Looking for therapy/trigger point/massage for shoulder pain from climbing

I have chronic upper bicep tendonitis/shoulder pain from climbing.  Been doing tradition PT for years with mixed results.  Looking for something different to help.  Any climber therapists out there Boulder/Denver area?  Thanks

Craig

With PT, In my experience it entirely comes down to the specific practitioner. I have had about 15 work on me for various things through the years and 4 were worth their weight in gold. The others... ineffective to actually caused more harm than good. (And related, but I'm not you, my upper bicep shoulder problem was finally resolved with bicep tendonesis and shoulder arthroscopy plus a lot of PT post surgery to recover.) 

That said, if PT isn't your bag, I was referred by several people I respect to Steve Melis http://pro-active-chiro.com/meet-dr-steve/  I never saw him myself, so take that as second hand.

You might also consider a functional movement assessment to see if there are some movement dysfunctions somewhere else that are manifesting in the shoulder. 

Ever tried dry-needling? Certified PTs should be able to do it, does wonders for alleviating certain types of movement pain...how useful it is depends on what's actually wrong with your shoulder, ofc.

PT will be best, but a Theracane or equivalent product will be really helpful to keep on it yourself in addition to PT.  

Highly recommend Aaron Knighton at Altitude Physical Therapy in Boulder. He's worked on my shoulder a lot with manual therapy and dry needling and i'm pretty much fully recovered now thanks to him.

https://www.altitudephysicaltherapy.com/aaron-knighton-dpt.html

North Boulder PT did wonders for my shoulder, and I second dry needling (which they did there). Libby was my PT and one of the assistants there, Dan, is a climber and was super helpful as well. 

https://www.northboulderpt.com/

a lot of people are recommending only PT, but don't overlook the benefits of good neuromuscular therapy.  i do both, and they compliment each other well.  If interested, PM me and i'll give you the contact for my masseuse.

I've been working through the same problem, with a therapist who uses Graston Technique. It's been very helpful. You might look for a practitioner in your area who can use these tools on you if appropriate.

Dry needling has been very useful and effective for me. However, if you have a lot of inflammation then you may need to let that cool off before needling. Consider icing the shoulder after climbing (if you aren't already). Tendinitis, as you probably know, has a tendency to stick around for a while if you don't give it adequate rest.

Also, make sure to strengthen your rotator cuff. Any shoulder instability will be hugely exploited/exacerbated by climbing. As climbers, we may think our shoulders are plenty strong, but this isn't necessarily the case, especially with the rotator cuff.

Good luck

PS- be careful with Graston tools, they can really beat you up. 

My wife Lisa has had a nagging shoulder injury for years.  She has been to a lot of different PT's, but Lorena at Orthomotion in Boulder has been a miracle worker for her.  She is actually an Occupational Therapist who found a niche in treating climbing injuries.  Anyways, she is wonderful!

http://www.orthomotion.net/about/

Hit up Cody Burden (419-961-5031) he's a Functional Patterns practitioner in Denver area.
If you haven't heard of Functional Patterns, it's training focused around evolutionary biomechanics (walking/running/throwing).

If your gait cycle is whack, likely nothing else is going to function well... as walking/running are our primary functions as a species.
Most PT will not address your posture or biomechanics, they'll simply send you the protocol to "fix" your shoulder without looking at its place in the scheme of your entire body.