Shoulder Impingement: 11 Symptoms, Causes & Exercises That Work

Shoulder Impingement: What Is It?

In 35% of shoulder pain-related cases, shoulder impingement is the culprit. Other names for it include impingement syndrome, swimmer’s shoulder, thrower’s shoulder, supraspinatus syndrome & subacromial impingement.

Shoulder impingement largely involves your rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is made up of a group of muscles and tendons attaching the humerus (upper arm bone) to the glenohumeral joint (shoulder). Without a properly functioning rotator cuff, you wouldn’t be able to properly raise and rotate your arm. When shoulder impingement is at play, the rotator cuff will catch or rub within the joint, on the acromion. Think about when you lift your arm overhead. When you do this, the space between the rotator cuff and acromion decreases. This in turn increases the pressure within the joint, which in turn irritates the rotator cuff. And this my friends, is shoulder impingement.

Symptoms Of Shoulder Impingement

As you might have guessed, when you have a shoulder impingement- your shoulder hurts. In particular, the pain is sudden and jolting and occurs most when lifting or rotating your arm. But there’s more to shoulder impingement than just pain.

The tell tale symptoms of Shoulder Impingement:

• a consistent, dull aching sensation in your arm
• pain radiating from the front of your shoulder to the side of your arm
• pain that worsens at night
• weakness in the shoulder OR arm
• pain when extending your arm overhead
• pain when lifting, reaching or lowering your arm from overhead
• tenderness in the front part of your shoulder
• shoulder or arm pain when lying on that side
• pain that interferes with sleep quality
• difficulty or pain when trying to reach the affected hand behind to touch your upper back
• shoulder and/or arm stiffness

Causes Of Shoulder Impingement

The cause of shoulder impingement appears to be a bit broad. Basically, the more frequently you use your shoulders (repeated lifting and reaching motions) the more likely you are to impinge it. What’s more, a sudden blow or jolt to an already overworked rotator cuff raises your chances of acquiring it even more so.

Playing sports can heighten your risk.

Athletes that participate in sports such as swimming, tennis, baseball, basketball, weightlifting, gymnastics and volleyball are especially at risk of shoulder impingement. This does not mean avoid these health-promoting sports! It simply means you should practice awareness, caution. Also, it’s never a bad idea to work with a coach who can hold you accountable, grounded, and informed!

Your profession may also put you in danger.

However, even if you’re not an athlete- your occupation can equally heighten your chances of shoulder injury. Manual laborers employed in the following fields are common victims of shoulder impingement: construction workers, box movers, warehouse personnel, maintenance crew workers, painters, tree trimming technicians, A/C technicians, and electricians. If you’re in a profession resembling any of the ones listed here, following a regular and systematic workout routine could prove even more beneficial to you. (Ask me why!)

Past injuries & unique bone structure could hurt your chances as well.

As if the above prerequisites weren’t enough to make you wary of falling victim to shoulder impingement! Past injuries to your shoulder, dislocation, or even just being up in years can heighten your chances.

Also, those with a slightly different bone structure than the “norm” (who defines what’s normal anyway??) are more likely to experience shoulder impingement.

So basically, you’re damned if you do. And you’re damned if you don’t.

Diagnosing Shoulder Impingement

If you suspect you might have shoulder impingement, it’s paramount that you have it checked out by a qualified professional. Your doctor is likely the best suitor for this role. He or she will discuss your exercise history, past injuries, examine your range of motion, and may even prescribe imaging diagnostic tests (MRI, X-ray, etc.). It’s important to get your shoulder impingement properly diagnosed, as there are a few other conditions involving the shoulder with similarly presenting symptoms.

Shoulder Impingement Treatments

Once you’re verified that you do in fact have shoulder impingement, you have quite a wide array of treatment options.

Hopefully, you don’t ever impinge your shoulder. However, if given the choice of rotator cuff tear or shoulder impingement- I would hands down opt for the former!!

The best ways to treat shoulder impingement include rest, icing with an ice pack, physical therapy, corrective exercise, medication and in some cases even surgery.

Rest

If you’re lucky enough, you can manage to treat and heal your impingement with just a little TLC and relaxation. It’s important to avoid overexerting or pushing yourself too hard during this time. I know how hard it can be to just take a break and take it easy. Especially if you’re accustomed to regular activity. But when it comes to recovering from an injury such as shoulder impingement, you can definitely do more harm than good by not giving your body the break it needs in order to heal.

