Two days ago I was bench pressing and my shoulder made this weird popping/cracking sound. As soon as it happened I felt a sharp pain near the front of my shoulder. I finished the rest of the workout minus the pressing movements and immediately went to the Dr. who came to the conclusion that I had a rotator cuff impingement and minor tendonitis in one of the tendons. He prescribed me an anti-inflammatory and wrote a referral for physical therapy. I asked if this would prevent me from benching in the future and he thinks it would be highly unlikely with the right work.

My question is, how can I work around this injury? Do I just work everything else out while I let my chest/ shoulders get neglected? Also, what exercises can I do to strengthen it? I'm about to leave the area and I'm not sure I can stick around for a month of physical therapy.