Chest injury

[nickstar]

Hey guys.

I'm new on here but saw there was a forum for injuries so thought I would see if anyone had any tips. I'm normally very active in the gym, working out 4-5 times a week and doing a mix of cardio and weight training (mainly kbs). A few weeks ago I was doing a single arm bent over row with a 20kg kb and felt a pain in my chest. A few days later it got so bad I ended up in a&e and then hospital because they thought my lung might have collapsed (note: this has happened before). Xray showed it hadn't so the doctors claimed it was just a pulled muscle or cartiledge around the chest wall. Have been on some pretty intense painkillers since and still find it quite painful to move.

Have been missing the gym heaps. Just started doing some cardio on the bike and on the crosstrainer (but keeping my left arm against my chest). Has anyone had anything similar before? And do you know how long it will take to get better? Doctor said it could be weeks! He said no heavy lifting or stretching until the pain is gone. Starting to go a bit crazy not being able to do my normal workouts!

Any tips, suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

aw crap i feel your pain there man. sucks not being able to do your normal thing and try to respect the professionals word as much as possible.. i strayed off from my docs advice a little in my own workout today and might just have added even more recovery time so there you go more reason to just wait it out until you're given the green light to train again!

 

also thats wierd that they just 'claim it might be this or that' and let you go with pain killers. have you found any bruising anywhere around the upper body? been in for follow ups or physio referall or something? if not do try to get in on one to help identify exactly what the issues are and maybe you'll be given some rehab exercises to fasttrack your way back to a healthy, functioning unit

[Dinahlady]

An osteopath or a physio could probaly help assess if you've tweaked anything out of place and need an adjustment or the situation with the catelige/ligaments and muscle tissue and the best way to heal etc.

Sometimes you can cause sprains/strains just from an odd movement pattern etc. They can make sure its on the right track for you and no lasting effects or give you more advice. 

 

[nickstar]

Hey guys!

Wow thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Haven't got any brusing or anything. 

I aksed the doctor about physio and he said there wasn't any point as the injury is behind the ribs etc. He also said there is no evidence to say that acupuncture would help either. He pretty much just told me to take it easy. And then to start off in the pool just doing some walking! That's not much exercise for someone who likes sweating it out in the gym

The past two days I have been on the bike and cross trainer in the gym though. Making sure to sit up straight and restrict movement of my chest and upper body. Still hurts, but need to be doing something. 

[Dinahlady]

It really depends on how you veiw injuries. 

The doctor may not think there is a reason that you became injured, however from a physio point of veiw there may have been a reason why you hurt yourself doing that particular movement, such as tight muscles or your form while doing it, i think its a bit limited thinking that the condition of any soft tisuse or alignment could at all be at play - especially as you were using muscles and moving weights when it happened. 

Either way ACC would cover and it would be penuts to find out - you dont need a referall just rock up to a physio in your area and see what they think. 

The reason why there is no "evidence" for acupuncture is becuase its impossible to do a double blind randomised controlled trial with it because an acupuncturist/physio will know they are giving acupuncture to someone or if they are giving sham acupuncture... there is evidence outside of these strict criteria, though. Anyway - its not something that seems highly appropriate for this type of injury anyway.