UKC

Hi folks,

Anyone have experience of shoulder bursitis and/or impingement they'd care to share? Recovery time? Exercises which worked etc? Thanks

Go and see Professor Funk at the Wrightington Hospital. He's the man.

I assumed this was a troll.

Yet Google says different. What a hero!

https://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/

I went for NHS physiotherapy, and I was not convinced, though I think that the physiotherapist was very young and not that experienced. (Normally I go to a private sports physiotherapist). Then time and gradual re-introduction to climbing got me there.

It seems that it is the mop it up diagnosis for shoulder problems. (I could not see what the ultrasonographer was hoping that I would see, and I look at ultrasounds on a daily basis in animals.)

Keep taking the NSAIDs as you need to keep the inflammation down..

Sort of. I was originally diagnosed with this from an ultrasound. Had a horrific steroid bursa injection (the biggest needle I've ever seen...) among other things. Finally went to a specialist who ordered an MRI and identified a disc bulge in my neck. Apparently many climbers have bursitis to some extent hence the misdiagnosis.

Some nerve medication (amitriptyline I think) and strengthening exercises seem to be sorting it, but nerve stuff takes a long time to settle down.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/injuries/climbing_shoulder_injuries_-_e...

I've had it to a point where I had to use my other arm to lift the injured one and was extremely painful. Lots of sleepless nights.

The above exercises worked well along with a few others I found online. 

Be warned though it can unfortunately take months to sort out - sorry

Having had this for over 10 years on and off, i have a few things that have helped.

First thing I did some years ago was to try to lengthen my pec muscles.  My shoulders were rounded and also had winging scapulas.  This caused the room at the front of the shoulder joint to be made smaller and therefore any over head movements pinched in this area.

By massaging my pec I have managed to pull back my general shoulder position in everyday life, so there is now more space in the join for overhead movement.

The second thing I have done more recently that has helped a bunch is handstand training.

I started initially a lock down activity as I couldn't do all my usual dangling activities.  It felt maybe a bit weaker and more unstable right at the beginning, but has got stronger and stronger.

The upshot to this is that I have been training the "pushing" stuff and that has now made the shoulder a lot more stable.  

You don't have to necessarily be able to do a handstand, there are floor exercises you can do without you even being upside-down.  One example is trying to hold a handstand shape on your feet - pushing your arms over your head towards the ceiling and trying to get arms to ears.  Its harder to hold than you think.

So stretching the tight things and antagonist training basically.

I have had problem shoulders for years. I have had loads of physio, tens acupuncture Chiropractor you name it I have tried it. In the end I have found that using small weights(3kg or 5kg) to do  a variety of exercises that a physio suggested twice a day has given me the most relief. Well that was until August when I ripped two tendons off on Stanage. On the upside I have already had them stitched back on. All hail the NHS. Long road to recovery now!

Welcome to the club! The answer is NSAIDS, low weight training, and physiotherapy.

During my last bout, which prevented me from training judo (my main sport) for almost a year, I was lucky to have an 8b+ climber as consultant. She advised me to continue climbing, but to avoid steep overhanging stuff, instead going for chimneys, wide cracks, stemming corners, and friction slabs.

Good to have  a medical reason to only climb the stuff I like!

More seriously, the point was to not have too much (uncontrolled) load when the arms are raised above the shoulder. Chicken wings, armbars and stemming with arms pointing down are no problem. Return to arms up moves only when you have controlled the inflammation through medication and controlled movement during physiotherapy and exercise.

CB