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| I went to my first morning class a few days ago (I normally attend a 630 PM class)...and I was a bit stiff, but didnt feel any pain in my shoulder during class. However, directly after class I noticed discomfort in my shoulder, particularly when lifting my arm. Ive been having mild pain while driving, lifting/rotating my arm, pushing on anything, lifting things, etc....and Im not stoked. Ive taken 3 days off from practicing Bikram, and it doesnt seem to be getting better or worse. I dont want to take too much time away from my practice, but Im also worried I may have actually caused damage and going to class could exacerbate the injury. I have zero experience in the shoulder injury realm, so I dont really know what Im dealing with. How much rest should I take? or could practice actually help my recovery? any advice would help! |
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| you could get advice from another school of yoga |
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| Your injury may or may not be a result of your yoga practice. Human tissue heals best (in most cases) when you continue to move the injured muscle, but do not stress it. Moving a torn muscle during healing reduces scarring, which means that that muscle will be less prone to re-injury and increases blood flow to that muscle which speeds healing. Stressing a torn muscles slows recovery and re-injures the injury. It can also lead to permanent problems. Remember, IF YOU FEEL PAIN, YOU ARE HURTING YOURSELF.
With this in mind, you must make your own decision whether to continue with your Bikram practice while recovering. Mild injuries are often wake up calls telling us that we need to modify how we are practicing our yoga.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
 
Location: Oregon | How long have you been practicing Bikrams? And how long have you practiced Yoga in general? It took me a while to figure out how to read my body and when I needed Bikrams or when I need to be out of that environment to recover from something. I agree with Jim in that maintaining movement and exercise is important. So it comes down to finding the right type of exercise while healing before resuming a normal routine, esp. a challenging/demanding one. |
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| Sarah!! Hi there sweetie, I know you. When are we watching Always Sunny in Philadelphia again? How about HOUSE next week? Come on over and I'll tell you my thoughts then... 
I have no idea what happened either, especially if it's uncomfortable but not super painful, and not getting better or worse. My advice (coming from lots of Bikram experience but zero shoulder experience) is that I'd just come back to (evening) class, let the teacher know that your shoulder is being weird, and then keep an eye on it. See how the poses feel. If they feel alright, then keep doing them! If they feel like they are actually causing injury, then you can stop. (I've seen people come to Bikram with their arm in a sling and do the whole practice one-armed. It's still good for the rest of your body!) The series is very diagnostic. Usually when I tweak something in an unusual way, going through the postures helps me to figure it out. |
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Regular
Posts: 90
| Do you have any neck pain accompanying the shoulder pain? What you're describing sounds a lot like a slightly pinched nerve in your neck that radiates down to your shoulder. Any tingling or numbness in your arm, hands or shoulder?
If you know a good chiropractor, I would start there. |
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| It's hard to imagine how you could injury your shoulder in the 24 asanas and 2 breathing exercises. I am trying to think... the only one I can imagine putting much strain on the shoulder would be third part of locust. Does it hurt in any particular posture?
Considering this is "mild" pain, I would say use your common sense. If you are doing something, and your shoulder suddenly hurts, stop doing it! I would keep going to yoga, and modify or skip postures that aggravate the injury (and tell your teacher, so they know what you're doing). I've seen people nursing shoulder injuries in the studio. It's neat to see how fast they recover.
Ferret |
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| sbsarah84,
As a former longtime practitioner of Bikram yoga and a longtime (24 year) owner of a bad shoulder (from swimming, not yoga), my advice is to see an orthopedic doctor for evaluation.
Early treatment can keep this problem of yours from worsening and will probably make it better. Early treatment usually means an anti-inflammatory med, use of ice, and a few exercises specific to your case.
If you are having problems with the rotator cuff complex, you need to be doing exercises specific to the exact nature of the problems. That is, one or another of the cuff muscles may be weak relative to the others and therefore needs strengthening with a specific exercise.
If you don't have insurance, spend the money. You don't want a painful, deteriorating shoulder over the long term, believe me. So I would sacrifice the money.
I would also sacrifice the yoga practice until you get a handle on this. Exercise may be part of the answer but it will probably be very specific exercise and not general yoga asanas that gets you back on track.
This book is good but assumes that you already know that your problem is with the rotator cuff:
http://www.amazon.com/Treat-Your-Own-Rotator-Cuff/dp/1598582062
Good Luck
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| oh, and to chime in with carlx on the possibility of a pinched nerve, the doctor will be looking for signs of that too. |
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I hurt my shoulder in bikram..help!
