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I have some kind of tightness in and around my shoulder joint that has bothered me for a long time. I have tried tons of stretching and flexiblity routines to no avail. I have found one thing that helps significantly. I put a frozen water bottle or ice pack in my arm pit and ice it for a few minutes, maybe 3 or 4 times in the evening for 4 or 5 minutes a time.

My feeling is this it tight overactive lats, any thoughts or suggestions?

When do you feel this discomfort?

Plus where in the shoulder joint? If it's a muscle you can possibly locate it. Is it on the anterior(front) side or posterior(back) side, on more near acromion, like somewhere in the center? Is it exactly at the shoulder joint, or is it somewhere near it?

There are atleast 10 muscles that cross over the shoulder joint. (Coracobrachialis, Biceps and triceps, Latissmus Dorsi, Pectoralis Major, The rotatory cuff muscles, Teres major, and deltoids to name a few.

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it bothers me when i do alot of things like type on the computer, drive a car talk on the phone or really when im just stationary for too long.

as far as where the muscle is located. Im not exactly sure where it is located and cant identify it by looking at a diagram of the muscles. But I believe the area is somewhere in the back of the shoulder, it is not my pec or front of the delt. I want to say maybe where the lat dorsi, bicep, and tricep kind of meet together. as far as the effect on weight lifting it seems to bother me the most doing rear delt raises, as well as with tricep kick backs because i cant seem to get the shoulder to sit back in place to get used to or get comfortable with this exercise.

I do a good bit of tennis, lacrosse, golf ball rolling and mobility and flexibility stuff but no matter how much i do the problem flares up. MY posture has gotten significantly better over time with this work but there is still something just not fuctioning right. I am not exxagerating when i say icing it for 5 minutes a couple times in the morning or evening provides exponentially more relief than several weeks of disciplined flexibility and mobility training.

Thanks for all your help. if you can help me eliminate the problem i will named my first born after you

to add to the first line of my above post i mean more that it flares up when doing those things, i am aware there is a tightness or restriction or problem somewhere most of the time. those activities make it worse

Can you pin-point the exact area of your shoulder that gives you discomfort? Even marking it on a picture and posting that will be 1000 times easier than describing.

You say you feel discomfort in the rear of your shoulder - but it also sound like you are describing the armpit area, but a little bit more out towards the back. If you follow the line of your tricep up to your shoulder, is that the area there?

i think mate that this diagnosis might be beyond the scope of an internet forum. You'll have to go see a physio

This.

I have a feeling you might have the exact opposite of what I have lol....

You should see a doctor because this really might be beyond the scope of any internet forum.

But, as far as the gym goes, if I were you I would stop doing Rear Delt Raises and Tricep Kickbacks immediately.

What you could do - just to test this out is Overhead Shrugs, Facepulls and Scapular Push--ups.

^^^ Remember that this is just to test it out: you are not supposed to ignore seeing a doctor. Like Robert said: seeing a doctor is the best solution.

http://www.activerelease.com Find an ART guy in your area. Do not go to a regular doctor unless you have to if the ART guy cannot help you. Doctors will probably just prescribe you with medication or even saying you may need surgery or telling you to RICE (something you already have been doing) and just want your money..you don't want that. Your focus is to get better. My mom and I go to an ART guy around my area. My mom had a shoulder dislocation when she was 20 and my dad and I have been trying to get her to go to a doctor for a while because she has been in pain 24/7 (sharp dull pain that gets worse when it is cold..and you can even touch where the pain was slightly and it would really hurt)). Then I found an ART guy in my area after researching about it (also looked it up on YELP) and I went myself first to see how it was, and then my mom had a free evaluation to see if the problem is treatable and it is. So then I convinced her to make an appointment to go. After a few sessions, her pain was gone and you can even touch the spot, does not hurt one bit now (even when it is cold). My mom and I also referred the ART guy we see to my next door neighbor that has a wife with MS and has to pick her up everyday and such. He got back strain from it and knots from years and years of helping out his wife. He is benefiting from ART too and is getting better every session.

Oh and cost...$180 for first session, then either $50 or $80 after that until you meet 400 something dollars, then its $10 dollars for a whole year (25 sessions) if you have health insurance. It starts over every year, so its better to wait until the beginning of January to start unless money is not an issue for you. Also one thing you need to know is everyone's body responds different to treatment and depending on what your everyday activity is, that will depend on how fast your scar tissue, knots, or whatever it is you may have heals. My mom does not work or play any activities other than playing darts sometimes at night or playing pool with my dad and I. Healing time will vary. Do not expect to be 100% cured the first session.

Oh and at activerelease.com ...make sure you pick a ART person that does both upper body and lower body. and you want someone certificated with as much listed on the doctor you choose as possible. The more he/she can do/knows, the better chance your problem can get fixed. For instance...mine has certifications in upper extremity, lower extremity, spine, nerve entrapment, and masters. Make sure you really look under the certifications section on each doctor.

Yep. All doctors just want your money. The cads!

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

you got further than I did

all doctors of course want money, but there are some like ART providers that actually care about making you better. ART is hard to do, my ART guy told me that there are not that many ART people around because it is hard to do and master. Anyone can become a massage therapist, but to become an ART person, you have to know the body inside and out and know about all the nerves, movement, how the muscles move with movement and respond, how scar tissue builds and how to get rid of it or reduce the amount of scar tissue, know how to release entrapped nerves, etc. There are not that many people that want to become one because it is hard on the joints to do it all the time and you have to be able to do it a certain way so you will not overuse. A massage therapist, all they do is massage the muscles making it feel good and then the tightness comes back again over and over. With ART, it actually gets rid of it completely in a few sessions depending on what your daily activity is like and what kind of injury it is or how tight the muscles are.

In the handout I picked up at my ART providers office, it says that in order to become one, you have to have a certification involving extensive training and testing required to be an ART provider.

There is a lot to say with ART vs. MASSAGE. I would pick ART over massage anytime. Massage is more temporary relief, ART is more long term relief from what I have experienced. Everytime I go get ART, I am told that my muscles are getting more looser everytime I go in (like once a month). and I can defiantly feel it too. I can lift weights better as well and it is easier to fire the muscles I want to fire instead of the wrong ones taking over. Majority of people do not know what a healthy muscle feels like and they think the feelings they have right now are healthy muscles because there is no pain. Then when they start working out and doing things more intense like lifting heavy weights and such, pain and restriction kicks in.

Monica, you missed the sarcasm. There are caring individuals in every profession, just as there are those that may value money over their customers. ART is definitely a valuable tool, so are medicine and massage. The trick is in using the right tool for the job. Your doctor is often the one best able to determine the best tool for your situation.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD