Winged Scapula
 

Hi guys I'm going to start off by saying I won't be able to afford a doctor visit for a while. I have a winged scapula I beleive and I think I might have nerve damage let me explain:

My right shoulder slouches more than the left. It feels ALOT different than my healthy left shoulder my left shoulder sits in place nicley and feels supported, my right feels like theres some muscle missing that causes it to slouch and be really flexible. I've been lifting weights for a year and Im very healthy and muscular but still my unhealthy shoulder feels off. It pops when doing shoulder excersizes (I try to avoid excersizes that cause it to pop). Also its not growing! my left arm and shoulder keeps growing and my right is not. This im very worried about because Im 19 and I dont want to end up looking unproportioned. Same with my legs (thats another story) My left leg is growing and my right is not.

My unheathy shoulder looks and feels pushed in toward my body more than my heathy shoulder. It doesnt stick out nearly as much. I read something about a nerve being short that connects from the neck to the shoulder and it does feel like the problem is extended up to my neck. I dont have any pain I just want to grow properly and look as symmetrical as possible.

So my question is: what is the absolute best thing I can do to help this issue while I am not able to see a doctor? I read working out could make the nerve damage worse...

For weight lifters, what excersizes should I aviod at all costs?

thanks alot

Know you say you can't got to a Doctor, but that would be my first advice to you. The sooner you get on symptoms and early intervention with correct PT, etc. the better chances of a recovery. The longer an injury remains it becomes more difficult to treat and doesn't seem to isolate itself to the site of injury, but spreads.

Best free guesses would be some type of Long Thoracic Nerve injury and/or dysfunction of your shoulder girdle. Shoulders and pelvises are very much related and naturally move together through walking and other activities. You don't mention any neurological symptoms, but things like weight lifting, therabands and other forms of strengthening usually aggravate neuro problems.

You're 19 and have your entire life ahead of you to work and be healthy. Research, research, research the best Doctor you can find and make an appt. A GP, Family Doc or Doc in the Box will not be the place to go. My first guess would be a Neurologist, but the LTN is not an easy one to test accurately. Good luck.

your right, I am going to scheduele a doc appt soon. The only thing is usually I have to go to a crappy doctor before I can go to the specialist and sometimes I have to poke at them to get them to refer me because they think 'nothing is wrong'. Is there anyway I can go straight to the specialist? Should I stop working out in the meantime?..the thought makes me cringe..Im pretty sure in a neuro issue because its affecting the growth of my arm and untill I started working out the arm was very weak...it affects my wrist aswell and it sometimes I get the pins and needles feeling when I bend my elbow.

I think stopping working out is a good idea until you find out exactly what is going on...it could lead to worse problems than what you are experiencing now.....mabey a clot... Be careful and go to the dr.
best of luck.
cheers,
Jay

Man, the thing is Im so damn skinny when I don't work out otherwise I would stop in a heartbeat. What about boxing? I would think the weights would be the main aggressor. Anyway Il get a check up and report back in a while.

Thanks

i wish i went to a decent doctor when i started having pain :o

go to a doc and then find a GOOD physical therapist, my advice. you could really hurt yourself

also a pt can give you corrective exercises to do at home, i have a very very droopy shoulder on my right side. i think i have mild snapping scapula syndrome bc it brushes against my ribcage. theres zero muscle there

Thanks guys, even after a year of working out my shoulder is still droopy so its obviously not a muscle issue IMO.

We'l

see

Zack have you checked, or had your hips checked for unevenness? Sometimes if the shoulders are uneven the hips might be also.

A few yrs ago I noticed my moms shoulders were uneven but she doesn't have TOS or anything like it.
I didn't ever notice my shoulders being uneven until my second shoulder strain injury. And the dr made note of it at one of the appts early on.
My hips are uneven as well. Chiro noticed that & occasionally adjusts as needed.
And my ribcage has been a little bit off since I was a pre teen or maybe longer than that- I only noticed it when I started wearing a 2 pc swimsuit.

yeah srsly it's probably not just your shoulder

ribcages hips, everything else can be crooked. i bet the muscular side is tighter too.