Latissmus Dorsi injury: update!

[joenali]

I'm going to the doctor this morning. But I have been having shoulder pain now for weeks. Started off and on, would get better, go away, now it won't go away. Hurts to pull when swimming, hurts to lift things up, hurts to put my arm over my head. Feels stiff. Something is obviously wrong.

The pain is right where my armpit and back/shoulder meet. I can actually press on it and it hurts quite badly.

I'm pretty sure it's an overuse injury OR I hurt it while riding my bike (totally my own analysis) going up hills and gripping too hard while rocking back and forth. OR just from swimming, perhaps not pulling quite right under the water and just from doing it "wrong" for a long time has caught up to me.

Any experience with this?

Update: Latissmus muscle strain. 2 Alleve two times a day, ice massage, stretching, stretch cords for strength. I'm going out of town anyway this week so I won't be able to bike and probably won't be able to swim. SO I'll just stick to running. I'll also be able to race in two weeks.

Reevalute 2-4 weeks after race, if not better come back. However, I want to do another race in September.

[taratru]

No experience, just good luck at your appointment!

[joenali]

Jul 9, 2012 10:08:13 GMT -5 taratru said:

No experience, just good luck at your appointment!

I kind of hate going to the doctor for sports related injuries. It's always "take this and don't run or don't swim, don't do anything." It's never, why don't you try this activity while you heal, I'm going to have you go to physical therapy etc."

I think doctors are so used to seeing out of shape people and doing nothing is what they usually prescribe, because some people do nothing anyway.

[Susie]

I was so relieved to see an orthopedist who is a triathlete and has done IM distance races when I had my stress fracture, because I've been through the "it hurts? stop doing it!" loop too many times too.

I haven't had pain there, so I'm not sure what to tell you. Can you at least tell if it's more irritated after a pool workout or a hill workout? I'd imagine narrowing that down would help.

[joenali]

Jul 9, 2012 10:15:37 GMT -5 Susie said:

I was so relieved to see an orthopedist who is a triathlete and has done IM distance races when I had my stress fracture, because I've been through the "it hurts? stop doing it!" loop too many times too.

I haven't had pain there, so I'm not sure what to tell you. Can you at least tell if it's more irritated after a pool workout or a hill workout? I'd imagine narrowing that down would help.

More irritated after swimming, but still irritated after hill climbing. BLARRRG!!

[shorty20]

I had a case of bursitis in my shoulder recently, do you think that could be it?

Mine hurt all the time, but like a dull ache, not excruciating. It would hurt more after pushups, bench presses, that type of movement, and I couldn't hold a weight in my hand and put my arm straight out to the side.

[Deleted]

I was also super nervous about seeing a doc about my hip a few months ago. I didn't want to be told "stop moving" because, really, I would ignore him. The therapy he prescribed (ice 5x a day/NSAIDS/stretching/strengthening) worked for the hip, but now the ITBS is causing knee pain and instability so I'm off to PT. So far, he's not once told me to stop doing anything.

I find that being clear about not wanting to go to full rest was helpful in him understanding that my priority was to remain active. I'll cross my fingers that your doc gives you the same therapy that worked well for me!

[gumi]

My friend/chiropractor/therapist does ART on some olympic swimmers. It works for them.

Maybe get a massage?

[MrsE]

Hope your apt goes as well as possible and you can keep moving!

[trigal]

Sounds more like a swimming injury that gets aggravated by the cycling. But what do I know? I'm not a doctor!

However, you should definitely look around for a doctor who works with athletes. I had an orthopedist who basically shrugged off my IT band pain. I always felt like he thought I was overreacting or making things up. I went to an ortho who only works with athletes and I will never go anywhere else. Also, my primary care doc is a marathoner who has (1) said it's okay to take Advil while racing; (2) refills my 800mg ibuprofen without batting an eye; and (3) "stretched the truth" a bit so that the insurance company would cover an MRI (which showed a problem) because he knew that I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think I needed it!

[aweilba]

It sounds more like a swimming injury than anything else. I have a bad right shoulder from my years of competitive swimming. My best stroke was the butterfly, which pretty much wore down any cushion in my rotator cuff. I did some physical therapy and a lot of stretching with bands, but I still can't swim like I used to before the injury. Sometimes just lifting weights over my shoulder bothers it, and it sounds like a cement grinder when I do arm circles.

A lot of swimming injuries that I see don't happen all of a sudden, but build up and up until you have to get it checked out. Hopefully it's nothing too serious that can be mixed with minimal impact on your daily routine.

[robin]

I was going to suggest massage as well.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2012 10:03:19 GMT -5 joenali said:

Update: Latissmus muscle strain. 2 Alleve two times a day, ice massage, stretching, stretch cords for strength. I'm going out of town anyway this week so I won't be able to bike and probably won't be able to swim. SO I'll just stick to running. I'll also be able to race in two weeks.

Sounds familiar!!! I hope it works.

[taratru]

Thats not *too* bad, right? Take your time!

[sunnydaze31]

I hurt my side right under my armpit recently. It was extremely tender to the touch and difficult to breathe and bend. I thought I pulled a muscle and and was just going to rest on my own, but I went to the doctor a few days later when I found a lump there. She told me I pulled my lat and told me to ice it and rest for 4-6 weeks. I had her take xrays since I was sure that lump felt like bone, even though she insisted there was no need since it was a muscle.

5 weeks later it still hurt, so I went to another doctor. Turns out I had actually broke my rib. I still don't understand how since I didn't fall on it, hit it, get in a car accident, or any of the other usual ways to break bones, which I suppose is why the first doctor very explicitly told me that I didn't break a rib and there was no chance that I had.

[sockerheel]

Aww, that sucks. Hope it heals quickly!