Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Shoulder › Strained pec muscle – When is too early to start mobilizing?

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    • 08/15/2014 at 11:45 am #71072
      AvatarDaniel Lugn
      Participant

      Hi there,

      Big fan of MobWoD (wish I had Kelly’s book 10 years ago) and I actively use the techniques outlined in his book and website.

      Yesterday morning I strained my pectoral, top left right under the arm pit. I felt a slight pulling/tearing/stretching while in the pushup part of a burpee and immediately stopped the WoD. Its tender and sore to the touch today with some slight swelling, but otherwise no pain in any range of motion and I seem to have full strength so it does not seem very serious. I am guessing I over stretched the muscle and had not sufficiently warmed up.

      Anyway, I guess my question is – Is it too early to start working on this with some soft tissue mobilization? I am thinking getting the blood flowing to the area will be better for healing, but I am also unsure if working on that area before its had enough time to heal up a bit may also delay the repair.

      Any thoughts on this or experience?

    • 08/16/2014 at 8:48 am #75101
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      Start working with it light and see how it goes.
      Yes blood flow to the area is good for healing.
      You don’t want it to tighten up or get stiff.
      Are you addressing the swelling?
      Getting that cleared out will help.

    • 08/16/2014 at 8:17 pm #75104
      AvatarDaniel Lugn
      Participant

      I tacked it down last night with a lacrosse ball, probably a bit more aggressive then I should have started with. Pretty sore after but this morning it was feeling better, but its getting stiff so it probably needs more work.

      I am unsure how best to address the swelling for this area. For an ankle or knee you could do a compression wrap to push that junky tissue out but this ones a bit awkward to get at up near the armpit. I want to avoid using ice or inflammatory meds based on Kelly and Gary Reinl’s video. EMS maybe? Site specific taping?

      Thanks again.

      Note – The area seems better today after active use yesterday. So now I am more just curious what the recommended way to address swelling in areas you cannot compress is without icing or meds. 

      Edited for context, spelling, grammar-me-bad, and progress.

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