As most of you know, I have been battling a bad left shoulder for several years. In the past year, it has become incredibly more painful when I play golf or try to lift anything above my head. I was first diagnosed with an impingement in my shoulder blade and rotator cuff. I went through a few weeks of physical therapy and did my exercises at home, but did not feel it was any better. It may have even been worse.
I went back to my orthopedic yesterday and I think we have finally pin pointed the problem. Bicipital Tendonitis. In the picture below, my pain is exactly where the line points to for the tendon of the biceps muscle. The tendon stretches over the ball at the top of the humerus, in a notch call the Bicipital Groove (I like that name...sounds funky). This is where the problem lies. Physical therapy will not help this. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot right into the tendon. Apparently, this has been going on for so long, the anti-inflammatory medicine I am on is unable to decrease the inflammation. However, the shot has greatly increased my range of motion and decreased my day to day pain. I haven't tried a golf swing yet, but I am going to wait a week or so until I attempt a practice swing. Hopefully, the medicine can now maintain the tendon.
I have been told not to play golf for a couple of weeks to give the shot a chance to work. It takes a few weeks for all the inflammation to subside. Here is hoping for the best. If not, I am moving up to the gold tees with Pop.
