70% sure from reading your post and what the doctor said that it is coming from your neck... Scapular pain is almost always due to a pinched nerve in the neck... Numbness and tingling is also almost always due to a pinched nerve in the neck... Easy way to tell is to keep the rest of your body still and just move the neck in different directions (forward, sideways, up, down, like a chicken, tuck, rotation), if you can produce or reduce the pain with just this movement then BINGO, you got your source of pain... Anti-inflammatories will also help but they go to the entire body and that aching knee of yours suddenly feels better as well... Keep us posted.

sounds torn, like mine was.

i had a tear in my left rotator cuff (supra spinatus) in nov/dec '06. It was a reoccurrence of damage done in my late teens/early 20's. Anyway, got it physio'd and did the rehab, and got back on track. saturday just gone, I woke up, got out of bed, went to stretch and 'OH 5H1T!!!!' the darn shoulder was screwed. no reason it should be, but it was real bad. Couldnt abduct my arm more than 20 degrees from my side, and as for any external rotation-

ice and mobilisation (the usual) started immediately, and I compensated with right arm dominated actions for the weekend, but come monday it was not really any better. Got booked in with my doc for wednesday morning, and went to work thinking I would be OK. Wrong. I drive quite a lot at work, and using stick shift requires rotator cuff manipulation- it was not only painfull, but downright dangerous in the effect it had on my driving. We also have to use keys, open doors, have the potential to restrain people- all stuff that I havent a hope of doing at the mo. Doc has signed me off for 2 weeks, and i am currently busy getting the cuff back in working order.
rotator cuffs blow

Being a two time former recipient to a torn rotator cuff, I feel for everybody's pain. Cord, get better ... you are in good hands ... your own.

My shoulders bug me from time to time as well especially if I over due Lat Pulldowns. Always afraid I'm going to re-injure this again so I try to be careful but I'm also stubborn. Don't be a Dereck ... be a Cord.

I forgot to mention, as well as the rehab, I have been given some pretty funky medication. Dihydrocodein, valium, and anti inflammatories. they have certainly taken the adge off my shoulder pain, but quite frankly the last time my head felt like this I was in my mid 20's listening to Darkside of the Moon in my friends flat

My shoulders were a constant problem in my teens due to bad lifting practice. Ive torn each of them. My right twice and my left 3 times. I also went through physical therapy for them at the same time that I was going for my broken neck. All is better now, though every now and then when I have to lift a lot of weight, like roofing a house, then they'll be a little achy for a few days and inflamed but nothing some Icy Hot and Playstation cant fix.

Hi Wiggy,

that sounds likely. I noticed it got worse after a long train journey and a lot of reading, hunched over a book on my knees. Likewise, since we got a laptop, rather than using the big monitor on my pc, I've also been hunched a lot.

Since I've reduced this it got a bit better. Went for a massage too and that helped a bit. I do tend to click a lot between the scaps. I find lying down on the floor (especially with a rolled towel up the spine) produces a drum-roll of clicks. Also relieves the stress a bit.

Trevek,
Sounds like you know what aggravates it... So avoid slouched sitting, get up every 20' and walk around, and try performing some retraction stretches (10x every 1-2 hours.... provided that it helps you and doesn't make your pain worse).

Best picture I found on the web for retraction is mentioned below... You can advance to retraction and extension of the neck if you feel better but not "cured"... I also found a book that is good for reference is called "treat your own neck"... Seriously there is a book out there written by a physiotherpist called this with an explanation of causes of pain and exercises to do in the event of pain.

Hope all of this helps and you are back on the mat.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...en%26rls%3DSUNA,SUNA:2006-40,SUNA:en%26sa%3DN

Thanks Wiggy,

actually I've come across a MacKenzie spine therapist in my area. Turns out a teaching colleague goes there. I'll give them a ring.

Not back on the mat, sadly. I was doing capoeira and TKD and I suspect the cartwheels weren't helping. I'm also wondering if the whipping of the head around in the TKD (spinning kicks) is aggravating it.

I'll chat with the coach, he's Polish Olympic sports psychologist so he might have some suggestions...

Good luck with the therapy.
But since I noticed so many people with this problem I thought I would start the ball rolling with mentioning 3 exercises specific for rotator cuff strengthening that would benefit ALL of us if not just for preventative measures… There are a ton of exercises for the rotator cuff, but these three are the “standard” ones and essential for either prevention or rehabilitation… I ask other people who have had experience to add their favorite exercise for everyone else’s benefits… However, please note that rotator cuff tears can be due to trauma and regardless of how strong you are it will still tear (you may just be better off because of strengthening). Also note that overtraining can cause tendonitis, which is essentially like a tear (so additional strengthening may just aggravate the pain). And lastly, there is something out there called “impingement syndrome” which can come about by any number of factors including scapular weakness (a whole bunch of other exercises)…. So with this in mind I give you the three basics (please bear with me if the pictures don't come out, I'm not computer savvy, you could just "google" the names):

Scaption (note his arms are abducted slightly forward of his body, not purely to the side)

Internal / External Rotation (same movement, just different directions, also note the elbow stays to the side)