Help Pain in Neck/sore shoulder

[acer]

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this before and could give me some input. I was on holidays for a couple of weeks and I used that time to work on my kick serve. I would usually practice my serve for about an hour in the morning and one some days I would also practice my serve for about an hour in the afternoon. (I know that was way too much but my arm felt great). I would then play some evening matches about every other day. On Thursday August 31, I brought out my Volkl C10 Pro which has a higher swingweight than my Pro Kennex Pro 5G and I did a couple of serves. My arm was just a little sore which seemed normal to me. The next morning, Friday Sept. 1, I woke up with a kink on the left side of my neck. It's now been a week and a couple days and the pain in my neck is slowly getting better but I still have some pain and stiffness. My left shoulder (I am a lefty) also feels weak and sore. When I rotate my shoulder and also if I stretch my neck to the left, my shoulder pulls and I can feel a clicking/popping sound in my shoulder (like you would normally feel when you stretch your back).

I also noticed that my left shoulder is lower than my right and what I have read is that it is common in overhead sports that your throwing/serving arm can become lower due to muscle imbalance. I also read that pain in your shoulder can be referred (felt) to your neck. I have a feeling that my rotator cuff is sore due to overuse (I can still lift my arm up w/o any pain) and this has given me neck pain.

Has anyone ever experienced something like this? Also, has anyone ever experienced neck pain from a sore shoulder?

Thanks

Acer

 

[FuriousYellow]

Unfortunately, I'm all too familiar with neck and shoulder pain. I've had off-and-on problems with it for several years.

One of the things I would suggest right off is to look at the position your sleeping in. A lot of muscle strains and sprains seem to get compounded by sleeping in positions that puts stress on those muscles and tendons. When that happens, you wake with your muscles tightened which leaves them more vulnerable to additional strains and sprains.

A lot of people say you should sleep on your side, but for me, sleeping on my back with a neck support pillow and a pillow underneath my knees puts much less stress on my neck and shoulders.

Hopefully, yours doesn't become a recurring problem like mine. It sounds like
you just need to get those muscles loosened. Try getting a massage (a real one), lying on your back as I suggested, and pay attention to your posture while your standing and sitting. All of those will help alleviate the stress on those tight neck and shoulder muscles.

For dealing with the neck pain, I find Excedrin Tension Headache to be my best friend. It works a lot better for me than Ibuprofen or Naproxen.

 

[acer]

FuriousYellow Thanks for you reply.

FuriousYellow Thanks for you reply.

Did you ever have neck pain (no real shoulder pain) which was caused by your shoulder?

 

[FuriousYellow]

FuriousYellow Thanks for you reply.

Did you ever have neck pain (no real shoulder pain) which was caused by your shoulder?

Yes. Neck, upper back, and shoulder pain all seem to go hand in hand. Like you, I was putting in a lot of work in on my serve (3 or 4 times a week) last year. Afterwards, I could feel the tightness in my upper back between the shoulder blades and in my especially in my neck muscles on one side. The pain and tightness would last for a few days and sometimes could be quite intense, but just a combination taking as much strain off the neck muscles as possible, and using the Excedrin and some type of heat rub like Biofreeze to manage the pain helps me get through those times.