What did I injure?

[Meek One]

About two months ago we learned a new shoulder lock technique in class. I'm sorry, but I do not know the name of it. Here is my description. I'm in someone's guard. They simultaneously swivle their body and push my face away while throwing their leg between my head and shoulder and then proceed to sit up while my shoulder and head is forced to the mat with my arm seemingly erect between their legs. No sexual innuendo implied I guess he was either too aggressive or I didn't tap soon enough, but the following week while in California on a job search I tried to bench and something wasn't happy in my shoulder. I also had been noticing that if I had my arm extended overhead while lying on the stomach in bed it would hurt. It seemed like my medial deltiod. Well I decided to rest my upper body for a while assuming it was muscular. Two weeks ago I was going to start preparing for a Long Drive competition when I was saddened to find out it hurt a lot to swing a club. There is no visible swelling and it seems to hurt only in the 2nd half of range which for my purposes is when the arm is straight out to the side to the front. I believe that also I may be able to press forward without pain if my arm dragged my torso. Please help me. Since I don't know what I hurt WebMD is kind of useless, but I think that perhaps icing and some light stretching may be good. Thanks for your help and yes I will have it checked out when I get a job. Hopefully soon. Thanks in advance.

--Meek

[gregimotis]

Could the finish have been some form of 'kimura'? The description you give could apply, and the injury would be to the rotator cuff.

In any case, many shoulder locks focus on the rotator and the cure (in my limited exp.) is time and rest.

[JaredExtreme]

Could it be an umaplata?

Gregmotis is right, usually what is damaged is the rotator cuff when shoulder locks are applied. I was being a hero a few months ago and didn't think my rolling partner had a good americana on so I didn't tap out immediately. I felt ok that night.... but the next day my should hurt like hell when I moved my arm in certain directions... it's gotten better though.

Lesson learned: tap out earlier.

[darrianation]

It sounds like a rotator cuff tear.

I have had two the biggest thing with mine is the overhead activity, it hurt like a motha f***er, and sleeping at night my shoulder would throb.

There is different severities of this so pain can be mild to sever. Rotator cuff tears do not heal well with time. They tend to either enlarge, or, at best, stabilize in size. My first was 10 years ago and I did not do surgery and it never completely healed. Back in December I re-injured the same shoulder while sparring.

Symptoms include:

Rotator cuff tears usually cause the following symptoms:

Pain - primarily on top and in the front of your shoulder.

Weakness - moderate to severe weakness, especially worse with overhead activity.

Stiffness - many people will experience stiffness in the shoulder. This happens because it either hurts to move the shoulder, or you simply cannot move it because you are too weak.

Popping - sometimes bursitis that occurs with rotator cuff tears can cause a mild popping or crackling sensation in the shoulder.

Unable to sleep on shoulder - most with tears of the rotator cuff complain of difficulty sleeping on the shoulder at night.

Treatment:

Non-surgical:
1) Physical therapy to regain strength, and rage of motion. This usually starts 6-8weeks after injury.
2) Anti-inflammatory medications, Advil, Motrin, steroids
3) Time and lots of it.

The other treatment is surgical repair.

[JaredExtreme]

Yup Darriannation, that is pretty much an exact description of my shoulder, though it pretty much only bothers me if I sleep on it or am doing "overhead" activities.

Just curious, how much does the surgery cost?

[darrianation]

Yup Darriannation, that is pretty much an exact description of my shoulder, though it pretty much only bothers me if I sleep on it or am doing "overhead" activities.

Just curious, how much does the surgery cost?

I am not sure of all the finale costs but between the MRIs, the surgery, hospital, and post-op care plus physical therapy somewhere around 6,000$. The national average is more like 8,000$

This does not include any post-op complications. They also cannot guarantee 100% successes. The surgery is pretty successful around 92% success rates. But I have waited 10 years and it's only getting worse, so I feel I have to do it.

Thank god I have insurance that will pay 80% of the costs. Otherwise I would never be able to afford it.

[Meek One]

Thanks for all the info. Sitting here at the computer, my shoulder hurts the most if I try to cross my arm across my chest and I feel it beneath the rear delt. I can put it overhead with just a little discomfort. Does this simply mean I probably have a minor tear beneath the rear delt on the rotator cuff and that would be the best place to ice it? On WebMD http://my.webmd.com/hw/sports_and_fitness/ue4840.asp
I tried the stretching prescribed and only the first two stretches cause pain. Should I go onto the light prescribed exercises? Thanks for your input.