I'm DarkShadow. And This is my story.

I saw a consultant from wrist and arm trauma. I was sent for an x-ray and he believes it's possibly carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and perhaps some inflammation around the ulnar.

I'm just just about getting by and I'm finding training quite frustrating as I cannot use my arms or wrists.

I'm going to be referred for some nerve conduction tests. I guess the only thing I can put this to is the knee surgeries over the years and pushing hard upper body. Pairing that up with my job, the tendons have flared up and gotten out of control :(

Leg day... errr'rday? :D
 
Just an update. Leg days went well until I did some serious 14 hour hikes. I had some severe knee inflammation around December. Then I had my first back injury in since I started training - 8 years ago. It was a strain on 5th rep of 190KG high deficits (4" platform). I just fell soft on the last rep and it was 7am and very very cold. I've had a few recurrences (one at 170KG squat) and it got worse until I got serious sciatic irritation.

I was so close to peaking and beating all my previous records :(

I've been to see another 2 physios and I've spent a lot of money. Still none the wiser on the tendinosis issue. I am finding a few improvements from working on the triceps and supination. And I have an MRI booked for the neck, potential can be referred pain from the C6.

I'm still training and going to see someone new. Everything has been sucky for a while but there is light at end of the tunnel.

Checking in at 163lb.

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I went to see someone that specialising in sports injuries/deep tissue work yesterday and the dude actually made me cry. I kid you not. All these years of pounding away, I actually had lumps of tissue everywhere. Despite staying on top rolling/lacrosse ball - it evidently was not enough.

He thinks I have a bulged disc :(

I'm in a lot of pain right now. I'm just going to try to stay afloat on top of these injuries as that's almost most major movements out for me.
 
Update: Finally got an MRI and urgh :(

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It's now been 8 months. I've built up to 90KG speed sumo's but I'm not quite sure how to progress from here. I've seen some real shoddy physio's - none that are able to to get me where I want to go.
 
Delvis said:
Ah that sucks dude

Maybe got to look at other avenues of training?
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Calisthenics is my best option but having had a really bad episode of tendonosis of elbow pain - I'm just about healing from it 20 months on. Right now, I'm doing upper/lower split to keep greasing the groove but mostly split around rehab work.
 
Having previously seen injuries as an opportunity to try something else to come back stronger, I'm really not seeing anything here. It sucks. And it sucks a lot.

I'm struggling to hold my 3 month old baby. The pain cycle is non-stop and it's affecting my life. I've been diligent and incredibly proactive. Small niggles have turned into chronic pain, referring pain to other areas.

Here's a timeline of things:
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Both of my arms have had problems for now close to 2 years. And as my most researched issue, I've seen 5 therapists, 3 'experts' and made 0 progress. I've been misdiagnosed for 20 of those months. 2 months ago, the trauma specialist was ready to discharge me. After demanding a second opinion, a senior consultant joined us and absolutely lost it at the consultant. He had misdiagnosed me after having told me to have a pointless operation or deal with it. The senior consultant raised my arm above my ahead and confirmed my suspicion. My pulse rapidly decreased losing all blood. I was sent for another MRI.

Sciatic and back problems have been going on for 10 months. I've seen 4 therapists and made no progress. A referral to Pain clinic is in Dec.

I'm sick of constantly being passed around. I've spent over a thousand in therapies and that's not any better than the NHS.

I can't train the upper body and I cannot train the lower body either. I've exhausted every damn option. I've read a tonne of research papers/books and watched even more videos/experiences. I've been in contact with a lot of competative lifters and it's really starting to look bleak. I've been extremely conservative with training and I just can't find anyone to help me. It looks like I'm actually going to have to have to pack it in for good :(

Quite a depressing entry, I feel devastated and so disappointed. I never hit anywhere near my potential since I started being conservative 5 years ago.

I'm seeing the director of another rehab clinic in Sheffield today. Man, I really hope I can break this cycle and attain pain-free status some day.
 
