Last year, I injured my shoulder in COVID-19 lockdown whilst completing a bench press at the gym. Having an injured shoulder caused me to be frustrated and anxious as I was unable to continue with my training program. Being on the ‘other side of the fence’ dealing with an injury highlighted some aspects of recovery which I feel are worth reminding you about!

Shoulder injuries are very common and often are incorrectly prescribed with “rest” and other passive management tools such as cortisone injection to treat the pain and inflammation. However, the root cause of the shoulder pain is often not assessed and treated appropriately, and this predisposes you to getting persistent shoulder pain or a GRUMPY shoulder! 

Do any of these common shoulder complaints relate to you?

I get pain in my shoulder:

• when I reach out into awkward rotated positions behind me. ‘I have difficulty putting on shirts/clothes overhead or grabbing the seat belt in the car.’
• after completing a task (cleaning/gardening/painting) for over an hour (or even less). ‘I avoid doing these tasks because of the pain.’
• during certain exercises in the gym. ‘I am frustrated as this stops me working out/ going to the gym and building strength.’
• when sleeping on my side through the night. ‘I’ve tried sleeping on my back, but I can’t fall asleep and wake when I roll onto that side.’

My best advice is that you need to listen to your shoulder. Ignoring the pain can lead to persistent symptoms, further weakness and breakdown of tissue, and therefore chronic pain. Many of our clients we see at Redfern Physio have a Grumpy Shoulder for several weeks or months before they present to our practice.

This chronic overload of the shoulder usually causes pain which we labelled as “rotator cuff related shoulder pain”. This incorporates the following:

• Rotator cuff tendinopathy or tendinitis
• Partial / Full thickness tears of the rotator cuff muscles
• Subacromial bursitis
• Subacromial or rotator cuff impingement syndrome

Often it is not “just the shoulder” causing pain, but an overload in the muscles around the shoulder blade, mid-back and neck. A thorough physiotherapy assessment will aim to assess the compensatory movement patterns that have caused pain into the shoulder. 

What’s our message here? If you experience pain in your shoulder whilst gardening, don’t expect it to improve if you continue to ‘push through’. If you hurt your shoulder at the gym, you will need a minimum of period of reduced intensity of that activity as well as a period of physiotherapy and rehab to get you back to lifting at your best. You must pace yourself back to your normal activities over a period of time, usually several weeks.

I had the most benefit after a physio assessment, which gave me a clear diagnosis with a physiotherapy management plan to work with me on my weakness and reduce my fear of reinjury. I am now able to train without any pain. Next time you come into the clinic, make sure you ask about my story with my shoulder injury!