Shoulder problems!

[Trulyhuge]

Hey all! I have been experiencing a shoulder pain now for about 1 month. I feel it in the mid shoulder and a little towards the side. It hurts when I do db presses (when I am at the bottom of every rep). I am only able to do a machine press for shoulders with a palms facing in grip. My question is, are these presses beneficial to use or should I lay off presses for a bit to see if the problem corrects itself? I do rotator cuff excersises to strengthen the rotator cuffs. Another question would be should I ice or heat the shoulder, or both? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TH

 

[xcelbeyond]

I like ice for injuries as it increases blood flow to site.

Shoulder injuries are VERY difficult to diagnose. It took me over the course of 5 years to find a doctor that discovered my shoulder problem and that was doing "corrective" surgery (via scope) - and my infraspanatus was nearly torn off the bone! Of course I went to no less than 10 people over the course of those 5 years!

xcel

 

[muscle96ss]

I like ice for injuries as it increases blood flow to site.


xcel

Maybe I am missing something but how does ice increase the blood flow to the site?

 

[xcelbeyond]

Cold (ice) makes the blood vesssels open to provide more blood to that area to warm it up. The increased blood flow helps move off lactic acid etc...

Heat on the other hand makes the blood vessels constrict.

xcel

 

[muscle96ss]

Cold (ice) makes the blood vesssels open to provide more blood to that area to warm it up. The increased blood flow helps move off lactic acid etc...

Heat on the other hand makes the blood vessels constrict.

xcel

Actually it is the opposite. Heat is a vasodilator while ice vasoconstricts. In addition ice reduces histamine(which is a vasodilator) which in turn furthers it constrictive properties.

If you want to increase blood flow to the area the best method is through either heat or muscle contraction. Using a electrical stim unit you can set the parameters to make a muscle pumping action and get blood into the area. This is especially good for tendonous injuries as tendons are not very vascular.

 

[xcelbeyond]

Not doubting you as I tend to get things crossed as I get older

I thought that "initial" contact of ice constricts vessels as a natural reaction. But when it's left on, after a while, the blood vessels open to try and warm the area up.

Reversewith heat - initial contact diolates vessels. But continuous contact restricts - so you do not warm blood up in system.

xcel

 

[muscle96ss]

Not doubting you as I tend to get things crossed as I get older

I thought that "initial" contact of ice constricts vessels as a natural reaction. But when it's left on, after a while, the blood vessels open to try and warm the area up.

Reversewith heat - initial contact diolates vessels. But continuous contact restricts - so you do not warm blood up in system.

xcel

Actually you are correct in a sense. If you leave cold on too long it can have a rebound effect causing dilation which is the bodies defense mechanism to the extended cold in sensing danger. Unfortunately this does not have any beneficial effects.

 

[ironcowboy]

I always prefer ice over heat myself. I though what happened with ice was that the constriction from the cold forced interstitial fluid out as well as blood from veins and arteries then the subsequent dialation allowed an inflow of new blood. Best effects for me are to alternate ice massage 2-3 mins, then rest 5 mins, then ice massage 2-3 mins., etc.