sassy69
05-18-2013, 10:52 PM
Thought I might record this process for posterity and hopefully a few people will find some help in reading this.
A little history:
I've been lifting since 1981, I'm currently 47 years old and have been competing on & off in FBB over the last 12 years. Last show was Oct, 2010 As far back as the early 90s I recall having pain in my right shoulder when I used one of those seated (chair-like) pec decks, but that was really the only thing I ever noticed. Around 2005 I was doing too-heavy behind-the-head barbell presses and went too low on a rep and tweaked my shoulder. An MRI just showed bursitis and no tears.
After a show I did in 2007, I started noticing a lot of pain in the right shoulder, and a weird feeling that later I found out was arthritis in the joint. I decided to get an MRI because it was really getting painful. The result of that was a suspected pinhole tear in the rotator. A month of PT did nothing, so I asked for a second opinion and surgery. Following arthroscopic surgery, they never found any tears but removed the arthritis, cleaned up a bunch of frayed tendons and scraped down my clavicle a little to reduce inflammation when the area got irritated.
After a month of PT, I was back to 100%. I competed 3 more times across 2009-2010 w/ fantastic results and no pain ever. Then I got the brilliant idea to do 30 lb Arnold presses a week out from my last show in 2010, too heavy, too depleted, and tweaked it. It has been off & on sore every since, not painful but just sore, and gets tired pretty quickly during lifting. The result of a back day is all the little muscles around the shoulder end up doing all the work, my scapula gets pushed out and frequently I have a rib or two out of place, so I visit the chiropractor regularly.
Since then, I've been started experiencing more of that shitty aging thing and w/ the inception of Women's Physique, I've decided to begin downsizing and focus on that category for competition. However training has been near non-existent because of the plethora of tendonitis I have at this point + age + the shoulder + a boatload of foot problems. Mostly I just gave up for a while and focused on diet. I've gotten the foot issues hopefully on the mend, and decided to tackle the shoulder now.
First step: MRI to get a baseline and confirm that there's no tears
Conditions the MRI was taken under: no shoulder or upper body training for several weeks. I did happen to roll over and sleep on my right side the night before so it was a bit sore. So this is a fair representation of my shoulder in a "normal every day state". I figure if it only takes sleeping on it to make it annoying, prep training is going to screw me. Thus this whole effort to fix things.
Findings:
The humeral head is normally located within the glenoid (or as my chiro likes to correct - it isn't "within" but rather "hangs off of" because the shoulder is not a true ball & socket joint, e.g. like the hip). There is a no joint effusion. There is a large amount of fluid signal in the acromioclavicular joint (more commonly known as the "AC joint") with widening of the AC joint space. The widening measures approximately 7 mm. The acromiom is slightly curved downward. There is a small amount of fluid within the subacromial bursa.
There is no muscle atrophy. Mild tendonosis (scar tissue build-up around the tendon) of the supraspinatus tendon is seen, with mild intramuscular strain of the supraspinatus at its myotendinous junction. (Basically there is some seperation / compromise of the point where tendon & muscle attach.) There is no tear. (Yay!) There is mild tendonosis of the infraspinatus. The teres minor and subscapularis tendons are intact.
The biceps tendon is normally located within the bicipital groove. The biceps labral anchor is intact. There is no paralabral pathology on this non-arthrographic study. (So good news - no tears, no compromise of the biceps connections.)
Impression:
1. There appears to be abnormal widening of the AC joint with a large amount of fluid and edema in the AC joint space. This could be confirmed with weight-bearing plain radiographs for AC joint injury. (Basically testing ROM & strength holding out the arm and lifting various weights - at what point does it become weak. I don't expect to actually do this - it is expected that weakness can be easily demonstrated.)
2. Mild tendonosis of the supraspinatus tendon with intramuscular strain at its myotendinous junction. (Commented on this above.)
