AC joint pain, no trauma, just overuse
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I can't seem to find anything about AC joint pain that's not some kind of mountain bike fall or other kind of trauma to the top of the shoulder (typically causing a dislocation). I didn't fall or experience any other kind of impact, but I do boulder a lot and I'm having sharp pains in both AC joints, sometimes radiating into my neck. I've tried some DIY PT but it seems to be making it worse. I haven't seen a doc yet, but if it keeps up I will since I don't want to have this turn into a long-term issue. My climbing partner, who seems to have already experienced every injury in the book, has never had or heard of this before. Nor has the internet, apparently. Have any of you? How did you fix it? |
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Could be a number of things. I have shoulder pain from stenosis in my cervical spine caused by a bulged disk. I also have shoulder pain from mountain biking aggressive trails with under developed scapula muscles and bad form. Both of the issues cause similar pain on the top of the shoulder but neither is actually located there. Best to diagnose the issue with an MRI on the shoulder and cervical spine. If there is no injury then it could be under developed muscles causing bad form and over compensating elsewhere, or even hobbies of the past coming back to haunt with age. So many possible causes… |
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Also bouldering by nature is highly traumatic on our joints. |
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The pain could also be your biceps tendon getting irritated by an out of alignment shoulder. |
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Check out distal clavicular osteolysis. |
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Hal B wrote: This looks (sadly) like it might be it. Also, found this which may be helpful: https://mapleclinic.ie/bloghome/shoulder-injury-due-to-incorrect-movement-while-climbing/ |
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I had AC osteoarthritis, along with subacromial impingement due to excess bone growth on the acromion (doc said the joint issue was primary, bone spur a consequence). Possibly due to weight training with a lot of overhead and incline presses plus high-weight dips. Arthroscopic surgery worked, and I haven't gone back to those exercises. PT advice I got was to strengthen my scapular retractors and external rotators. |
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Mine is bilateral so I don't think it's osteoarthritis unless I'm reallly unlucky. Strange that these injuries all seem to do with "pushing" and climbing is a pulling sport... I almost never push when climbing (obviously a mantel is an exception but they're rare enough). I feel like, intuitively, I'm really out of balance with respect to my upper back compared to my chest. And my work (sitting at a computer with poor posture) is probably not helping. Super tight traps and neck all the time. I'm gonna try massage for a week or two and if it doesn't get better, I'll go see a physio... |
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John RB wrote: Rest and NSAIDs helped a lot with mine. And I mean full rest, in a sling. Once I was fully healed (based on pain/mobility not further imaging) I added Stew Smith's shoulder circuit and some mobility work to my programs. I had it flare up a couple times over the years, usually in response to too much benching, but have been largely pain free for years now. Shoulder workout: stewsmithfitness.com/blogs/… |
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John RB wrote: Hi John RB, you might be the only other person in the world that seems to have gone through this issue. Did you get past it in the end and if yes, how? |
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Go see your doctor! |