I have been trying to fix some nerve pain in both of my shoulders for about 1.5 years now. I am missing quite a bit of ROM overhead and internally rotated, but no matter how much I try to work on it, it seems to always go back to being tight and thus I am assuming the nerve gets crammed up somewhere as I can feel it tight in my upper arm/armpit area. I have tried to clear the t-spine with a lacrosse ball and place the neck/head in a good position. I also have tried to clear the pec minor area with a lacrosse ball (4 years of benching seems to have tighten the chest quite a bit). I do gain some ROM each time I do these things, but it always goes back to being tight. I’ve seen 6 different doctors all of which tell me to do the basic external rotations, sleeper stretch and cross arm stretch. They tell me I have impingement, bursitis, bicep tendinitis, whatever.

My first question is how do I maintain the ROM I have temporarily gained by “mashing” or using banded distraction? Should I mash with the lacrosse ball then reinforce the new position by doing an exercise that demands the ROM and position I am trying to achieve? 

My second question is keeping the shoulders back in a good position means my t-spine gets pretty tight and stiff holding the shoulder back all the time, so how do I maintain good shoulder position and at the same time keep my t-spine supple? The shoulder blades aren’t supposed to be pulled together all the time are they? This forward shoulder position seems to be trashing the long head of my biceps tendon, when I poke around the front of my shoulder I get a lot of clicking and shifting, then it seems to find a stable place.

I appreciate any help.