Reoccurring chest injury

[Texan69]

For the past year and a half I have been having a reoccurring chest injury up where my upper pectoral and front delt meet. I did go to the doctor a few months back and he did an x ray and did not see a tear, he recommended PT and sent me home...don’t have the Money or time for PT.

to describe the injury it occurs when I bench.
I originally hurt it at the bench press at my work which is un even as the pad is severely worn down and I could feel my body in a bad position when I lifted off to get the bar off the hooks. I shouldn’t have benched heavy but I was wanting a hard workout. I felt pain in my pec after a few sets and stopped. It wasn’t sore to the touch, no swelling or reduced range of motion. Tried to bench the next week, it still hurt so took 3 months off from chest and it felt better, starting off benching again light for a few weeks then built back up heavy and bam again it hurt, took another 3 months off, basically this had happened 4 times in the past year and a half.
today it hurts again however it is very painful to the touch. No swelling or discoloration. I can do a push up without pain, I don’t have any loss of strength or range of motion . So I don’t believe it’s a tear.

im gonna ice it for a few days then heat and do some at home PT stuff. I’m thinking it’s a strain but can’t figure out why the hell it keeps happening. I’m not lifting too heavy I actually stay conservative on bench Now because of the reoccurring injury I have been very cautious. But basically after 3 months of rest I’m good and then 3-5 weeks after resuming benching it happens again.

and before one of y’all post it I know none of y’all can diagnose and I need to go to the doctor which I am planing to after holidays. But wanted to get some input as I’m sure some of y’all may have had a similar experience


I don’t think the issue is bad form or over training. For the past few months I’ve been doing incline for chest and no problem at all. I know I know just do incline instead but I like to bench lol.

 

[BRICKS]

There is nothing to indicate that it isn't a tear. Xray us all but useless to identify soft tissue injury (tear). You have an injury that feels better with rest then hen you start going at it harder it's right back where it was. Physical exam by an orthopedic surgeon and an MRI/ultrasound are needed for a definitive diagnosis. Meantime, if it was me, what I would do, if it was me, would be to avoid exercises that are aggravating it and start rehabbing it. Light weight (think empty bar to start) for 40-50 rep sets. Slowly, slowly add weight. Yeah it's gonna take some time. Tears heal with scar tissue. How that scar tissue forms and what you end up with is dependent on how you rehab it. Tendons, where tears occur, have really shitty blood flow. Thus the high rep rehab. Chronic injuries while you keep doing the same thing are a harbinger of a more serious injury to come. Get it properly diagnosed and take your rehab(also known as PT) seriously. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Texan69]

There is nothing to indicate that it isn't a tear. Xray us all but useless to identify soft tissue injury (tear). You have an injury that feels better with rest then hen you start going at it harder it's right back where it was. Physical
exam by an orthopedic surgeon and an MRI/ultrasound are needed for a definitive diagnosis. Meantime, if it was me, what I would do, if it was me, would be to avoid exercises that are aggravating it and start rehabbing it. Light weight (think empty bar to start) for 40-50 rep sets. Slowly, slowly add weight. Yeah it's gonna take some time. Tears heal with scar tissue. How that scar tissue forms and what you end up with is dependent on how you rehab it. Tendons, where tears occur, have really shitty blood flow. Thus the high rep rehab. Chronic injuries while you keep doing the same thing are a harbinger of a more serious injury to come. Get it properly diagnosed and take your rehab(also known as PT) seriously. Just my 2 cents.

idk why the doctor did an x ray, I went to an orthopedic doctor who specializes is sports medicine. He told me he would be able to rule out a tear by an x ray first. Cost me $700.....even with Decent insurance. i was skeptical but I’m also not gonna argue with a doctor

You’re in the medical profession right bricks?

 

[tinymk]

Could be a couple different strains too. 2 very common strains are right where your describing. An AC strain and a pec minor strain. I bet it is an AC, I have strained mine several times and it ****ing hurts especially with heavy bench. It can be injected and calmed down by an ortho, taped and lots of super light volume is how I have made mine heal. Pec minor will be through a pt and can be healed quickly.

 

[Texan69]

What imaging should I ask for MRI, ultrasound or is it not necessary as pretty much treatment is gonna be rehab?
i thought I was able to trust my doctor but all he did was order x ray and send me home. Also of course In the process of looking for a new doctor

also I believe my doctor stated the x ray was done to check for small bone fragments in the area which he stated would have been caused by a tear. Still I am skeptical. It was $700 for my part after my insurance covered $2000 of it. Surely an ultrasound would have been cheaper and been able to help diagnose a tear

 

[BRICKS]

idk why the doctor did an x ray, I went to an orthopedic doctor who specializes is sports medicine. He told me he would be able to rule out a tear by an x ray first. Cost me $700.....even with Decent insurance. i was skeptical but I’m also not gonna argue with a doctor

You’re in the medical profession right bricks?

I am yes. They're going to do an xray to check for certain things, bone spurs and impingement of joint spaces, fractures, etc... but a tear can't be ruled out with xray. Most of these guys have an xray machine in the clinic, its quick, and they can bill for it, as you found out. Tinymk has a good point, and again it comes back to light, high volume rehab.

