Question about a shoulder injury

[SithSolo1]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not in shape as I spend 90% of my time inside and about 70% of that is in front of a monitor.

Anyway I was out with some friends yesterday playing disk golf for like the 3rd time in my life and I just wasn't getting the distance they were. So on the 8th hole I just gave it everything I had an let her rip. Well I got the distance but as soon as I let go of the disk I felt my shoulder make a small pop and then my shoulder started to hurt. I also felt some slight numbness in my arm for the next 3-4mins. Yes, its sad, I hurt my arm throwing a frisbee. Well we played through and last night my arm didn't hurt that bad but now I have constant dull pain and it hurts on my upper arm when I try to raise it past perpendicular.

Should I see a doctor or is this something that ice and a few days of rest should heal?

Edit: Didn't realize we had a forum for questions like this. Sorry for the mess.

 

[GenHoth]

You probably pulled a muscle.

btw we have a health and fitness forum now! Check it out!

 

[SithSolo1]

Man, all these new forums popping up. I misses having a limited selection.

 

[SludgeFactory]

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic....oulder/rotatorcuff.htm

 

[RapidSnail]

Rotator cuff injury. See a doctor.

 

[rezinn]

I have a friend that just had this same thing happen. Sedentary lifestyle and then suddenly trying to exert yourself equals pain + surgery.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It really depends. Where exactly on the shoulder did you feel the pain? Toward the back, the front, the side? There are a ton of possibilities (muscle strain, labral tear, rotator cuff injury, etc) so you should get it checked out by an orthapaedist ASAP.

 

[SithSolo1]

Most of the pain feels like it is coming from the deltoid. Its more a of a constant, dull pain now. I'll see about getting an appointment for monday.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
Most of the pain feels like it is coming from the deltoid. Its more a of a constant, dull pain now. I'll see about getting an appointment for monday.

How does it feel when you move it now though? Is it a dull pain when you move it too as opposed to when you don't move it? Yeah, get an appointment so you can see what you can do.

 

[SithSolo1]

I had dinner with a friend tonight. She's got a BS in physical therapy and was an athletic trainer at UGA for 2 years. She ran me through some motions and said that its more likely I impinged my rotator cuff than tore it but that I should still get it check out. It only really hurts when I hold my upper arm outstretched perpendicular to my body and rotate my forearm backward at the elbow(like the right hand signal in this picture here). Also I don't really have pain but there is resistance when lifting the arm vertically out to the side from the hip palm down. It occurs about 150 degrees from the hip like if I was making the Y in YMCA.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Ah, ok. Yep, it sounds like something with the rotator cuff in that case. Ice it when you can (15 min on, 15 min off, 15 min on, 15 min off) and take some ibuprofen before you go to bed to reduce the swelling so it can heal. Let us know what the doctor says. I'd be interested to hear exactly what he/she says.

Also, I wasn't aware you could get a B.S. in physical therapy. If that was an option around here, I would do it, but instead I've gotta major in exercise biology, then get a master's in PT. *Shakes fist*.

 

[SithSolo1]

Saw my doctor. He said that given the motion of throwing a disc it was highly unlikely I tore anything. He said I probably just tweaked my deltoid and that the numbness was caused by the nerve in my shoulder being pinched. Ice as much as possible, load up on ibuprofen w/ food, and rest it for a few days. If it gets worse come back, if not it should be fine. Actually its feeling pretty good today.