Shoulder pain
Okay so here goes to see if anyone from the haus has any ideas. I have been dealinng with right shoulder pain for almost the last year. I doesn't bother me to run or ride (athough while training for CDA this year it would get painful after a couple hours in aero position).
It was painful as I was extending hat arm forward while swimmig for the first couple of hundred yards. Went to my ortho about 12 weeks out from CDA to find out if he thought I could injure it by doing CDA and he said no. Did x-rays and saw my ART specialist weekly before CDA and the pain never got worse.
I figured if it was something that was strain related after CDA I would take time off. Started re-building my run with the guys from PAP and the thing that staarted btohering it was the wall slides with my arms above y head, holding a band. Then it got so I couldn' t put that arm behind my head under my pillow while sleeping witout pain.
So I went back to the ortho and then did a die injected MRI. The end result was a good news bad news story -- the MRI showed nothing wrong. I started going back to the ART specialist twice a week for the last three weeks and the pain appers to be getting worse and now to be "deep" in the shoulder.
I am at a loss and the ortho is going to refer me to a shoulder specialist, but my concern is that he is known to like to use surgery.
So I throw this out there to you all to see if anyne has any ideas and/or things that I can explore?
appreciate any thoughts you may have.
Comments
thanks Carrie, Dave and Paul, I do have a very good PT, but had not gone to him for an assessment. Scheduling it now.
Two things of the top of my head. #1, have they checked you for a suprascapular nerve impingement? Not that it's very likely, but possible the way you're describing issues with swimming and the wall slides. Your PT can check for impingement with a simple external rotation test (and you might want to check in with JT Thompson as he had this issue after his crash last year). But given that you're feeling it "deep" in the shoulder, an RC or labrum tear sounds more likely. No "clicking" when you move the arm?
#2 - You didn't mention if you're having any numbness/tingling down your arm/hand. If you do, where is located? Pinky side, thumb side... forearm, etc...
Good Luck!!!!
I'm a pediatrician, and not an orthopedist, but I had/have similar shoulder symptoms and they called it "capsulitis" or a mild form of a frozen shoulder. This can take a couple years to fully resolve and my symptoms are still improving over 18 months. PT can be helpful, but did not help me. Saying "the hell with it" and continued swimming has helped me more than anything. I would stay as active as you can be without too much pain. Also, if you haven't had a steroid injection, the shoulder specialist will likely want to try this to see if it gives you some relief. It may be both therapeutic and diagnostic. It only partially helped me, but (if not done repeatedly) can't hurt to try.
@ Jess, did have numbness a couple of times in the last month. Happened at night when I would wake up and my whole hand was numb. I had just assumed it was because I slept on my arm funny,
@ Rob, yes it was an Arthrogram and yes the ortho gave me his "read" on it as a good new bad news thing -- it showed nothing as both the good and bad news.
appreciate all the insights
okay fast forward to today ... ... ... it looks like
after having issues with my right shoulder for almost a year. I finally think we have uncovered the issue. Had a die injected MRI and a whole range of other tests, they ruled out rotator cuff issues and a labral tear. Doing PT for last 4-6 weeks. The end diagnosis is a frozen right shoulder. I have been compensating through really good shoulder flexibilities in other parts, but ... at a cost.
I had my left shoulder freeze up about 5 years ago and after almost six months of PT, they did a non-invasive shoulder manipulation and then another 3-4 weeks of PT and that shoulder has not bothered me since.
The issue is we (my doctor and I) will be deciding whether or not to do the manipulation on the right shoulder on Friday as we have met our family maximum deductible. The procedure would be on the 20th.
thoughts/reactions?