ok....I have this pain near my neck exactly where my left trap would be attaching itself to the collar bone.
It has been there for a while now and is exasperated by heavy dead lifts and shrugs.
It is a painful burning sensation, sometimes it tingles.
There is no brusing or apparent marks of tenderness on the site.
Does this warrant an MRI in the expert opinions of those on this board?
Also if the worst does come true, how long is the recovery normally?

i get knots in my traps all the time, mostly on the left side. i just reach around with my right hand, grasping the muscle between my thumb and two fingers. then knead it until it releases. it may hurt like fuck, but you just have to deal with it. then tilt your head over to stretch it out and hold. rinse, wash, and repeat a few times a day. then go break some deadlift PRs and do it all over again.

and unless you are either as strong as fuck or have a degenerative disease, i very much doubt you tore your trap.

It is not a knot.
I have been lifting for a quite a long time and have kneaded out many knots in my back by now.
This is a deep burning sensation. Also when I do deadlifts or shrugs now it literally feels like something is beeing ripped off the bone in there.
I made an appointment with my doctor, Im not taking chances with this.
Even when I keep my hands over the keyboard while typing the burning sensation can be terrible.

it can't be that bad if it's not bruising. i think i posted a link here once to a rippetoe protocol for dealing with small tears. lots of high reps with a low weight to get some blood in there and minimize development of adhesions.

Proton is likely right. The odds are high you have some soft tissue problem and MDs are virtually useless for those (though I did meet an anesthesiologist who lifted and was an ART practitioner). Go find an old school hands on physical therapist. They can probably diagnose you and treat you as well (though ART treatment if applicable will likely be faster/and may be more complete than with PT). Oh and at least in my state you do not need an MD referral for PT, you can just go yourself.

Or perhaps you're naprosin(sp?) deficient and your insurance has not paid for their quota of MRIs this month :-)

I do know an excellent physical therapist.
However, would an MRI be a good move just to be safe?
Im just concerned because of the burning sensation it is producing. It's definately not normal and has been present for a prolonged period of time while getting progressively worse.

Go see the PT. In the unlikely event you've torn it they will likely be able to diagnose it.

Edit: bad example.

Sounds exactly like what I've been dealing with for the last 12 years. Deep, searing pain in the left trap/levator scapulae area that is exacerbated by heavy deads and direct trap/shrug work. If you figure out the answer...let me know

you have mail.

Scott L, can you elaborate on ART treatment?
Also, my insurance is great and covers MRIs. Im just going to go to an orthopedist and get an MRI just to play my card with an ounce of caution.
If there is no tear, then great. All I did was pay a $20 co-pay, so no big deal.
At that point I will see the physical therapist I mentioned who I completely trust.

http://www.activerelease.com/

Make yourself happy, but to give you some idea, I've near seen or heard of the traps being imaged (for a possible tear). The orthopedist may tell you it is not torn and refuse the MRI, but if he orders you the MRI remember why the cost of medical care is so high.

Scott L, can you elaborate on ART treatment?

Painful magic. Very painful magic (least treating what you have will likely be). Search the board.

NOTE WELL: given the amount of emotional stuff that gets stored in traps, I would not be shocked if you were a bit spacey afterwards i.e. don't operate heavy machinery afterwards--no joke. That is not from the ART people but my observation (and a few people on baords have confirmed it). Not an issue for post-traumatic things, but things that develop over time like yours.

Thanks for the info. so far. I always enjoy reading your posts.
A couple more questions though:
Why wouldnt a trap be imaged for a tear or possible tear? If it is torn or partially torn how would one confrim it?
As far as emtional stuff, what exactly do you mean? I really do not think this is psychosomatic. My back has always felt fine, no complaints until now.

"Why wouldnt a trap be imaged for a tear or possible tear?" It would if trap tears were a common entity I suspect trap tears are very uncommon--really how are you going to tear your trap? 1 RM shrugs? You don't even have an acute injury scenario anyway.

Second question is too long to explain now. And you're not going for ART anyway. If it becomes relevant I'll go into it.

I am a chirpractor (seriously). ART would be good. Many chiros do this as well. First of all, it sounds more like a pinched nerve in the neck. These nerves feed the trapezius muscles (and levator scapulae muscle too which is right there with the traps). Holding a heavy weight stresses the traps which pull down on the neck and can exacerbate the symptoms. A good PT or a chiropractor may be even better (I am biased but neck adjustments may help just as much as ART or other soft tissue work). I would lay off of heavy shrugs or deadlifts for a couple weeks, then IF you are symptom free slowly reintroduce them with gradually increasing weights. Better to take it easy and get it fixed than have it turn into a chronic problem that causes lots of trouble down the road.

Captain, in my opinion an MRI would be a more expensive test to do after you would try conservative chiropractic or PT. That's my opinion. However, some guys are sending entry-level type cases for MRI's instead of x-rays for spinal stuff these days, as MRI's are slowly being utilized more and more and cost has been slowly dropping. It is a superior imaging technique but your case may not be so bad to start with an MRI. You could get an exam, x-rays, and 20 chiro visits for the cost of 1 MRI. Just trying to help.