Getting and MRI on my shoulder today. What should I expect?

[dTor]

I've had a nagging, recurring "aggravation" with my left shoulder for the past few months. The Friday before last I was done some chest work and really jacked up my shoulder good. I went to a sports medicine doctor. He did some xrays and checked for strength in my shoulder by having my push his arms in different directions. Nothing wrong there. I am scheduled for an arthrogram and mri in a few hours, and just wanted to know if anybody else has gone through this before.

[decu68]

Yes, a few times. MRI's take a bit longer and chances are you will have to go in head first. It will take 15 to 30 minutes from my experience; nothing to worry about. The machine is loud, or the one I was in was at the University of Alberta Hospital. I went in for crushed vertebra and also severed ACL. It is no biggy; no worries.

[dTor]

All went well. It was loud, but with ear plugs and muffs, I fell asleep after about 15 minutes. I go back to the Dr. on Friday for my results.

Only drawback is that I have had a wicked headache since about two hours after the MRI. I assume this is my body's reaction to the dye.

[Robertrogo]

I have never had an MRI before Darrin but im glad to hear that all went well today with your appointment, its never fun and always worrisome but at least all went well and just have to wait for results. I pray and hope that it is indeed nothing too serious and that all is alright, I wish you the best.

I guess a headache is better than any other side effect/reaction but headaches are not fun either haha. Just take it easy for the rest of the night and relax.

[dTor]

I got the results of my MRI last Friday.

Good news is I did not injure anything and there is no damage directly caused by my exercising.

Bad news is that the pain is caused by a degenerative change at the distal (outer) end of my clavicle at the AC Joint. The long and the short of it is that it will never get "better" - it is a natural degeration of that part of my body that will get aggravated whenever I work it hard doing chest-type exercises (bench press, flye, pushups).

The Dr. gave me a celestone/marcaine shot in the joint and told me to wait a month to see how it feels. Two days later and it is pain free! I am going back in a month for a follow-up and another shot. If I don't work it too hard it should be ok. However, over time, I am likely to have to get a distal clavicle resection, aka the Mumford Procedure.

The surgeon goes in arthroscopically and shaves off a few millimeters from the end of my clavicle bone, inside the AC Joint, removing the "bad" bone. This is a fairly "easy" procedure, 8-10 week recovery, and should not have negative impact on my strength or range of motion.

I'll keep you guys posted on how this goes.

[Robertrogo]

I got the results of my MRI last Friday.

Good news is I did not injure anything and there is no damage directly caused by my exercising.

Bad news is that the pain is caused by a degenerative change at the distal (outer) end of my clavicle at the AC Joint. The long and the short of it is that it will never get "better" - it is a natural degeration of that part of my body that will get aggravated whenever I work it hard doing chest-type exercises (bench press, flye, pushups).

The Dr. gave me a celestone/marcaine shot in the joint and told me to wait a month to see how it feels. Two days later and it is pain free! I am going back in a month for a follow-up and another shot. If I don't work it too hard it should be ok. However, over time, I am likely to have to get a distal clavicle resection, aka the Mumford Procedure.

The surgeon goes in arthroscopically and shaves off a few millimeters from the end of my clavicle bone, inside the AC Joint, removing the "bad" bone. This is a fairly "easy" procedure, 8-10 week recovery, and should not have negative impact on my strength or range of motion.

I'll keep you guys posted on how this goes.

Im very glad to hear that it is nothing life threatening or could put you out of lifting/enjoying life at all. It is a shame that you have had to get this bad news but to know that you got the shot and it helped relieve some pain, thats a good thing and glad to hear that your not in any pain or agony at all. As long as this procedure is helpful and will remove the bad bone and at least allow you to keep working out and living life the way you want to, that is what matters the most.

Thank you for keeping us up to date Darrin and hoping to hear more information as you continue along in your procedure and how things turn out.

[Deviation]

Glad to hear everything went well. Not great news but not terrible either. A friend of mine has the same issue. Doctor pretty much said the same thing. He did physical therapy for a while and said it helped a great deal.

[decu68]

Glad to hear.

I've had 2 MRI's, never involved any dye. I have had CT Scans as well as some other scans with a couple that involved dye but not the MRI.

[dTor]

Thank you guys for the encouragement. I am going back to the gym for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks today. Since I was already looking to change my routine to a cut/definition workout, I figured now would be a good time for that. I'll be doing most of the same movements, but with less weight so I can get about 17-20 reps per set. I am hoping my shoulder plays nice.

[Deviation]

Good luck and don't be afraid to take it easy. I know you'll want to hit it hard after being out for over 2 weeks.

[dTor]

Just wanted to post an update.

I have been to the gym twice now, Tuesday and Wednesday. I did back/abs on Tuesday and shoulders yesterday. Like I said before, I'm doing the same exercises I used to, but with ligheter weight and a target of 20 reps for each of 2 sets.

I have not had a single bothersome experience with my shoulder yet! I'm taking today off and will do chest and abs tomorrow.

As an aside, I cannot believe how sore I am today. My back, and my abs especially, are way more sore than they used to get doing heavier weight. I really do not think that I got so out of shape in 2 weeks that I would be hurting this much, so I think it may be more to do with the change in reps and weight. Thoughts?

[dTor]

Well... my should had been doing fine until Thursday last week, when I had to take my PT test (finally). I did 57 pushups, 63 situps, 16:05 2 mi run (I'm 32, btw).

My shoulder did not bother one bit during the test or for the rest of the day. The next day, I could feel that familiar twinge (sp?) that I've been experiencing for the last year or so. The second through fourth days it actually hurt me a bit. Not as bad as before, but it's not something I could ignore. The pain and popping has slowly started to decrease the last couple of days, but this is not encouraging. I go back to my Dr. on Monday for another shot, but I'm thinking that surgery is going to be the only rememdy for my problem.

[Deviation]

That's a definite bummer. Hopefully the surgery will resolve the issue permanently. Maybe just have 'em install one of these?
http://www.icollector.com/images/1202/14989/14989_0876_2_lg.jpg

[dTor]

That's a definite bummer. Hopefully the surgery will resolve the issue permanently. Maybe just have 'em install one of these?


That would be awesome, except I imagine I would experience some strength assymetry. I'd look funny in the gym using a 30 lb dumbbell on my right arm and a 300 lb barbell for my left arm. LOL

I got another shot, just like the Dr. recommended (and which I agreed with). Right now, he said the surgery would be totally elective, but I thinkg that if I were to do it, I would say that it affects my military duty and would therefore be necessary.