UKC

I wonder if anyone else has experienced similar and perhaps knows what is going on. This happened in my right shoulder last summer and then in my left yesterday. While climbing suddenly got pain like someone sticking pins into the top front of my shoulder with some movements and worst with action to dip in chalk bag (sharp pain like a knife!). Stopped climbing. Got sharp pains all evening. Slept fine on it. A bit better this morning. Walked to the crag expecting to belay all day and worried whole trip might be a write off, but the pain completely went away and I could climb freely with no reaction afterwards. Feeling is that something might have moved out of place and then randomly moved back (took several days in other shoulder last summer). 

Just a thought. 

Depends where top front. If in brachial plexus could be slight nerve stretch. If you have very dynamic style, reaching a long way and slapping and/or slumping onto shoulder can damage nerves.

If it's more on the front of deltoid perhaps more strain on long head of biceps tendon. 

Just guessing. 

Not a physio.But I had nerve impingement problems whose symptoms fluctuated from pins and needles in the forearm and middle fingers..some intermittent  numbness and after about 3 weeks shooting pain up my left arm.I had access to a very good physio who helped me conclude it was a form of brachial plexus syndrome.I had 5 more sessions with the physio and the impingement went.I was encouraged to keep climbing conservatively.I was back climbing properly after 6 weeks.If I trace back what happened the first discomfort I experienced were occasional spasms in the top of my shoulder near my neck going downwards into my arm.

Worst movement being dipping your hand in your chalk bag involves internal rotation of the shoulder which has a compressive effect on the joint. With the absence of trauma (or hypermobility), it's highly unlikely that something in the shoulder would move in and out of place.

Nobody could accurately tell you what structures caused you this pain, and it might be that no structures were impacted.

If it's fine the next day, don't worry about it. Keep doing lots of shoulder strengthening for warming up.

Thanks for replies. Could well be a nerve thing then. Climbed again on it today pain free. I've been seeing as physio for the other shoulder; biceps tendon and he thinks a radial nerve thing which occasionally gives tingling when muscles are tight. Definitely different from that - just the very localised stabbing pain.

Use liquid chalk and avoid chalk bag dips

On a more serious note, could it be a post covid thing? I had covid at xmas and have all sorts of random muscle and joint aches since .. amongst other things.

I had covid at Christmas too. Don't think it can be that. These days I have various aches and pains all the time and, as I said, had a similar thing in the other shoulder last summer!