Shoulder Impingement Syndrome...?

[K_Rabbit]

I've been having problems with my right shoulder and at the summit i hurt it pretty bad...everytime i plant i have this sharp pain in my shoulder. When i got home i saw a physical therapist and she diagnosed me with Shoulder inpingement Syndrome and said i couldn't vault for at least a month. This is basically when rotator cuff or shoulder ligaments become inflamed and pinched between the bony structures of the shoulder joint. Since i can't vault i've been doing slide box but my shoulder still hurts planting into that. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what kind of things you did to heal it? and what can i do in the meantime?

[Vault&Flip]

just a question. How is your plant? I used to have a problem with irritated cartilage in my shoulders when my plant was not on, i.e. low and late. If you do this frequently, the only way to make the pain go away is to start doing it correctly. However, yours could be completely unrelated to that. So, I hope this helps, and if not, hope you get some good advice from someone.

[vaulter870]

ahhh all i have to say is OUCH i had something like that with my hip and it hurt like you wouldnt believe hope you find something that helps

[VaultNinja]

I have to agree with vaultflip. I have inpingement too in both shoulers, but my right (top hand) is much worse than my left. I have noticed over the years that when my takeoff is under or I am not getting my left up well, then my right shoulder starts flairing up. So get your step on and your bottom arm up at takeoff and it should help.
Justin Norberg told me he had the same problem last year and changing his takeoff has helped dramatically.
Also- Make sure that you are doing all of the therapy exercises that your therapist gives you, because they really work well.

[K_Rabbit]

It probably is my plant...I was looking at some video of myself and i could see i was waaaay under and had a late plant. Hopefully i will be able to fix this problem pain free. Thanks for the advice.

[Bonevt]

Im just wondering but did u ask your doctor if u could be doing slid box. That seems like it would cause the same problems and kind of defeat the purpuse of not vaulting

[K_Rabbit]

Yes, i did ask. I tried explaining to her what a slide box was but i don't think she fully understood what i was talking about. She said i could do it as long as it didn't hurt and if i did feel a little bit i should stop. But me being the dumb person i am had to push it too hard and keep going.

[master]

I have been dealing with a similar problem for a year or two. Evaluation of my shoulder by doctors and machines says my right shoulder joint is rather loose, partly because of my age. But I have been able to work through it. For me, the first thing is to get the inflamation down. That can be done with anti-inflamatory meds (ibuprofen or naproxin) on a regular schedule with NO additional irritation. Once that is done, I can jump without further irritation if I loosen up my shoulder well during warmups. I have a simple device I got from a physical therapist that consists of a short rope with a grip on each end. The rope passes through a pulley and I attach the pulley to an overhead structure. I set it up so that when I pull down with one arm, the other is pulled up to a stretch position. You can usually get a larger range of motion in a painful joint when you can apply some resistance to the movement. Using this device you apply both the pulling force and the resisting force so you control everything. I use this to pull my arm up behind my back as well as the obvious over the head moves. I also put the pole tip on the ground near my feet and grab as high as I can, hang in a controlled manner to stretch the shoulder a bit more.

The other things I am very careful about is the very first few stiff pole swing ups. Once you start really jumping, if your shoulder is like mine, it will not tolerate any amount of being under with your plant foot. I can't be too careful with this. If I feel a 'stinger' in my shoulder, I know I have violated this rule of mine and checking with the person that was catching the position of my step just verifies what I already know. Following this regimen I can jump till I'm tired and not reinflame the joint.

[VaultNinja]

Yeah, I had to quit doing straight pole pop-ups, and one arm drills all together.

[tmack]

Thought you may like to know that is what I dealt with all year last year. I would follow any advice the physical threrapists give you to alleviate the prob. You can do a lot of other drills...which is what I did that dramatically changed my take-off. In the meantime, a lot of ice. You can do a ton of drills without planting into anything...it may be a blessing in disguise. You can do a lot of pole runs, which by the sound of it, could be your problem with the "under" takeoff...which 9 times out of 10 is the problem. You can do them 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full speed working on pole descent and timing of the drop. All I can say, since I cant watch you jump everyday, is to watch where the pole is on each left step of elite vaulters...i.e.markov, tarasov, bubka. For now, you should try to "mimick" where there pole is on which stride. By 1/4 speed, I mean you cover 1/4 of the distance but with the same rhythm. You wont cover as much ground, you wont take full strides, but your rhythm and pole descent is the same as in full run. Again, you will take shorter steps , but wont be moving as fast. You just want to ingrain the rhythm of your normal run-up and exactly where the pole is as each left step hits the ground. If you dont know what I mean, experiment with it, seeing you cant vault, you can do a ton of these...thousands. And remember, your mind doesnt know if it is real or imagined. Let me know if any questions.

[BethelPV]

Even though I am not hurt, that is awesome advice, and I am going to take full advantage of that. I have an understep of 1 foot, and need to fix that. I am going to start doing exactly what you said. Good Luck during outdoor this year, I hope your injury heals well. I hope to see you and Toby over 6m again this season! The Sky's The Limit!

Zachmo

[vaulter870]

this is all great advice espscialy the part about not being under that is key. taking off a little out is deffinetly better then under because its just plain easier to vault