3. Mild tendonosis of the infraspinatus tendon. A small amount of fluid within the subacrimonial / subdeltoid bursa.
A little history:
I've been lifting since 1981, I'm currently 47 years old and have been competing on & off in FBB over the last 12 years. Last show was Oct, 2010 As far back as the early 90s I recall having pain in my right shoulder when I used one of those seated (chair-like) pec decks, but that was really the only thing I ever noticed. Around 2005 I was doing too-heavy behind-the-head barbell presses and went too low on a rep and tweaked my shoulder. An MRI just showed bursitis and no tears.
After a show I did in 2007, I started noticing a lot of pain in the right shoulder, and a weird feeling that later I found out was arthritis in the joint. I decided to get an MRI because it was really getting painful. The result of that was a suspected pinhole tear in the rotator. A month of PT did nothing, so I asked for a second opinion and surgery. Following arthroscopic surgery, they never found any tears but removed the arthritis, cleaned up a bunch of frayed tendons and scraped down my clavicle a little to reduce inflammation when the area got irritated.
After a month of PT, I was back to 100%. I competed 3 more times across 2009-2010 w/ fantastic results and no pain ever. Then I got the brilliant idea to do 30 lb Arnold presses a week out from my last show in 2010, too heavy, too depleted, and tweaked it. It has been off & on sore every since, not painful but just sore, and gets tired pretty quickly during lifting. The result of a back day is all the little muscles around the shoulder end up doing all the work, my scapula gets pushed out and frequently I have a rib or two out of place, so I visit the chiropractor regularly.
Since then, I've been started experiencing more of that shitty aging thing and w/ the inception of Women's Physique, I've decided to begin downsizing and focus on that category for competition. However training has been near non-existent because of the plethora of tendonitis I have at this point + age + the shoulder + a boatload of foot problems. Mostly I just gave up for a while and focused on diet. I've gotten the foot issues hopefully on the mend, and decided to tackle the shoulder now.
First step: MRI to get a baseline and confirm that there's no tears
Conditions the MRI was taken under: no shoulder or upper body training for several weeks. I did happen to roll over and sleep on my right side the night before so it was a bit sore. So this is a fair representation of my shoulder in a "normal every day state". I figure if it only takes sleeping on it to make it annoying, prep training is going to screw me. Thus this whole effort to fix things.
Findings:
The humeral head is normally located within the glenoid (or as my chiro likes to correct - it isn't "within" but rather "hangs off of" because the shoulder is not a true ball & socket joint, e.g. like the hip). There is a no joint effusion. There is a large amount of fluid signal in the acromioclavicular joint (more commonly known as the "AC joint") with widening of the AC joint space. The widening measures approximately 7 mm. The acromiom is slightly curved downward. There is a small amount of fluid within the subacromial bursa.
There is no muscle atrophy. Mild tendonosis (scar tissue build-up around the tendon) of the supraspinatus tendon is seen, with mild intramuscular strain of the supraspinatus at its myotendinous junction. (Basically there is some seperation / compromise of the point where tendon & muscle attach.) There is no tear. (Yay!) There is mild tendonosis of the infraspinatus. The teres minor and subscapularis tendons are intact.
The biceps tendon is normally located within the bicipital groove. The biceps labral anchor is intact. There is no paralabral pathology on this non-arthrographic study. (So good news - no tears, no compromise of the biceps connections.)
Impression:
1. There appears to be abnormal widening of the AC joint with a large amount of fluid and edema in the AC joint space. This could be confirmed with weight-bearing plain radiographs for AC joint injury. (Basically testing ROM & strength holding out the arm and lifting various weights - at what point does it become weak. I don't expect to actually do this - it is expected that weakness can be easily demonstrated.)
2. Mild tendonosis of the supraspinatus tendon with intramuscular strain at its myotendinous junction. (Commented on this above.)
3. Mild tendonosis of the infraspinatus tendon. A small amount of fluid within the subacrimonial / subdeltoid bursa.