• Keep up to date with Ausbb via Twitter and Facebook. Please add us!
  • Join the Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

    The Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum is dedicated to no nonsense muscle and strength building. If you need advice that works, you have come to the right place. This forum focuses on building strength and muscle using the basics. You will also find that the Ausbb- Australian Bodybuilding Forum stresses encouragement and respect. Trolls and name calling are not allowed here. No matter what your personal goals are, you will be given effective advice that produces results.

    Please consider registering. It takes 30 seconds, and will allow you to get the most out of the forum.

Shoulder Pain & numb fingertips

M

martz

New member
I was doing dumbbell shoulder press (pretty sure this was the culprit) and from memory I was going to failure and just pushed too hard and my form was all over the place. I don't recall feeling any sharp pain at this point. But as a result I had a bad nerve type pain whenever I had my arm in a specific motion or action eg. pulling seatbelt across my chest would cause crippling pain. So the workout was last Wednesday and the pain has improved a huge amount but my fingertips are still numb.

Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing and how did you go with it?
 
Your fucked, say goodbye to pressing, dipping & low bar squatting for a while.

Dr fluff prescribes rest & possibly attending a real dr although I have more sense then a real dr what I lack is a prescription pad.
 
I suspect the addition of a prescription pad to dr fluffy's arsenal would generate much hillarity.
 
didn't come here for remedies but yeah anyway. So whilst I was typing the OP, I had people waiting for me and had to finish up but moving on....

I saw a GP about it on Saturday, he had a good look and said it doesn't look serious and physio should be able to correct it. Saw physio today and she said I had a misalignment in my C5 or C6 discs. To correct it I have to pinch my upper traps and hold for 5 min and also press on the middle section of the traps and again hold for 5 min.. Anyway see how she goes!
 

I'm gonna be serious here for a minute, which is pretty rare for me. If you still have numbness in your fingers in week go get an MRI and find out whats really going on. Both your GP and Physio are just guessing they have no idea what the fuck is going on without a scan. Don't let them talk you into x-ray's or CT scans either the end result will just be you getting an MRI down the track when both of those are inconclusive.

No.1 thing to take away from this is sloppy form will result in injuries.
 
I had a c6/c7 cervical disc bulge last year that put me out for 3 months.

I ended up having a procedure at RPA to inject steroids into my neck with a HUGE needle to reduce the inflammation. That was my best case scenario and avoided surgery.

Treat this seriously. I started with some numbness in my fingers, this progressed to being unable to use my arm, and the kind of pain that they could only numb with Endone.

I saw a good physio, started remedial work with a PT who had experience helping people back from injury, and am now lifting just fine but have been told squats are out if I want to stay healthy. Stop training now and go see a doc, they will probably refer you to a neurologist (nerve doctor) to test to see if nerve function is impaired (the numbness/tingling).

(member for 272 days and this is my first post. awesome)
 
I had seen few people with neck injury from squats. Simply because of bad form. They hold the bar on the neck/traps. I cringe when I see that. One of my mates had his c6 and c7 fused because of that.

Increase the flexibility of your shoulders/chest and hold the bar on shoulder blades where it's safe.

Also benching can put a lot of pressure on the vertebra if a person pushes their head into the bench, I used to do that and my neck used to crack at the same time...

Human Spinal Cord Picture C1 to S5 Vertebra
 
Last edited:
update:

physio wasn't really helping so I got a second opinion from another GP and was sent to get a CT scan of my neck. All in all excellent news, no damage anywhere just muscles spasm. Here is the report:



Anyone know of a therapist that specialises in this field that can "massage" these muscles to speed up my recovery?
 

Confirms my earlier thoughts on what peanuts GP's are. So they gave you a CT scan which established that laying on your back with no load on the spine or the discs you have good space between them. No shit I bet your symptoms are alleviated as well when your lying in bed.

Now more knowledgeable members can correct me here but a CT will only identify differences in the height of disc space, which is almost always good with no load on the disc lying on your back in the CT machine. It will not see a protrustion on the disc like an MRI will.

Are you still having numbness and tingling in your fingers, if it's a fortnight later and it is still going on I would get my arse to an ortho for an experts opinion. Massage will help it feel better but isn't going to 'fix' shit.
 
Fluffy said:
No shit I bet your symptoms are alleviated as well when your lying in bed.
Click to expand...

not at all actually.

For now I'll take the GP's advice for say another 2 weeks. If nothing improves then I'll request an MRI.

Fluffy said:
Are you still having numbness and tingling in your fingers, if it's a fortnight later and it is still going on I would get my arse to an ortho for an experts opinion. Massage will help it feel better but isn't going to 'fix' shit.
Click to expand...

When you say ortho you mean Orthopedist? I thought a neurologist would be more appropriate?
 
Last edited:
martz said:
not at all actually.

For now I'll take the GP's advice for say another 2 weeks. If nothing improves then I'll request an MRI.

When you say ortho you mean Orthopedist? I thought a neurologist would be more appropriate?
Click to expand...

Backs, necks, vertebraes and discs usually fall in the realm of Orthopedic specialist/surgeons.

To date my predictions on your treatment have been correct. Let me put my clairvoyant hat on again, I forsee in your future the following procedures (and the order of these will depend on how much of a useless **** your DR is) MRI, CT guided cortisone shot under local.

Either way I take no joy in your predicament, I hope it does pass and you can get back to training. If not and your desperate for money to pay your medical bills I will happily buy that shiny new muscle motion rack off you , just PM me the price and I'll come pick it up.
 
I saw a Neurologist at RPA for my c6/c7 disc bulge as they were assessing the cause of nerve pain.

Same procedure as Fluffy mentioned, but all testing and guided cortisone was done by a Neurologist.
 
Had the MRI done tonight did it for my own piece of mind and did it now rather than later to get it over and done with. Will find out tomorrow the findings.
 
MRI done and $230 later, everything looks fine:
(GP said that the MRI doesn't show any more than what the CT scan did, maybe that's just in my case)

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register