Left shoulder pain

[rdrtech87]

I have had left shoulder pain for about 6-7 months now.  The pain is in the front part of my shoulder, outside of elbow and wrist.  It's a pain from my shoulder to my outer chest when I bench and the elbow and wrist feel like they are pulling during the same exercise.  When I do anterior to posterior rotator cuff exercises I feel a pain in my shoulder.  The posterior to anterior I still feel pain but not as bad.  
Went to my family doctor and he diagnosed it as bicep tendinitis and gave me a shot for the pain.  After 4 weeks of no lifting, I went back to the gym and threw on very very light weight for bench.  And I hurt again about halfway through the second set.  It does hurt on bicep curls and just about everything else except DB shrugs.  Then he referred me to an Orthopedic Surgeon and I got an MRI.  The radiologist and surgeon said they couldn't see anything with my labrum but he wanted to do exploratory surgery just to make sure there wasn't a small one right over my bicep tendon.  It always pops when I rotate my arm backwards at about the 3 o'clock position.  It feels more like a rubber band popping over my shoulder.  And recently after I do my rotator cuff exercises my arm has started to tingle and it's harder to grip. HELP......Because I want to get back to lifting soon.

[rdrtech87]

Also I have not lifted in about 4 days now.

[rdrtech87]

Thanks for the comment.  I may end up getting a second opinion from another ortho because my original one seems to knife happy.  He did not even discuss any alternative methods with me even when I brought them up.  Today I have a numb feeling like I slept on my arm wrong which I didnt because I have reverted to sleeping on my back.  Ice seemed to help for a little bit but now I have a slight tingling, pulling sensation in my elbow and a dull kind of arthritic feeling on the front of my shoulder.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

While major injuries would be ruled out with an MRI, with persistence of symptoms and definite signs of a labral injury associated with tendonitis a direct visualisation with arthroscopy and repair if necessary may be suggested. Well, there are two options here, we can either follow conservative management for some time with rest anti-inflammatory medications and physiotherapy and if the symptoms fail to improve over 6-12 weeks an arthroscopy can be planned; or arthroscopy can be directly planned. I would suggest discussing the situation and the suggested management options in detail with your treating orthopedician.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!