Weightlifting Hurts My Shoulder

Alex came to Neighborhood Acupuncture complaining of right shoulder pain. She said the pain was constant and rated the pain level as a 4/10. The patient stated she had experienced episodes of right shoulder pain since 2016. This most recent episode had been going on for about a month. Alexa, a 25 year old female, was dedicated and enjoyed working out almost each day of the week and stated that yoga and pilattes did not aggrevate the shoulder pain but weightlifting made the shoulder pain worse. 

Balance Method Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain = No acupuncture applied directly to the shoulder (area of pain)

Most of Alex's pain was in the right shoulder blade (scapula). Alex said the bottom of the scapula was more painful than the top.  Alex also complained of pain radiating down her right arm and noted there was weakness in her right elbow, wrist and hand. Upon physical examination we also found there was pain between the thoracic spine and the right scapula. We applied acupuncture to the left upper and left lower limbs that imaged and mirrored the scapula, thoracic region of the back and the right upper limb.

Mixed Results: Healing Requires Rest

Alex came in for Balance Method Acupuncture therapy twice a week. After two weeks the results were the same. One to two days with less pain then the pain returned. Alex and I discussed her work out routine and discovered that weightlifting was still causing the pain to worsen. Alex said her athletic trainer insisted she continue with weightlifting so that her muscles would build up and then the pain would get better. Alex and I discussed that muscles need time to rest in order to heal and become healthy muscles that are then able to build with weightlifting. We agreed on no weightlifting until Alex's pain level remained at a significantly lower level. 

Balance Method Instant Results

Immediately Alex started getting better results with each Balance Method therapy session. Her pain level began to decrease and was consistantly a 3/10 then a 2/10. Once Alex's pain level was a 1/10 she started weightlifting again.

After 11 sessions over 5 weeks, Alex no longer felt any pain but felt some muscle tightness after weightlifting that would be gone by the next day. One more session took care of that. 

Balance Method to Prevent Further Injury

Alex then attended two addtional sessions of Balance Method Acupuncture to prevent the right shoulder injury from returning or postponing the next episode of right shoulder pain. I advise all my patient's suffering from pain to attend two additional sessions after the pain has gone to ensure the pain does not return or postpone the return of pain for as long as possible. While this is not required, patient's like Alex, who are dedicated to working out frequently, want to avoid reinjury so that they can stay dedicated to their workout routine. 

Please note this is a case study and not a predictor of how Balance Method Acupuncture will help you. Balance Method Acupuncture is designed to treat the individual not the type of injury or illness. Everyone of us is not the same so results will always vary. But I will do my best to provide you the very best results your body can provide!