AC Joint Arthritis WTF

[Wacker]

Fuck me getting old sucks! Towards the end of Oct I started getting severe pain around my AC joint, my delt would start having spasm's and pain would shoot up my neck and down my arm. I went to ortho doc second week in Nov and he said its very common in guys that lift, apparently the joint is compressed or to close with calcium build up and arthritis it should be 8-10mm of separation it now has 4mm. What I don't get is why did this happened out of no where I never had pain there before?

So he gave me two options one get a cortisone shot every three months for two years or surgery which in the later case he said would really only work for good if I didn't lift....well fuck that! I opted for the shot.

Issue I have is that when ever I start pushing up the weight the pain is back, not as bad as before the shot, but I get a numb hand and it feels like someone hit the top of my shoulder with a bat. I am getting worried that continued use of advil is going to harm my liver so I am reaching out to the brotherhood to get some fresh ideas...

 

[Hogslayer]

What type of pain (nerve)?

 

[F.I.S.T.]

Sorry to hear it brother.Ive had this happen to me as well.Neck pain with numbness and tingling in my arm and hand.I forget exactly what they said but there are certain vertebrae in the spine that effect the neck and arm,and others that effect the leg and I had bulging discs in the ones that compress the nerve running down my left arm. I also had slight carpel tunnel syndrome in that hand.They gave me a cortisone shot in my wrist and a prescription (which I believe was Gabapentin,I could be wrong though.My memory aint what it used to be.)I never even finished the bottle.Been prescribed so much shit thru the yrs that I never finish.Never needed too.

I think what helped me the most was hanging stretches from a pull up bar and an inversion table.Constant stretching IMHO has truly helped me eliminate much of my pain.Massages were also a relieving therapy I believe.

As for the arthritis pain,Chondroitin,Glucosamine & MSM has worked great as well as Fish and Flax oils.

Hope it works out for you brother.Try some of those and let me know if they helped.

 

[jshredz]

The pain you described that shoots up the neck down to the arm I had for years. It's a horrible pain but it does eventually fade, has never really gone away, probably had it 10 years now if not more.
Don't know if it's the samething you have but I guess I'm used to having a certain level of pain since I lived with it for so long.
Cold gym will be your worst enemy. Warming up the muscles properly and keeping them warm will be key.
You might have to cut back a bit on the weights and switch into a quicker pace 30 sec rest routine so you can still get an intense workout.
The cortisone shots will mask the pain so you have to be careful not to cause more damage. Basically if it's an exercise that you know causes pain stay away from it.
Stay away from flat barbell press like the plague.
It will get better.

 

[blasson]

Re: AC Joint Arthritis WTF

So deca and/or glucosamine wouldn't help in your situation jshredz?

Also I wonder is a chiropractor visit a few x a week for a while would help. People talk about them like they're a useless practice but my life was saved by one. I had a twisting spine of 22deg curve. My entire back was always on fire, I couldn't get comfortable, was in pain 24/7. Had to take ambien to even sleep. After a year it was reduced to 11deg twist and just every day stretching and working out keeps it good. Night and day difference. They do more than just back/neck.

 

[jshredz]

So deca and/or glucosamine wouldn't help in your situation jshredz?

Also I wonder is a chiropractor visit a few x a week for a while would help. People talk about them like they're a useless practice but my life was saved by one. I had a twisting spine of 22deg curve. My entire back was always on fire, I couldn't get comfortable, was in pain 24/7. Had to take ambien to even sleep. After a year it was reduced to 11deg twist and just every day stretching and working out keeps it good. Night and day difference. They do more than just back/neck.

blassonSome Chiros are great specially the ones that specialize in sports medicine.
Deca has helped a lot with certain joint pain specially in the elbows. But i believe mine situation was more nerver related. It's gotten better the pain is nothing like it used to be, but its always there.