 

[DF]

$700 for a fukn x-ray! :32 (6):

I'm in the wrong profession.

 

[Texan69]

$700 for a fukn x-ray! :32 (6):

I'm in the wrong profession.

yep lol, and my insurance is not bad either.

 

[Texan69]

Got a doctors app today, someone...last minute before thanksgiving but glad I got in.
hopefully this one does more than an x ray

 

[snake]

Got a doctors app today, someone...last minute before thanksgiving but glad I got in.
hopefully this one does more than an x ray

MRI is the next thing you'll get. The only thing I hate more than an injury is fuuking around with an injury. Tell me what it is, what I have to do and get me back on my path.

 

[Texan69]

Just got done, they did an x ray then a physical exam and the doc said it’s def a tear but tendons are still good. Ordered an MRI just got done with that so waiting a week or two for the results and go from there. The doctor did say based off of what he can see and feel it may require surgery or shots (not sure what type of shots). I asked him if it was something that could heal with rest and rehab and he said not if I want to be able to continue to lift heavy but could be able to do push ups and stuff without pain. So we’ll see.

and luckily this doctor is into bodybuilding. He’s pretty built not that it matters but I do prefer to see doctors who live the life I live and lift heavy as they know what it means to be able to continue to lift.

 

[Texan69]

Not my week!!! Just hurt my bicep at the gym doing light side laterals. Form it solid not sure how tf it happened. So gonna rest it for a week and then see how it feels.
time to add an extra leg day in and hit some cardio at least.

 

[BigSwolePump]

This goes without saying but warming up is a big deal. I used to strain my chest all of time until I started spending time warming up. As I have gotten older, this has been a must. When I say warm up, I don't mean a couple light sets of bench, I am talking about MANY light sets of bench but first, I warm up my rotator cuff for about 10 minutes.

I have found that since I have made a point to get blood in my muscle before I do any kind of working sets, I haven't had a single strain or pull.

It is by far the most boring part of my routine but if it is going to keep me from hurting myself, I've just accepted that my workouts are going to be another 10-20 minutes longer. Getting old sucks.

 

[bigdog]

Tore my left bicept earlier in the year after warmed up and on the last damn set of curls at a lighter weight as it was a drop set! It just went pop... I had to rehab it and it sucked but i dealt with it in order to prevent needing surgery! Take your time and it will get better brother..

 

[Texan69]

Not sure if it’s a tear but still gonna rest it for a bit and see if rest doesn’t help gonna go back to the doctor have him look at it when my MRI comes back.
Not even sure how it happened was doing light side laterals strict form, but I suppose the bicep gets involved some. It’s in the center of the bicep down toward the elbow. Doesn’t feel like tendinitis I’m quite familiar with that. Hoping it’s just some inflammation. But the fact that it was a sudden sharp pain has me worried. Ill
ne one depressed man if my bicep and chest are gonna be out. Guess my legs are gonna grow and ill be super conditioned. Cardio and legs here we come lol

 

[Uncle manny]

I had a slight pec tear in June I paused with the barbell on my chest then got a little bounce soon as the barbell came off my chest and I started to push I felt the pec rip away and i stopped pushing immediately and kinda pushed the barbell down towards my stomach and sat up. Shit was so scary as I felt it pull away like letting go of a stretched rubber band. I was on my last set of a 5x5 on my 4th rep. I stopped benching completely for a little over 2 months. I was doing rehab stuff with bands and a little bit of overhead pressing. Now almost 7 months later I’m not too far off from where I was before the tear. Important take away is, let it heal there is no rush at all. The strength will come back gradually if rehabbed right.

 

[Texan69]

I had a slight pec tear in June I paused with the barbell on my chest then got a little bounce soon as the barbell came off my chest and I started to push I felt the pec rip away and i stopped pushing immediately and kinda pushed the barbell down towards my stomach and sat up. Shit was so scary as I felt it pull away like letting go of a stretched rubber band. I was on my last set of a 5x5 on my 4th rep. I stopped benching completely for a little over 2 months. I was doing rehab stuff with bands and a little bit of overhead pressing. Now almost 7 months later I’m not too far off from where I was before the tear. Important take away is, let it heal there is no rush at all. The strength will come back gradually if rehabbed right.

very true, with my new bicep pain I’ve not lifted besides legs since then. Gonna give it a few more days even though I have no pain. I’d rather take a few days off then a few months off after eating medical costs. It’s hard for me I’m not one who enjoys rest days and tend to get irritated when I don’t make it to the gym.
ive been running and doing some cardio since to start least get my exercise in. Waiting for the MRI to come back and meet with doctor for the treatment plan in regards to my chest

 

[Texan69]

Went in for a follow up, doc is now saying he does not see a tear but he sees a large amount of fluid in the muscle (MRI) so that indicates injury. He advised me 12 weeks of rest then 12 weeks of light weight (light dumbbells or push ups) and then go from there. I guess it’s good, but I had already given a long rest period without lifting but that time I went right back into heavy lifting for a while so that’s probably why I kept re injuring my pec.

 

[Boogieman]

Well destroy your legs for 12 weeks! Let that injury heal up then get back at it!