Rowing with a shoulder bursitis

[robhely]

I've been on the C2 for about 6 weeks now and dabbled with a water rower for a few months before that. Around 3 - 4 months ago I started getting pain in my left shoulder, not while rowing or doing anything particularly strenuous, more with actions like taking off a t-shirt or awkward movements above shoulder height. The range of movement in the shoulder is still quite good.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the bursitis was caused by a mountain biking accident where I over-shot a jump and came down pretty hard on that shoulder. At the time I wasn't rowing that often on the water rower and, compared to the C2, really wasn't going that hard. So I don't think the injury was caused by rowing.

I've had an ultrasound and consulted with a doctor and physiotherapist, apparently the bursitis is relatively minor and I've been advised that rowing and mountain biking are OK as long as there is no pained caused by these activities - during and after.

I'm seeing the physio every week and getting various exercises to do regularly, she's also recommended a heat pack before rowing or biking.

I'm really not feeling any pain while I'm on the erg (or afterwards) and the situation is not getting any worse. However, it's also not getting any better, which concerns me.

Has anyone else rowing regularly had a minor shoulder bursitis and what was your recovery plan?

I had a break from rowing while on a MTB trip overseas recently and didn't notice any improvement, but I was riding every day, so that's not a very good comparison.

Given the gains I'm getting with rowing at the moment and how much I'm enjoying it, it would be really challenging to give it up for a long period of time (and lose all those gains) while rehabbing the bursitis. Not riding would also be horrible!

[Ombrax]

If you don't feel like you're getting any better I'd put some pressure on the medical folks to ask them how they think you should be progressing, and if you're on track or not. If you aren't happy with what you hear then you have to decide if you have unreasonable expectations for your rehab, or if they're the ones who are the problem.

One option would be to pause rowing and riding for two weeks and see what happens. Do things improve? Stay the same? Based on that you can then decide where you go next. If things do improve then be very, very careful when you start riding or rowing again. (if that does happen I'd start with only one for a week or two, to reduce the number of variables, and don't try to do too much too quickly, otherwise you'll be right back where you started). After a while if all goes well add the second exercise, again be very careful.

Good Luck

[robhely]

If you don't feel like you're getting any better I'd put some pressure on the medical folks to ask them how they think you should be progressing, and if you're on track or not. If you aren't happy with what you hear then you have to decide if you have unreasonable expectations for your rehab, or if they're the ones who are the problem.

One option would be to pause rowing and riding for two weeks and see what happens. Do things improve? Stay the same? Based on that you can then decide where you go next. If things do improve then be very, very careful when you start riding or rowing again. (if that does happen I'd start with only one for a week or two, to reduce the number of variables, and don't try to do too much too quickly, otherwise you'll be right back where you started). After a while if all goes well add the second exercise, again be very careful.

Good Luck

Thanks, that's a really good idea to take a 2 week break and reintroduce rowing and riding separately.

I also forgot to mention that the physio has recommended a cortisone injection, but we're not going to do that until just before a 4 week riding trip I'm doing.

[bassongirl]

If you don't feel like you're getting any better I'd put some pressure on the medical folks to ask them how they think you should be progressing, and if you're on track or not. If you aren't happy with what you hear then you have to decide if you have unreasonable expectations for your rehab, or if they're the ones who are the problem.

One option would be to pause rowing and riding for two weeks and see what happens. Do things improve? Stay the same? Based on that you can then decide where you go next. If things do improve then be very, very careful when you start riding or rowing again. (if that does happen I'd start with only one for a week or two, to reduce the number of variables, and don't try to do too much too quickly, otherwise you'll be right back where you started). After a while if all goes well add the second exercise, again be very careful.

Good Luck

Thanks, that's a really good idea to take a 2 week break and reintroduce rowing and riding separately.

I also forgot to mention that the physio has recommended a cortisone injection, but we're not going to do that until just before a 4 week riding trip I'm doing.

I would give the cortison injection a try. It should reduce the pain within a few days and can calm down the bursitis for months or even years especially when it started with a defined event. If it doesn't work you should look further. Maybe going for an MRI.

[mromero680]

Similar issue here. Anything overhead is painful and sleeping on that side aggravates it too. I've heard it called shoulder impingement and it's attributed to developing the muscles in the front of the shoulder (from bench press and similar) more so than the side and back of shoulder. Rowing and lifting sometimes cause discomfort but not always and not enough to stop. I'm working through a rehab program I found online (I know I know) from a large hospital but too early to tell if it will help. No cortisone or surgery for me unless it gets way worse. Mostly range of motion exercises. Program says 6-8 weeks for results.

[robhely]

Similar issue here. Anything overhead is painful and sleeping on that side aggravates it too. I've heard it called shoulder impingement and it's attributed to developing the muscles in the front of the shoulder (from bench press and similar) more so than the side and back of shoulder. Rowing and lifting sometimes cause discomfort but not always and not enough to stop. I'm working through a rehab program I found online (I know I know) from a large hospital but too early to tell if it will help. No cortisone or surgery for me unless it gets way worse. Mostly range of motion exercises. Program says 6-8 weeks for results.

