I' ve been having some shoulder issues for about 3 months now. I have no idea what I did to set it off. Kinda hurts to raise my arm laterally to the side and certain exercises irritated more than others. I even wake up at night sometimes with it hurting. I've found that doing rotator cuff exercises before working out to get the blood flowing in the shoulders helps immensely. still being very careful with what I lift like as far as incline bench i always go lIght now. ibuprofen also helps, haven't tried ice and heat but definitely worth trying.

Had rotator cuff issue about a year ago. Totally gone now. I would recommend taking some time off....bout a few weeks. Ice for 20 mins int eh morning and 20 mins at night as well as 800mg of ibuprofen twice a day. Haven't had any issues since. good luck and try to avoid exercises that irritate the area

I have problems with both shoulders, tendonitis in the right and probably the same in the left but ive never got a proper diagnosis in my left. IMO the worst thing you can do is try and work through the pain. Just take some time off and let it heal up then come back and ease into it. The shoulders the type of joint that once problems start they tend to stick around forever and it's definitely the worst joint to have issues with. After I got mine to a manageable level of pain I totally changed my training, stopped throwing up heavy weight wih lower reps and switched to nice slow controlled reps really focusing on the contraction and feeling the muscle throughought the entire range of motion. Lower weights higher reps but much slower reps. And my results were actually dramatically better.

So just something to think about if you've been one to focus more on the weight and reps as opposed to the quality of the rep and mind muscle connection and the squeeze and contraction

I've had three rotator cuff repairs on my right shoulder now. First one in my mid twenties about fifteen years ago, two more in the last two years. Difficult injury to diagnose without MRI scan. Pain varies, I would describe my pain as a sharp pinch type of pain deep within the shoulder joint, but it really wasn't particularly bad. I actually trained through it (stupidly in retrospect) for the best part of a year until I was suck of being nagged by the deuce about it. Once scanned, the surgeon had me on the operating table within a week. First one healed badly so I had another operation in July last year. I'd say I've made about a 75-80% recovery which is a good result considering. Certain motions still cause me problems like pressing on a smith machine, wide grip pull downs and any behind the neck work is out of the question. I don't try and push as much wright as I used to, but I've flat benched 180kgs recently without issue.

If you put your hand behind your back and try and move it up your spine, does it hurt? If you have a cuff tear, you're typically looking at 4-8 weeks in a sling depending on severity, then a 6-9 month recovery with extensive physio etc. Some find it very painful post op, wasn't the case for me, really not that bad. The joint stiffens up horrendously from being immobilised and you'll get mighty pissed off trying to do things like tying your shoelaces one handed, but it's not that bad.

If you need any more info, drop me a FR and a PM.

I just have bursitis in my right shoulder that started getting irritated from heavy bench. Cortisone shots have helped reduce the inflammation and pain but I still rely on an opioid pain killer on occasion to manage it otherwise I can't sleep and my sleep is more important to me than the consequences of an occasional use of narcotics.

I do know one senior member here that has had extensive trouble with a rotator cuff injury and that is Catalyst. You may want to send him a friend request and contact him through PM in case he does not see this post and respond.

The likelihood of it going away on its own without any treatment is not good bro. We are the same age and for me that means thinking through every ultra heavy lift and making sure I don't over extend on some things and limit the range of motion. When I bench I keep the bar at least an inch off my chest to take unnecessary strain off the shoulders. Not breaking the tension by letting the bar touch or rest on the chest is a better exercise anyways for what I do.

Are you sure it is a rotor cuff? Could also be bursitis which is much more common and can actually lead to rotor tears. Stand with your right arm at your side, lift it out and up to the side, keep going right up the arc above your shoulder and pay attention to when the pain hits. The lower it pinches pretty much the worse the bursitis.

Now a test for your rotor is stand straight again except this time lift your arm out in front of you, if you have a wife or girlfriend have her try to apply gentle pressure against you lifting to shoulder height. If you can power through her pressure without pain your rotor is probably okay.