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Lots of popping in shoulders/neck/back with burning pain and loss of muscle usage

Hi my name is Joe and I am new to this forum.  

A little background on me that may help with my problem, I was diagnosed with flat feet when I was about 13 but nothing was ever really done about the problem.  I am 21 now.

I have worked at Fed Ex Express as a handler/team leader for the last almost 3 years, which consists of constant bending down to pick up packages as well as overhead lifting of boxes weighing as little as an envelope all the way up to 150 pound crates.

I lifted weights briefly in highschool.  About 2 years ago I got into serious weight lifting, joined a gym, was there just about every day consistently.  Also in my free time I like to play video and computer games so I spend a good deal of time sitting.


To get to my problem, about a year and a half ago I injured a hi[ flexor muscle in the front top of my quad near my hip while I was squatting.  I neglected the injury and I also hurt it a few times at work again kicking/sliding a heavy (60+ pounds) box.  About 6 months later, I injured my shoulder in a shoulder pressing exercise at my gym in which I heard a pop and felt a burning warm sensation with slight pain in my left rear deltoid muscle., I neglected to let this injury heal correctly also.  I continued weight lifting.


No real problems up until recently.


Fast forward to about a month ago.  I had heard a pop similar to the previous shoulder accident, however this time it had happened in my right shoulder.  Also in my left shoulder near my collar bone, I had several pops occur at different times, about 3 in total.  After this I stopped going to the gym all together figuring the other injuries hadnt gotten better so this one would need rest if i wanted it to improve.

My situation did not improve, several times after this within the last 1-3 weeks, there have been numerous pops in both shoulders, each time giving me a numb feeling down the bottom of the arm in which it popped, and also a warm feeling down my back, and in all of these injuries, most to ALL ability to contract the injured muscle was lost immediately following the pop.  Sometimes pops occurred numerous times PER DAY.

(here I should mention that on one of these days a tight muscle in my mid/lower back had popped also and like the others, was not able to contract)

At this time I started to worry and decided to get an Orthopedic Physician's opinion on it.

He advised I should go to physical therapy for about a month to see if it improved.  He sent me away with a "Shoulder Impingement" diagnosis.


Following the days of the visit to the physician, I experienced more pops, this time one when I sneezed in the back right side of my neck with which followed no ability to contract it, same feelings as before, the lack of muscle contraction and slight burning pain and a feeling of something not being right.  It felt different in the right side than the left.  Later the next day, the left side of my neck popped and now both sides felt similar.  Both with no ability to contract and the burning pain.  Around somewhere during this, another pop in my right lat area (back) happened, and I noticed that when doing a bodybuilding pose (the lat spread) that my back had become more wide on the right side.  This all happened about 2 days ago.  Today I heard numerous pops in my back, ones that I had always heard when straightening my back all the way, but they never were a problem.  Also today sounded like a pop from my lower back above my buttocks on the right side, following with similar symptom, that of no ability to contract the muscle.  I should also mention that the tendon in the top of my left bicep muscle near the frontal deltoid has a tendency to tighten up and feels as if it is being pulled or stretched too far and im afraid that this muscle will be the next to face injury.


By now it feels almost as if I am in the body of a different person, because this is something completely new to me and for the first time in a long time, I am a bit frightened because I have not been able to find an answer to what this is anywhere on my own.


I appreciate any response I get to this, and apologize for the length.

In my own mind I think my muscles have begun to detach to adjust for poor posture and frequent abuse, I have no other thoughts as to why numerous muscles in my shoulders/rear neck/collar bone area/back have lost the ability to contract and also the pickup of the burning pain and the instability.

I have no idea if I should be in the emergency room right now or just resting in bed with ice packs.

God speed to whoever has an answer for me that will hopefully end this nightmare.
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
looking at the shoulder would only help show you what's wrong with it now, not why it went wrong or how to fix it.

you need to start by looking at your hip flexor injury. if you never rehabed that back to perfect health your posture's going to be all over the place and your hips will be a lot more unstable. your spine sits on your hips, so if you've created a compensation pattern there, your spine will be out of place. if the spine is out of place, your shoulders won't sit right either, which is most likely why you injured your shoulder in the first place.
from there, once one shoulder was injured, your body would have started restricting range of motion in both shoulders, avoiding an injury in the healthy one. since you continued to train on it, your healthy shoulder would've been out of place as well, which is most likely why that's giving you trouble now too.
i had a SLAP lesion in my left shoulder about 4mo ago and i've lost quality of motion in my R shoulder as well becauce of it.

you need to have your posture assessed statically and dynamically as well as having postural x-rays done to see if you've shifted any vertebrae out of place. if you can also organise a gait assessment that would be even better. if you just look at the shoulder you're wasting time and money. i'd say the shoulder is just a symptom of the real problems that you have in your hips.

i hope that helps. good luck with it
email me if you have any questions

andreasi at iinet dot net dot au
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
shoulder bursitis and impingement can cause alot pain in places other that the shoulder.
especially if you have not gotten any treatment!  as this injury can become chronic.
you need to get this diagnosed and get xrays and ultrasound etc to rule out other problems. This could be another problem all together , so a doctor is the only person that can help you at the moment! ask for tests to be done!
let me know how you go :)

ne55
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thanks for the response, i had more popping today, seems like the opposite side of my lower back, the left side now has popped to adjust to the change in the right side, also feels as if i stand with a somewhat different posture now


i can lift both arms perfectly fine overhead and out to the side with no real pain but i can feel that there is injury there

the muscles i talked about in the back of my neck still feel like they dont work anymore, also i experienced another pop on each side of my neck today possibly some smaller muscles

i am also getting pain generally in my whole back because of some kind of mis-alignment going on
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi

Have you had an ultrasound on your bursa in shoulder its possible it could be  bursitis and impingement . I have been suffering with bursitis and impingement for 5 months now and have already had a cortisone injection into bursa which has given my a bit of relief from the discomfort!
my symptoms is pain and tightness in around shoulder,neck and down the arm and also your back muscles around shoulder get tight and sore with sharp pains on use. you should also have difficulty lifting and extending arm and find doing so can cause it to flare up again with pain. sleeping is painful (lying on arm impossible) and nighttime it tends to ache more!  bursitis and impingement cause alot of discomfort and pain and tends to affect all the muscles and tendons around rotater cuff and shoulder blades arm , and neck! and yes it can be frustrating and depressing cause it just wont go away but it does it just takes time and rest and lots of physio etc.
Ive pretty much tried alot of things to get myself better, these are massage , icing to numb pain,acupunture,physio,chiropractor and lastly cortisone injections and lots of rest I am just at the stage now with a exercise physiologist to help me stabilise the scapular muscles to prevent further injury again.

oh stress and anxiety about your injury can make it worse you need to try and relax!
Icing and anti inflammatorys can help with pain but are only a short term cure.

Also you need to be careful not to do alot as you could make it worse, tendon tear etc.

hope this helps :)
stay positive and get help from a good doctor!


ne55
Helpful - 0
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