Having met the therapist last night, he couldn't believe my story.

He went back to textbook assesments in movement patterns. I'm incredibly dominant in my left leg but I never quite noticed how much until he showed me how rigid and lopsided I am when I walk. Also when I'm seated (which is a lot), I sit into the left corner. He believes this is what was responsible under load and it's what's responsible in making the stenosis/sciatic symptoms constant. On the drive home, I decided to over compensate and shift my body more to the right and boom - I cannot describe how uncomfortable I felt (to the extent where breathing felt difficult). I feel we might be onto something.

In regards to the arm, he feels it's shoulders/traps - although he didn't put a name to it; thoracic outlet syndrome.

Over the coming weeks - my plan of action is to do the following:

Back:
  • Rotation in the trunk. Movements in the form of exaggerated shadow boxing/light cable loaded wood choppers, single arm cable row.
  • Walk around with more swag/rotation.
  • Be mindful of the right side when walking/using stairs/sitting.
  • Empty bar squats with emphasis on right lean.
  • SL and convential KB Deadlifts. More volume/mindfulness on the right side.

For the arm:
  • Be mindful of dropping shoulders. Shrug a little up at all times.
  • Alleviate pain/remove weight whilst sleeping by placing arm on 2 pillows.
  • Get the mrs to work around the girdle and loosen up the area.
 
mrthingyx said:
I have found - over the past two years of repeated injury (first shoulder, then hip, now elbow) that - beyond a certain point - rest is essential: the only thing that really worked was doing nothing (mobility and very light eccentric work aside).

It sucks massively, but...
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This I agree with in addition to poking and prodding (deep tissue massages). They started to make matters worse. I took off 4 complete weeks from the bar recently and did a lot of walking at hajj.

Returning back to seated job/driving and back into the gym - I made no progress moving forward.
 
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reiyushin said:
A rollercoaster of a log here @DarkShadow

Good to see you have a plan and support in place :)
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Thanks but I must admit it's starting to waver.

Update:
I visit hand/arm trauma specialist this morning regarding my MRI in August. Good news, it came back with nothing. Bad news, still have no idea. He tried a pronator teres syndrome test and it tested positive but that's nothing new. In his words "We can either leave it or operate on it."

Operate on what exactly?!

Being referred for another dose of physio.

On the back front - the pain has now travelled up near the scapula region which is making deep breathes difficult. I tried to run a little last week and it was incredibly depressing. Feel somewhat broken.
 
Hi :)

Been a while. Just a few key updates.

Back issues
I never stopped training/seeking answers - still committed to training 4 times a week. I've been seeing the highest rated sports director/physio in Sheffield for over a year and he has no further answers. We've agreed to stop meeting.

Seen a sport med specialist that has been pushing for a nerve root injection to get a diagnosis for the back issue. I declined it and decided to press on. We did a repeat MRI to see if anything changed and things still looked the same.

Over the last 8 weeks, I'm almost convinced I don't have back issues. I ramped up serious volume over 4 months. I spent a further 6 months testing my hypothesis by gaining strength in a linear fashion. I am not as broken as I was led to believe by the MRI scans. More recently I came across a description what seems to fit seamlessly with my story so far: greater trochanteric pain syndrome. Basically hip pain. No one had caught this with all the specialists I had met.

Elbow Issues
Left arm seems to be in much better condition, this bothered me for approx 28 months. The most severe case of tendonosis I've encountered from my research. I do get some deep tissue pain but it's manageable.

I started getting golfers elbow pain on my right arm now, which started acutely when I was travelling recently in indonesia (April). This has been a real nightmare to manage.

Training
The biggest change is, I've started using a belt. I've had real difficulties adjusting to this over the last 3 months. Particularly in the deadlift, it feels unnatural and as I result I feel weaker. However, I'm still pushing through to get used to it. Hip shifting has been prevalent (massively exaggerated due to dominant leg) and it really shows in the video below despite spending the last year in correcting it.

