My dad posted this on Gordo’s site, but no one seemed to reply (so I thought I’d post it here):
Over the past two weeks I’ve been having shoulder pain in my left shoulder. It started when I got back from a conference in the US (9 hour flight), and hasn’t stopped since. It started hurting a few days after, and the only significant thing I can remember (I didn’t swim) is that I ran to my car up a hill with my suitcase/bag in my left hand. It was pretty heavy and my shoulder started hurting that night during swim practice.
It hurts inside the shoulder in the the back side of it, maybe in the socket. I feel the pain most when I raise my arm to the side above shoulder level, or when I try to close a door.
I would take this pain fairly seriously. It sounds something like the pain I had that ultimately resulted in a very successful surgery. This in not an internet diagnosis kind of pain. Get yourself to an Ortopedist (sp?) and do it ASAP.
Seems like a pretty classic rotator cuff problem. But as always, don’t rely on diganoses on these forums. Tell dad to go to the doctor. Until then, some common sense treatments: if swimming hurts, don’t do it… take a couple of Advil and rest.
I too would take this pain VERY seriously. I suffered (what appears to be) a similar injury a couple of years ago. I thought it might go away on its own. Ultimately, I found out that some ligaments in the joint had been stretched by improper weight lifting - and carting around a baby seat with a 20 lb. child. That caused the joint to be lose and sloppy. I had orthoscopic surgery to correct the problem, but it was too late. The “ball” of my shoulder is permanently damaged - so it grinds and hurts constantly. I can only spend limited time in the water now - and I still deal with pretty serious pain.
Get it checked out right away! If you have a similar problem, you can prevent any further damage.