement.

In reply to dakidunn:

Also for what it's worth Mark, at least for me in Ibuprofen never made a lasting difference for these kind of pains - if anything it masks the real cause if you take it regularly.

There are some stronger anti-inflammatories that you could take just for a few days but obviously you need to combine this with removing the real cause. Personally I'd try first without any pills and see how you get on, my guess is that if you are mindful all the time about what you are doing, the problem will be sorted in a couple of months max.

Also for me rest never helped - light exercise always worked best.

In reply to dakidunn:

I know its off patch, but it sounds like you have been through wringer. Get a second opinion from Steve Hodgson at Hallamshire Physiotherapy in Sheffield. He's used to climbers injuries and searches for root causes rather than treating symptoms.

In reply to shark:

Many thanks, the guy I see is a sports physio but not really climber specific, I might try your guy if I don't get some relief in the next couple of weeks. Cheers M

In reply to Simos:

Thank you chum. I think you are 100% right, I need to lay off the laptop or change the way I use it. And the doses I am taking ibuprofen in can't be good. Fingers crosses, lots of stuff I can do which I was either in too much pain to do or I have just stopped through laziness. Feeling more positive now. Cheers M

In reply to dakidunn:
I tore my rotator cuff muscles in 2007, big fall off the quarter pipe at the dry ski slope! It took 3-4 years to regain full mobility in that shoulder, even with physio and therabands. Even now if I sleep on it funny I'm aware that it's been through the wars.

Take it slowly, if you find certain activities exacerbate it, change the way you do them (ie laptop - use a wireless keyboard with it, or sit at a table instead of in your lap, and don't expect too much too quickly - it will sort itself out in time.

In reply to forcan:

Thank you for that. I really feel for you, sounds like you have had a tough time. I will take your suggestions on board. I probably have expected too much too soon but I am learning to be patient even though I normally heal quicker than this. Getting old sucks! Ha!
Many thanks
Mark