Question
Hello.   I have lifted weights pretty regularly in the gym for about 12 years but have always focused on warming-up, stretching, and proper lifting motion in all exercises.
I've been experiencing a sore left shoulder for about 2-3 months now when performing overhead dumbell presses and to a less extent incline bench press.  The pain was initially 7-8, out of 10, when I first experienced the problem.  I found it difficult lowering the dumbells below the top of my head without getting an ache or pinching sensation inside my shoulder.  The weird thing was it hurt more warming up (say with 60 lbs) than it did when I went heavier (say 70 or 80lbs).  Initially I didn't think it effected my strength that much and thought it would take some time to heal.  It didn't really bother me much on my flat bench but I could definitely feel it on the incline bench.  Worse with overhead presses.
During a shoulder workout I found myself constantly stretching the sore shoulder and performing rotations that would often result in small pops.  (similar to knuckle cracking).  The shoulder muscle would feel tight or stiff until it released and then it felt more relaxed.  
I went to a chiro who wrongly diagnosed a disc in my neck.  I went to phiso therapist who thought it was a my rotator cuff and performed ART %26 Acupuncture for 4 weeks.  He also had me doing shoulder exercises for about 3-4 weeks and rested it for 2 weeks.  I had always worked at rotator cuff strengthening in the past and would usually warm up with it on shoulder and chest days.  I've since learned to perform these exercises after those workouts. (typically 2-3x/week for 20 reps).  
I've just tried a shoulder work out and I've lost some strength on that side and the pain is still there, maybe a 5-6 out of 10. Still hear some cracking when rotating through the shoulder motions. Any thoughts or suggestions.  I'm thinking about getting my family doctor to write me a requisition for an ultrasound but not sure if that will see anything.  I'd hate to tie up an MRI machine when other people have more urgent need for it.

Any thoughts or help is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Ian

Answer

Hanna Somatic Educatio Hello, Ian.

The shoulder joint is the loosest joint in the body, and that's a good thing, not some thing that particularly predisposes it to injury.

When popping of the kind you have describe occurs, it indicates that the head of the humerus is off-center in the joint due to unbalanced patterns of muscular tension around the joint (rotator cuff) and the pop occurs during movement as the joint centers.  Something is too tight, generally the result of excessive strengthening efforts or injury.  The joint needs to be loose.

May I direct you to my write-up on weight training
http://somatics.com/weights.htm

and to recovery from injury
http://somatics.com/recovery_from_injury.htm

This kind of thing is unlikely to be recognized from MRI or x-rays because it depends upon the radiologist looking for "something too tight", and that's not generally what they look for.

If you'd like a recommendation for recovery after reading the write-ups, please ask.

regard,
Lawrence Gold