Orthopaedic Surgeon Questions Orthopaedic Surgeon

Shoulder Injury?

I started boxing 4 years ago and look into starting my amateur career soon but for right now I have a popping sound and pain in my rotator cuff when I throw extended right straight hand with power or speed for about 2 years now. The problem with it is it causes me pain which means I cant extend my right hand when I punch. I went and got an x-ray and it was all good, also I got an MRI and nothing was wrong so I go to physical therapy and they say I have a shoulder misalignment in my shoulder blade and even with the treatment they have given me it hasn’t gotten any better so any thoughts on what the injury could be? Because my doctors can't even tell me what it is and i wont be able to start training again until this is sorted out.

Male | 20 years old
Complaint duration: 2 years

3 Answers

OrthopaedicSurgeonOrthopaedicSurgeon
Most shoulder problems are NOT rotator cuff tears; they are almost always inflammation of the tendon and the bursa, which is supposed to cushion the tendon against the bone (acromion). The X-ray can show if there are bony spurs that cause impingement on the two structures I mentioned above. If there is also scapulothoracic imbalance, this will cause the shoulder to have poor movement when throwing a punch. The PT people should be working on that end trying to get those upper back muscles that are intrinsically responsible for normal extension of the shoulder; and your orthopedic surgeon should be addressing the inflammation (rest, ice packs, short course of NSAID meds, or better still, a corticosteroid injection into the bursal space), not the joint space.
Need to see surgeon with shoulder fellowship training.
Sounds like you have a problem with your scapula. There may be a small benign tumor causing the snapping and dyskinesia. An mri of the scapula area might be beneficial.