hurt deltoid muscles

[Autumn68]

How long does it take to heal both deltoid muscles? I've hurt them during a workout that I've done a million times. My left arm is worse. I don't want to not workout with weights, so I've been going light on the shoulder weights, and had to use 3's for my left arm. I had to go lighter on a lot of exercises because of this. Is it ok to use a lighter weight on one arm if it's injured?
I've been doing S&H rotation for the past month, ready to move to another one until I get STS. I'll be able to get it by the fall. Just wanted to find out how long it takes for this muscle to heal, generally?
Thanks,
Autumn

 

[kariev]

first, don't workout any muscle that is injured. you could make it worse. it needs to rest to heal so even light weight is a no no in the beginning stage. second, what do you mean by hurt??? (pulled muscle, torn muscle, etc) it may not be your deltoids and may be your rotator cuff muscles which are more commonly injured and cause shoulder pain. have you gone to the doc to get an mri to see how much damage is done? how painful is it on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (i need to go to the ER) You may have some serious injuries in there so i would recommend going to the doc.

 

[Autumn68]

I was wondering if it was the rotator cuff, but not sure. Hate to go to the dr for this. I can't put my left arm straight over my head, and it feels as if it locks at a certain point. I think I may have gone too high in the rotator cuff exercises. That's just my guess. My right shoulder area hurts too, not as bad as the left. I can workout, but somethings hurt more than others. It even hurts when I lay on it too long so I flip and flop a lot when I sleep. On a scale from 1-10, I'd say when I'm actually using it, an 8. When I'm not using it, it's ok, I know it is saw, but not painful. I guess I should lay off shoulder work for a week or so, and I have to be careful doing bench press and other things too because the shoulder is obviously involved. I am such a fanatic about form and going at the right speed, etc, I can't understand how this happened. I am so upset about this, I'm on a workout roll.
Thanks, Autumn

 

[Massaging Mom]

Agreeing with the previous poster about seeing a doctor. If it is your rotator cuff, just resting may not help as the smaller, weaker muscles need strengthened with lighter weights as to not recruit the delts or traps.

Peace,
Wendy

 

[kathryn]

Shoulders can be very tricky, and trying to rehab something on your own without knowing what the problem is can lead to a more serious problem or even a chronic problem.

Go see a PT and get a diagnosis of what is wrong.

 

[Autumn68]

I guess you guys are right. I hate to make it worse. I'm unemployed right now, so I have the time to go to the doc. I just hate to go. Thanks for all your advise. - Autumn

 

[kariev]

i'm a physical therapist and this definately sounds like a rotator issue. please go see your doc to confirm and go through the rehab. you don't want to damage it more or be out of commission for longer than you have too.

 

[Autumn68]

Thanks for the advise. I will check into it this week.