Pain when raising arm

[The_Steak]

Whenever I life my arm up for a serve it seems that the muscle right behind my armpit (teres major?) hurts incredibly badly. It only happens when I raise my arm past my shoulder. It just started hurting one day when I went served.

Any hints to what the problem is? And solutions?

 

[scotus]

Go see an orthopedic surgeon.

Take an MRI if your insurance covers it to rule out any tears.

If there is no operation required, your orthopod will either send you to another specialist (sports medicine, chronic pain, etc) or send you to a physical therapist.

 

[spacediver]

why would you recommend an orthopedic surgeon?

I'd go see a sports medicine doctor, diagnose which muscle, tendon, or ligament is damaged; try to establish what caused it, and then have a physio session to learn how to rehab it.

 

[scotus]

why would you recommend an orthopedic surgeon?

I'd go see a sports medicine doctor, diagnose which muscle, tendon, or ligament is damaged; try to establish what caused it, and then have a physio session to learn how to rehab it.

Have you read the rest of my post?

If there is a tear or a partial tear and you don't act on it right away, all that time spent on rehab will actually work against you.

Orthopods and sports medicine doctors usually work together in a group/network.

I like my orthopod. He is honest and does not try to operate where none is needed. He just sends me to another specialist for another type of treatment.

 

[spacediver]

I assumed that a sports medicine doctor would refer to an orthopedic surgeon if necessary. I guess the ortho would be able to diagnose efficiently too - dunno much about that field.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

why would you recommend an orthopedic surgeon?

I'd go see a sports medicine doctor, diagnose which muscle, tendon, or ligament is damaged; try to establish what caused it, and then have a physio session to learn how to rehab it.

I would tend to do this rather than seeing the surgeon first (unless you already have a good working relationship with a surgeon). A surgeon may have a bit of a bias toward a surgical solution for a borderline case.

I am wondering if your serve mechanics are flawed. For your trophy position (1st photo), the elbow should be pretty much in line with the tilt of the shoulders. An elbow position that is significantly higher than this can be stressful to the shoulder (or rotator group). An elbow position that is much lower than the lineup of the shoulders might also cause a shoulder problem (but not certain about this latter case).

On contact with the ball, the front shoulder should already be down so that the shoulder tilt is now the other way. As the racket head drops (after the trophy position), the front arm should drop and be tucked in -- this will pull the front shoulder down so that a shoulder-over-shoulder cartwheel action occurs.

The elbow location at the trophy position in the following sequence does not appear to be ideal (higher than the shoulder tilt), but the contact position appears to be very good.

.

 

[BMC9670]

why would you recommend an orthopedic surgeon?

I'd go see a sports medicine doctor, diagnose which muscle, tendon, or ligament is damaged; try to establish what caused it, and then have a physio session to learn how to rehab it.

You can do both with research. My shoulder surgery was done by a OS that specializes in sports injuries. He works extensively with professional and college sports teams.

 

[Bobby Jr]

In the first instance the usual aim would be to have it assessed by a sports doctor (who may also be an ortho) - but going directly to an ortho seems a little overkill. There is a good chance they will have to refer you to someone else.

That's how medical referrals work: you go to the generalists first (most sports doctor for example fall under the generalist umbrella - they just have experience and interest in sport per se) who then assess what is wrong and who from what speciality area needs to be brought in on the act.