My intro ; Shoulder Pain

Hey Guys


Thought I’d introduce myself (It’s pretty lengthy sorry but would really appreciate any thoughts)


I’m an 18 year old dude, been having chronic pain since about age 14/15. Had back pain while playing rugby , it got worse , had it checked out -> spondylosisthesis. Stopped playing rugby since then , and I’ve been weightlifting intermittently since then. I would lift for about 6 months then have to stop for 6 months due to the back pain. This cycle has lasted 2-3 times.


However , the most recent time, I stopped because I started developing shoulder pain during pressing movements. Then pulling movements as well. Then all weightlifting movements, so I had to stop ; when I stopped (February 2017) my shoulders didn’t get better with Physiotherapy , in fact they got worse with time , until they ached at rest. Every time I lift my arm they will snap crackle and pop. Even holding my phone or a book up hurts, and they ache and burn doing pretty much any carrying it using my arm.


When I got my shoulders scanned , the doctors found a minor SLAP tear and some rotator cuff fraying. However , they said this diagnosis was only minor and did not correlate with the pain I was experiencing. This gave me a lot of hope & excitement , so I started my weightlifting regime again -> my pain did not get better ; it got worse still so I stopped again after 4 months. (We’re now at December 2018)


I found online a great program called MoveU , that teaches body awareness , proper movement patterns and body alignment strengthening. I’ve been doing their program for 9 months , and although I’ve improved my posture , alignment and movement patterns , I haven’t had any relief from my shoulder symptoms (or back), and so haven’t been able to return to weightlifting or rugby.


Someone in the program community (which is amazing & has taught me the importance of community) sent a link to the Pain Recovery Program , and reading the first few days of it, it has resonated SO much with my situation. I am convinced my mind has a lot to do with my pain. I also think my perfectionist/procrastinater personality might be preventing me from improving , as I’ve seen written here.

I’ve had the pain cycle mentioned to me before , as well as the idea that a lot of my pain is my head , but my perfectionist personality was very resistant to that idea. Now though, I am WAY more open to this idea , as I have been working so hard on my posture , strengthening etc with no results.


However there is still some doubt in my mind about the shoulder pain, that it could be structural, I’m just not sure. I relate so much to some of the TMS stuff , but haven’t seen a lot of things about shoulder pain / instability. I’ve read all the shoulder testimonials but I didn’t resonate too much with them. Are there any resources about this? I’m not sure if any of the TMS books will resonate with my shoulder situation, but heck they might do I’m open to anything.


I am going to continue with the strengthening program while combining it with continued reading of the pain recovery program. Does anyone have any advice?