Do you experience shoulder pain after a training session at the gym or outdoors? Shoulders are the body’s most mobile joints, a characteristic that makes them vulnerable to various injuries, especially when engaging in repetitive and intense exercises. Weightlifting, for instance, accounts for 36% of shoulder injuries, according to a study by the National Library of Medicine. This study also highlights the shoulders are more susceptible when abducted and rotated externally. If you practice throwing or overhead exercises, like playing handball or volleyball, performing around the world shoulder exercise, and swimming, for instance, you’ll likely have shoulder pain. During workouts, pain or soreness in the shoulders can be a positive sign your muscles are adapting. Or you’re getting stronger and building endurance for improved performance. But sometimes, pain could signal you’re hurting your shoulders. So, how can you tell if training is helping or hurting the shoulders? Below, we’ll discuss the signs that tell training is bad for the shoulders and treatments.
Range In Motion Reduces
Are you struggling to reach behind your back, comb your hair, or raise your arm overhead? This may be a sign of reduced motion of the shoulders. The shoulder is the most flexible joint you have- it moves in many directions, enabling you to perform various tasks. However, when you overdo training (perform excessive or repetitive loading) or practice poor workout techniques, your shoulders can lose mobility. Excessive training and incorrect techniques often cause rotator cuff tears (wear and tear of tendons) common cause of limited shoulder mobility.
Stressing the shoulders without sufficient recovery also triggers inflammation in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, reducing range of motion. To restore shoulder flexibility and mobility, most physicians recommend treatment plans that involve physical therapy (targeted exercises or stretches). Standing arm swings, reverse fly, cross arm stretch, child pose (yoga exercise), and chest expansion are a few examples of exercises that correct shoulder mobility.
Constant Pain
Shoulder pain lasts 24 hours to three days and often reduces with self-care practices like resting, applying ice, and doing gentle stretches. But when pain in the shoulder becomes persistent, ranging from dull aches to sharp pain, it could indicate a serious injury linked to over training. It’s likely your rotator cuff is torn (a partial or full tendon tear) or you have shoulder impingement (rotator cuff tendinitis) caused by strains during activity. Physical therapy or exercise is the primary non-surgical intervention doctors recommend for rotator cuff injuries (tendon tears or pinched tendons).
However, for 30% of individuals with shoulder pain related to damaged rotator cuffs, physical therapy doesn’t reduce symptoms, according to study findings. When this happens, doctors consider advanced surgical techniques like reverse total shoulder replacement to relieve pressure caused by severe rotator cuff tears, where the tendons are fully damaged, causing stiffness and limiting overall functionality. When doctors perform reverse shoulder replacement, they don’t replace the ball and socket with artificial parts like in total shoulder replacement. Instead, the natural placement of the humeral ball and socket is reversed.
Swelling
Have you noticed swelling and redness on the shoulders after exercising? That could be an indication you’re overusing your shoulders during workouts. Repetitive overhead exercises, for example, cause shoulder bursitis or inflammation between the shoulder joints. Your shoulders have bursae, small sacs filled with fluids near joints. These sacs work as cushioning between moving parts in the shoulder joints to prevent muscles, tendons, and bones from rubbing against each other. When the bursa is irritated because of excessive workouts or loading, it becomes inflamed and swells. So, there’s less space between muscles, ligaments, and tendons to move around, which causes pain and restricts the shoulder’s range of motion. Getting adequate rest (reducing shoulder movement) lowers the risk of bursa inflammation. Using cold compress, anti-inflammatories, or steroid injections also helps manage swelling in shoulders. In severe cases, however, you may require surgery.
Feeling pain in one or both shoulders after a gym session is natural and could be a positive effect (you’re building muscles and endurance). Sometimes, however, post workout pain or soreness in shoulders can signal a severe injury that requires medical attention. Signs your training is hurting your shoulders instead of helping range from swelling to lost mobility, and persistent pain.