Progress so far:
Squats:
140KG X 10 (4.6 tonne session)

160KG X 6

Deadlift (no belt as I was really bloated):
185KG X 7

I was hitting these numbers beltless 8 years ago, feel a bit frustrated that I've never been able to hit my potential. On a positive note, this is still progress, the mental fortitude of putting in the hours into over 340 mind-numbing sessions (since injury) with the arrival of my baby was hard and I was led to believe I should stop lifting.

I'm not sure how I want to move forward. Frankly, I just don't have the confidence I used. Psychologically this entire episode has been draining and painful nursing multiple long-term injuries with 0 support. I've been roaring to lift but I've held back so much from the fear of re-injury. I just don't find the numbers/workouts challenging. I'm afraid to find out how far I can get with my current history. As a father, the prospect of getting injured is no longer worth it.

Looking at the videos, I need a lot of work moving the bar like I used to. For now I'm going to cap my training maxes and build up quality movements. I'm trying to calculate as best as I can moving forward. I really hope that I can find somebody to help me.
 
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Delvis said:
Good to hear from you man.

Back issues are a pain in the arse, mine isn't as severe as yours but hardly anyone is able to help due to how complicated it can be sometimes! Sometimes it's not even your back as you aluded to.

I saw a different kind of physio the other day, sort of specialises in Chinese/Asian type of rehab and medicine. Had a realignment session with him, which involved various clicks and needles, it seems to have helped a fair bit. Don't get me wrong I still get pains, but I appear to be getting a little better at managing it.

I've been having a break from lifting the last few weeks and just been on the watt bike, so at least I'm doing some form of movement. It's been recommended I start taking tumeric(or things of that ilk) as he believes it can help for these sorts of pains, once I'm on it I'll let you know :p

Have you explored other avenues for the pain? Like your glutes? IT bands? Quads? Ankles? Shins?

Another thing that helps me from time to time is something called an accumat, helps alleviate some pain for me atleast.

As for MRIs, Christ, I've had two, and two x-rays, literally show nothing wrong, some little but of wear on the hips, but nothing out of the ordinary.
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Hey buddy, good to hear some alternative routes/medicines are helping.

I've done quite a bit of soft tissue work but with greater trochanter, I've found working around the pain source is better as placing pressure makes it pretty angry.

Been ramping a little and this is the most I've deadlifted in 2 years, it's made my hip a little upset. I'm going to keep chipping away with a few strategies in mind.


DL: 185KG 2x6 (Some rounding on second set)
SQ: 140KG 3x6
 
Feeling a lot better this week than I've ever been :)

Gave sumos a try, feel pretty unnatural to me.

SQuat: 160KG 3x3 Sumos: 160 2X6

 
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PR's on 3 lifts this week:

Squat: 170KG X 6
Deadlift: 205KG X 5
Bench: 105KG X 6


Form needs work. This cycle was all about breaking the fear cycle. Moving forward, I'll now be working on improving movement.
 
Started a new training block but stumbled on my first session. It was 4X6 @ 80% of new training max and it felt like I just wanted to sit down. Just haven't been getting good quality sleep for over a week with our baby being active throughout the night. Going to dial back and just work on movements abetween 50-80% and recover fully before starting again..
 
Huge update!

For those of you that have followed my journey, it's the first time I broke my squat PR since 2010. It was an accidental PR, I had no intent to go above 180KG as 180 X 5 was my first PR.

I had the best spotters. 2 times world record holder on the left and current brits record holder on the right.

Quite an emotional moment. After 5 surgeries, 4 knee surgeries - I never thought I could lift again.

195KG x 1 (PB)
180KG x 5 (PB)


tom_e said:
Looking strong bro, nice work as always and hopefully the injures are well behind you!
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Thanks Tom, I feel the best I've felt in a really long time.
 
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