Question
Hi Mr. Peck,

I'm male, 21yrs old, and have a pain in my right shoulder, in the clavicle region. It feels as through the pain is coming from both ends of the clavicle (sternal end and acromial end) from an inferior direction.

It hurts and feels stretched when I take a deep breath, or move the shoulder in any plane. However, I still have full range of motion on the shoulder. I haven't had any acute trauma (such as falling over or a car-crash) but I do exercise including chin-ups and dips - which may be relevant. Could this be an AC separation? What course of action should I take?

Thanks very much for your time.

From Marc

Answer
Start first with having an Xray if the clavicle and shoulder. You may have osteoarthritis of the AC joint or osteolysis of the distal clavicle if you have been a weightlifter over several years. A separation is typically a result of direct trauma. This could be a sprain of the joints. You may have spasm and myofascial pain in the scalene muscles. See a chiropractor/sports injury doctor.