Questions on shoulder injuries?

[*breaksracquet]

I have been having on and off pain in my right shoulder on my serves and overheads and not so much on ground strokes (I can hit ground strokes just fine, even relativey high, above my shoulder shots). My aches began this past thursday after playing in some advanced singles matches (3.5+). I had a day of rest with some ice without any problems. Then I played some doubles saturday and the pain came back, but really only on serves, not on groundies. Went home and iced it for the remainder of the day. I restrung my racquets thinking it may have had something to do with that. Woke up sunday morning feeling fine, played doubles again knowing that if the pain came back, I would stop myself. Pain came after two sets, on serves, and some groundies. I stop playing, but didn't have any ice. The pain did go away after a while. I woke up this morning to some soreness in my right shoulder. I finally took some ibuprophren (3 tablets @ 200mg) and soreness went away, that was about 2 hours ago. Still a little sore now that the drugs are wearing off.

When I stretch my arm , it feels fine. I don't hear any "popping" or "crunching" from my arm; is that a good sign? Should I be making an appointment with an ortho? Should I go to my primary care physician first? Should I wait a week or two before picking up my racquet as a muscle could be just enflamed and needs some time just to rest?

I've read here and google that "impingement" is appears to be the most common "clinical sign" of something worse. I've also read about labral injuries as I have some tenderness in the front of my shoulder (which is a symptom, I guess).

Is there anything else this could possible be or that i am missing? Thanks in advance.

[larry10s]

ultimately an mri would give you the most info of whats wrong

[charliefedererer]

^^^ An MRI will tell you if there are any gross structural problems. But it could also provide a "red herring" of some old chronic changes that have nothing to do with your current problem. And it will not be able to diagnose an impingement syndrome, or any other problem that would take a physical exam from an orthopod who takes care of a lot of "throwing" athletes.

So online, there is no way to diagnose what you realy have. My vote would be for you to see that orthopod. And rest until then.

If it turns out there are no structural/impingement/movement problems, it may be finally time for you to start the thrower's ten exercises: http://www.asmi.org/SportsMed/throwing/thrower10.html
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/rotator-cuff-exercises.html
But only after your pain is better.

Your 320 VO2 Max has a stiffness rating of 66; not terrible, but not great either. You may find your shoulder does better with a more flexible frame from Pro Kennex, Volkl or Dunlop. And you don't mention if you play with "soft" natural gut or multifilament strings.

Finally, I hope you have correct technique. A frequent problem with serving is the failure to drop the nonhitting shoulder enough, and tilt the upper body slightly so you are not actually reaching straight up with your arm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRvxaBMh8s&feature=related
You can learn more about the association of shoulder injuries and tennis at: http://www.tennisresources.com/index.cfm?ATT=&area=video_detail&basicsearch=1&media_name=&rv=1&vidid=3712

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

[*breaksracquet]

^^^ An MRI will tell you if there are any gross structural problems. But it could also provide a "red herring" of some old chronic changes that have nothing to do with your current problem. And it will not be able to diagnose an impingement syndrome, or any other problem that would take a physical exam from an orthopod who takes care of a lot of "throwing" athletes.

So online, there is no way to diagnose what you realy have. My vote would be for you to see that orthopod. And rest until then.

If it turns out there are no structural/impingement/movement problems, it may be finally time for you to start the thrower's ten exercises: http://www.asmi.org/SportsMed/throwing/thrower10.html
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/rotator-cuff-exercises.html
But only after your pain is better.

Your 320 VO2 Max has a stiffness rating of 66; not terrible, but not great either. You may find your shoulder does better with a more flexible frame from Pro Kennex, Volkl or Dunlop. And you don't mention if you play with "soft" natural gut or multifilament strings.

Finally, I hope you have correct technique. A frequent problem with serving is the failure to drop the nonhitting shoulder enough, and tilt the upper body slightly so you are not actually reaching straight up with your arm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRvxaBMh8s&feature=related
You can learn more about the association of shoulder injuries and tennis at: http://www.tennisresources.com/index.cfm?ATT=&area=video_detail&basicsearch=1&media_name=&rv=1&vidid=3712

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips :).

I will look at the "throwers 10" exercises, after all this is done.

To answer some of those questions, I used a PS 6.0 Original (Stiffness: 67)for many years and wanted to modernize my setup, and have a racquet that was less heavy (sub 12oz.). That's why I chose the TF. I should have paid attention to the stiffness as well. Think I may need to change this racquet up as well for something less stiff?

I also hybrid my racquets with multis or syn gut mains and poly crosses. Think there is a change to full multis in the future?

Finally, I wouldn't doubt that there may be something that I am doing wrong in my motion. I had some formal training when I was ten and only played a few competitive matches as a junior, then went into playing golf (played throughout HS and in D3 College). The only thing that I did was look at videos (fuzzyyellowballs.com) and watch the pros and try and emulate their motions. I could possibly video tape myself and get critiques once my shoulder heals.

Finally, I did set up an appointment for tomorrow @ 9:15 am to see an ortho specialist (Garner/Cary Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine) next to my house and work (my job is literally 5 minutes away from my home and so is the Med practice). So I can update ya'll on my status after the visit.

[*breaksracquet]

Just got back, and no, they did not do an MRI. They did take x-rays tho and found the cause of my shoulder pain. The acromion? (i think) is lower and clavicle higher which is causing the acromion to rub the tendon or muscle which is causing the inflamation and discomfort. The Dr. gave me a steriod shot and told me to give it a few more days for it to really settle in. He said it is having to do with my shoulder anatomy. Dr. said he sees this from time to time and my left shoulder is the same way. He says that later in life it may form a bone spur and surgery may be the way to correct it.

[OldButGame]

Just got back, and no, they did not do an MRI. They did take x-rays tho and found the cause of my shoulder pain. The acromion? (i think) is lower and clavicle higher which is causing the acromion to rub the tendon or muscle which is causing the inflamation and discomfort. The Dr. gave me a steriod shot and told me to give it a few more days for it to really settle in. He said it is having to do with my shoulder anatomy. Dr. said he sees this from time to time and my left shoulder is the same way. He says that later in life it may form a bone spur and surgery may be the way to correct it.
I had that,...along with some other issues in a shoulder,...and they did do the surgery,...wasn't bad,.....arthroscopic,....i was playing tennis within 4 mos. of the surgery,.....they actually shave that acromion off,....that dynamic you have have that he speaks of is classic 'impingement',....very common,...and often dealt with w/o surgery,....and with physical therapy,....actuually a better way to go if You can get away with it,....