Are you able to row normally while you work through the rehab program? I'd prefer to see gains without cortisone (I've heard it can make things worse if they get it wrong) and an operation would be an absolute last resort. Sop far, 3-4 weeks into my rehab program it's not getting better, but it's also not getting worse and I'm doing a lot of rowing.

[robhely]

I would give the cortison injection a try. It should reduce the pain within a few days and can calm down the bursitis for months or even years especially when it started with a defined event. If it doesn't work you should look further. Maybe going for an MRI.

If I don't see any gains from my rehab program in the next month, I think I'll give it a go. I've heard that they can get it wrong and make the situation even worse, but I guess the chances of that are very low if it's ultrasound guided.

Failing that the next step would be an operation, but that's very unappealing as I wouldn't be able to do any exercise for weeks.

[mromero680]

I am rowing and lifting during my rehab. Probably not advisable but it isn't consistently painful enough to stop everything. It really comes and goes seemingly for no discernible reason...just flares up and I am at a loss as to why most of the time. The only consistency is that it's sore if I sleep on it.

[Ombrax]

The only consistency is that it's sore if I sleep on it.

In a related matter, I often wish I could sleep on my back - every now and then I'll have a neck, shoulder, or leg/hip issue that makes my usual position of on my stomach or on my side uncomfortable, but try as I might, I can never manage to fall asleep on my back. I typically fall asleep on my stomach but most of the time wake to find myself on my left or right side.

[robhely]

Sadly the situation has gotten a lot worse, possibly due to a week of lots of rowing (including a PB attempt on the 10,000m), riding and other very physical exercise. None of these activities hurt at the time, or immediately afterwards, but I noticed that by the end of that week my shoulder movement was noticeably more limited and even MTB riding was starting to cause pain. The worst pain is stupid everyday movements like putting on a jacket...

I was told by my physio that any activity that didn't hurt while I was doing it was "probably OK", but I'm not sure this was good advice. Or I pushed that idea to the absolute limit...

I'm thinking I might try a week off from all exercise to see if the situation improves, but I'm worried that my shoulder might stiffen up even more if I stop using it.

It's super frustrating as I was just at a point in my training where I was starting to see some significant gains and it pains me to think that time off will inevitably result in going backwards.

I'll definitely get the cortisone injection, if that doesn't work I'll probably have to get an operation and that will definitely put me back at square one.

What experiences have others had when taking time off rowing for rehab and how much did it set you back?

[Sakly]

What experiences have others had when taking time off rowing for rehab and how much did it set you back?

Had to take a break for 2 month last year (and seems I have a similar situation now), lost 5kg and much strength, but got back on track nearly in the same amount of time.

[robhely]

What experiences have others had when taking time off rowing for rehab and how much did it set you back?

Had to take a break for 2 month last year (and seems I have a similar situation now), lost 5kg and much strength, but got back on track nearly in the same amount of time.

I guess I could live with a 1:1 ratio where amount of time off = amount of time to get back to where I was.

Getting to those 90th percentile goals seems to slipping out of reach though...

[Sakly]

I guess I could live with a 1:1 ratio where amount of time off = amount of time to get back to where I was.

This is my experience from several breaks in the past at least for me.

Getting to those 90th percentile goals seems to slipping out of reach though...

The season has just begun, so there is plenty of time to get back and also get better

[Dangerscouse]

What experiences have others had when taking time off rowing for rehab and how much did it set you back?

Ime, I have a 2:1 ratio after time off, but this is only after at the most two weeks off. If it's any longer I can't say for sure but I'm guessing it would be less due to muscle memory.

I'd suggest that you try to look at it as a challenge rather than a frustration. Accept that you'll take a step back, but enjoy the process of improvement. There's inevitably a setback but there's also inevitably a strong return back to where you were.

[JaapvanE]

What experiences have others had when taking time off rowing for rehab and how much did it set you back?

I tore my biceps last year during Judo, which forced me off the Erg for 6 weeks. After that I was allowed to start with the damper at the lowest setting, and a 2:30 pace. My physio told me I could only increase one of them if I was pain free for two weeks. It took me a year to get to DF90.

I did introduce some changes:

• I focussed on technique a lot, so breaking arms late, keeping back straight, etc..
• As I wasn't allowed to go fast, I decided to focus on longer pieces. I effectively more than doubled the meters per week to 55-60K a week, including a HM on sundays.
• I decided to have one or two pieces at HR Zone 4, and the rest (3 of them) in 2 or maximum a low 3, based on this TEDx video.

I also decided to celebrate each Season Best as a personal best for the injured me. That kept me motivated as I saw progress. I was getting faster again. After 9-10 months or so, when switching to DF90, I started to get extremely close to PB's. After 11 months, all long distance PB's (5K+) were broken in a matter of weeks. Now, 13 months after my injury, I routinely row a 10K at my old PB pace, and call it an easy training. Improving technique certainly has paid off for me, and is the blessing in disguise from this injury.

Currently, I'm a bit stuck at DF90, as switching to DF100 resulted in an acute overtraining within two weeks that takes about a month to get rid of. So I'm now gradually taking that step. As I used to row at DF133, I suspect I will be a lot faster when I reach it, but it will take some time. But trusting that I will get there helps for me.