Right Shoulder Pain - Not sure what to do.

[WindingRoad]

This shoulder pain has been an ongoing issue for me pretty much since I started riding but has become worse in the last couple of years. It's additive, the more I ride the worse it gets. Consecutive days of riding are worse. Harder and hillier rides are worse. The pain is close to the midl ine on the right side of my back and shoulder. It feels very deep. Sometimes the whole shoulder becomes numb when it get really bad. I notice my whole right arm gets slightly sore too. I did a 60 mile ride yesterday on my road bike and today I did a 25 easy recovery ride on my commuter and I could feel the pain in my shoulder returning. I really don't want this to screw up my riding season again this year :(

I am wondering if I have a muscle imbalance. Oddly my right bicep is significantly larger than my left. I've been considering seeing a PT about this but not sure I want to try that route for fear that it won't help and I'll waste the money.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[Catrin]

The numbness has me a bit concerned - I have that but mine is related to nerve impingement and structural shoulder/neck/cervical spine issues. I cannot remember what you did last year for this - have you had a recent x-ray or MRI?

Does your shoulder hurt when doing pushups, chest presses, or over-head lifting?

[tealtreak]

Please see am ortho or PT... I have similar issues but I know the cause (car wreck...) to have that type of thing going on and not know if what you are/are not doing is making it better or worse...yikes! Please get it checked out!

[OakLeaf]

You should it get it checked out, definitely.

The trouble is, by whom. :( I am finally seeing someone who understands how shoulders work (actually, the first person I called after I got hurt, and when I couldn't get hold of him didn't try again ... turns out he'd been in a wreck himself, but is back to work now and thank G*D for that.) Between moving and shopping, I saw a total of one useless chiropractor, one mildly helpful chiropractor, two band-aid-solution osteopaths, two PTs who didn't help and one who made things worse, three completely worthless LMTs and one who could at least keep things from getting worse, two DOMs who definitely helped/is helping but didn't get to the bottom of it, FINALLY I'm back with the LMT who after five minutes on the table told me things about my body that I'd been trying to get others to understand for a YEAR.

Hope you get luckier than I did. Or, I should say, hope you find someone who understands shoulders way quicker than I did, because in the end, I AM lucky to have him at all.

But, whichever route you take, anyone you call should be trained, experienced and certified in neuromusculoskeletal work. Not a guarantee of anything, since most of the practitioners I saw were, but at least it will eliminate people who definitely don't have the skills.

[NbyNW]

Sorry you are in so much pain! Is it only aggravated by cycling? Do you have a sense of why your right side is affected more than your left?

I would start with getting evaluated by an ortho and see if you can get a PT referral. Maybe ask around your cycling community to see if anyone can recommend a Dr. to you.

I had an awesome LMT back in Seattle. He did some trigger point work on me, when my shoulder locked up from using crutches. A couple of books I saw on his coffee table: The Trigger Point Workbook and the Frozen Shoulder Workbook, both by Clair Davies. I got the first one for myself. There are a lot of great self-care techniques in it, I imagine the Shoulder one is just as good.

[Eden]

Tennis balls in a sock! (seriously). Put two tennis balls in a sock and tie it off. Lie on the floor with the tennis balls under your back - stretch over them in several places up and down your back as is tolerable. You can use them to hit the sore spot in your shoulder too. This was the only thing I found that really, really helped me with a problem that sounds just like yours.

Mine was from computer mousing with really bad, non-erganomic desks for years, but cycling and a bad bike fit was really aggravating it. The tennis ball trick took care of the acute problem and now I never use a mouse pad - I always mouse on a clip board placed in my lap.

[OakLeaf]

The trouble with nerve irritation is that it's likely more than one muscle playing off against each other to trap the nerve, and if you don't work them in the correct combination, it won't help, and it can even increase the muscle imbalances and the pressure on the nerve.

And, many of the neck and upper chest muscles (which can press on nerves feeding the arms and shoulders) take a lot of delicacy to work them without *directly* bruising nerves, which you don't want to do that, obviously.

I really think you should try to find a good neuromusculoskeletal practitioner.

Is the numbness constant or intermittent? How severe? Are there positions you can put yourself in that relieves it? What about changing your sleeping position?

[Catrin]

I agree with Oakleaf - the shoulder and all attached to it is a complex structure and addressing things in the wrong order (for you) can lead to even more problems.

[MelC]

It sounds more like your back than your shoulder joint per se but be cautious of ongoing irritation to the joint, particularly if you are in or are approaching 40s or more. Apparently frozen shoulder is common in women of this age (guilty) and can be brought on by very small shoulder inflammation/irritation. I am approaching my one year anniversary of onset and trust me you don't want it.

[WindingRoad]

I did get some advice from a friend who cycles and it an OT. She gave me some stretches to help stretch out the front of my shoulders which is apparently where alot of this issue is coming from. She recommended using a foam roller to lay on parallel to my spine and allow my shoulder to drap back. She also said to put one hand on the doorway and turn away from that arm to stretch out those same from muscles. She said put my hand up higher to intensify it and I did that today and about jumped right outta my skin cuz it was so tight and hurt. Must take that one VERY easy. She also recommended I do neck rolls, stretch the back of the shoulder with head pointing opposite way. So anyways.... I'm going to try these things and see if they help. She rides a TON of miles so I think she is a very good person to listen to.

I've continued with my weight training and it seems to be helping too. I did a really hilly ride today and only felt a little discomfort around mile 30. We stopped for lunch and rode home, about 25 more miles, I really didn't have any issues after lunch. It's slow but I think/hope it's improving.