bursitis or "frozen shoulder" anyone??

[Lisa L from MI]

I have been having "excruciating" shoulder pain for about a month or so now. It gets so bad that I am almost in tears!

At times, I can barely undress, it is terrible to sleep, roll over, pull the covers over me, lift "anything" (inluding just a 2-liter of pop!!)

I read about bursitis and frozen shoulder on the net.....I even made an appt with an orthopedic doctor for Monday. I NEVER go to the doctor for anything....so everyone knows that it has to be really hurting!!

Just wondered if anyone has ever experienced this???

The only thing, I can think of is that I started exercising back in April......but it hasn't hurt til a month or so ago. Everyone says I am overdoing it...but I really don't think that is the case since I think it would have started hurting sooner......

Thanks for any input

Lisa

 

[coqui]

I know the obvious answer is "really hurting" but can you describe the pain?

Does it feel like it's coming from bone, muscle, joint, etc?

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Seems to me like the muscle.....my whole shoulder cap-top....down to almost my elbow (on top and under) and sometimes to my shoulder blade

 

[snuggles]

My dh had a frozen shoulder caused by bone spurs under his shoulder bone. They were hooking down and grabbing the muscle below them. It took several weeks of physical therapy and lots of anti inflamatory meds to get it back to where he could use it again. The spurs are still there and will stay until removed, but as long as he keeps that shoulder in motion he should be ok.

I on the other hand had bursitis. I used heat, ice, lots of Advil and followed my drs instructions to limit use in that arm. It was one of those keep it moving but don't use it situations! It took a while but its doing great now. Good luck. I think you are making the right decision going to see a dr.

 

[MaryJ]

It sounds exactly like what I had a year and a half ago. You are on the right track going to an orthopedist. I did, and the diagnosis was adhesive capsulitis, aka frozen shoulder. My orthopedist gave me a cortisone injection and sent me to a physical therapist. The physical therapy helped a lot, but be warned it is painful too. My therapist joked with me that P.T. actually stands for "pain and torture," but I wouldn't be where I am today without her. I now have full range of motion in my shoulder.

By the way, I injured my shoulder when I fell on the ice, but it was more than a year later before it gave me any trouble. Also, my therapist gave me exercises to do at home and after I could do them pretty well, I joined a Curves near my home. I find that when I don't go to Curves (as when I was at WDW last summer) the pain seems to flair up a bit, so exercise should be helpful, not harmful. Let me know what you find out from the doctor. Good luck!

 

[Poohstyx]

I feel your pain! I had surgery July !st. Mine was a bone spur on the Rotator Cuff and the joint was full of Bursitis.
Mine started about Feb or March. The 1st problem I noticed was when I would roll over on my right shoulder, there would be a popping in the joint - no pain. The next step was a feeling of the shoulder dropping or slipping out of joint. When I started feeling pain, it was horrible. I got to the point that I wore a sling every waking minute. I could not do anything with my right arm. Even w/o doing anything, it was still an awful pain just moving any amount.
The Dr thought it was inflamation in the begining - I took pills for inflamation. He sent me to Physical Therapy to see if there was anything they could do. I could not do anything in PT except cry & yell - a lot. The guy in PT said I did not need to be there, I needed to be in surgery. He sent me back to my GP, who sent me to a bunch of possible pre-op tests, before sending me to a surgeon. I had an MRI (open), blood tests and etc.
I finally went to the surgeon (who, btw, graduated the year after I did!). He said the MRI did not show a torn RC, but he thought it had something to do with the RC. He did a regular x-ray and found the bone spur.
After all this, I had surgery July 1st (out-patient). I just finished PT a couple of weeks ago. I have almost 100% of the movement back. I can do just about anything I want to. I have a little pain and less movement with my backward reach. But, other than that I can do anything. I just can't do a good backhand in tennis - but, I couldn't anyway!! PT was rough at times, but, boy was it worth every moment. At least I am now out of pain and as you know, with that awful pain - I did not see an end to it. I was getting very depressed about it.
I hope they find the problem and do something about it for you. I know what you are feeling.
Let me know what happens. We leave for WDW tomorrow - my 1st trip since my arm started hurting. It started shortly after our last trip. I'm anxious to see just what I can do! I won't be able to check back with you after this evening, until we get back in a week. I hope you know something by then. I'll be glad to answer any ??'s.

take care ~
Poohstyx

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Thanks everyone.....I just hope they just don't put me on anti-inflammatory/muscle relaxers and send me on my way. Hope they do some tests and xrays or something. I don't want to just "cover up" the pain....I want to know the cause and want them to fix it...you know what I mean??

Weird thing...it is not a constant "excruciating" pain....but the "tenderness" is always there.

I will let everyone know after the dr on Monday (my appt is at 1)

Poohstyx...thanks for the input....and have a TERRIFIC trip!!!!!!! I am jealous!!!!

 

[Poohstyx]

I do know what you mean by not just covering up the problem. I could not wait to find out what all those tests would show. I was so anxious to have the surgery - to be pain free again is wonderful. I hope yours won't require surgery. I'm anxious to find out the problem and remedy.
I'll be thinking of you while I'm on all those rides I didn't think I could do again.

Poohstyx

 

[nativetxn]

My dh had this problem, he could barely raise his arm at all and was in terrible pain. He saw his physician and received an intraarticular injection in that shoulder. It relieved the discomfort immediately and the discomfort has never returned although I understand that it could return again

Good luck with this, I'm glad you have made an appointment.

 

[grinningghost]

My dad had this (still does from time to time) really bad. He went to physical therapy for a while and had to do exercises every day for quite some time. It definitely helped him and now he knows what to do when it acts up. He couldn't lift his arm at all. He thinks he got it from cutting tree branches, but they couldn't say for sure. Good luck, stay dedicated to your treatment plan and you'll probably feel better. But hang in there, it took my dad's a while to go away.