Physical Therapy

Another streak of luck is when circumstances are bad enough to warrant intervention, but not serious enough to require surgery. In this case, a licensed physiotherapist can help you restore range of motion and full function to your shoulder. Oftentimes, they’ll even discuss ways to avoid repeating the injury in the future!

Corrective Exercise

Corrective exercise just so happens to be one of my personal training specialties. If your doctor has prescribed or recommended Physical Therapy- you should first complete the sessions with the Physical Therapist as recommended. While the Physical Therapist will help you restore normal range of motion to your shoulder, a Corrective Exercise Specialist such as myself can help you further rebuild strength and healthy movement to the area. I do this in a very systematic order, by focusing on inhibition, lengthening, activation and integration.

Interested in working with me 1:1 to achieve your health and fitness goals? Click here to apply!

Medication

Personally, I avoid medicating injuries like shoulder impingement at all costs. I’ve encountered far too many clients that went this route, only to have it backfire royally in the long run.

While I see nothing wrong with taking over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (as prescribed)– steroid injections are a temporary bandaid at best. And when I liken them to a bandaid? Imagine one of those too sticky hospital bandages that rip your skin off when you pull it off. Now imagine worse than that. Yeah, I have not met one person that was able to cure their pain or injury with hydrocortisone shots.

But if your doctor recommends it, it has to be good for you- right?

Surgery

Surgical intervention is rarely any fun. Unless you’re a surgeon and getting paid for it. But alas, sometimes surgical intervention is in fact necessary for shoulder injuries.

The good news though? Shoulder impingement generally does not warrant surgery. However, if you don’t take the required steps to heal and correct your impingement, then your shoulder impingement can turn into a rotator cuff tear. And in the case of rotator cuff tears, surgery is definitely likely to be a viable option on the table. This is generally true anytime a tendon gets torn.

Recovery of Shoulder Impingement

If you have fallen victim to shoulder, you can expect to require about 3-6 months to heal from shoulder impingement. Promptly identifying and treating shoulder impingement plays a huge factor here! So if you suspect you might have a shoulder impingement (refer to the symptoms listed on this page) be sure to get it checked out promptly. You’ll be doing yourself a great disservice if you just ignore and go on about your regular daily routines.

Shoulder Impingement Exercises: Dos & Don’ts

I know how hard it can be to take extended time off from certain exercises, or exercise in general, especially once you’ve gotten the taste for how amazing those endorphins feel. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel! Once you have followed the recommended and necessary rest and recovery protocols- you can begin rebuilding strength and functionality to your upper body.

First, let’s go over exercises to avoid when just getting back into the swing of it (hint: no swinging bats or racquets yet).

DON’T DO THESE EXERCISES WHEN RECOVERING FROM A SHOULDER IMPINGEMENT:

• Do not do anything requiring a throwing motion. Especially overhead! Sadly, this means avoiding sports such as tennis, baseball, basketball and volleyball.
• In the gym, avoid anything involving overhead motions. Arm presses, pull downs, flyes… don’t do them.
• Stay away from swimming if it involves arm paddling or stroking. Lounging in the water is fine, but basically try not to move your arms too much in there. Especially overhead or out in front.
• Avoid any activity requiring you to lift your elbow from your side.

DO THESE EXERCISES WHEN RECOVERING FROM A SHOULDER IMPINGEMENT:

1. Shoulder blade squeezes
2. Pec stretches
3. Shoulder stretches
4. Arm stretches
5. Prone I
6. Prone Y
7. Scapular push-ups (on your forearms)

These may sound like boring exercises, but I assure you they could make all the difference in you recovering, reinjuring, or injuring yourself even more. So please, don’t take what I say on this page lightly!!

Also Of Note:

If at any time, you feel any pain in your shoulder injury with any of the exercises listed above- STOP IMMEDIATELY! This is not the time to just “push through”. And in this case, pain does not equal gain. (Unless of course, you’re hoping to gain handicap status.)

Conclusion.

So there you have it! Shoulder Impingement wrapped up in a nutshell. If you or someone you know suspects they may have it, don’t ignore the warning signs! Getting it identified and treated sooner than later will help you be able to bounce back from it in a more timely fashion. In my line of work, I’ve seen far too many people just push it off- only to end up far worse than they would have had they simply taken the responsible and smart route.

Request A Personal Training Consultation

If you have any further questions or are interested in working with me individually as a personal training client, here’s the link to request a consultation! I can help you identify, progressively pursue, and empower you to accomplish your health & fitness goals- once and for all.

Click Here To Request A Personal Training Consultation!

Be the first to receive tips, tools and specials- don’t forget to subscribe below to the Nanala Cove newsletter 🙂