Shoulder joint/muscle pain getting worse over time
October 21, 2015 1:53 PM Subscribe
Three days ago, I woke up with a tremendous pain in my shoulder. I had slept on my arm kind of funny and assumed that was the cause of it. I've been sort of babying it ever since, but every day it seems to be getting worse.
Now it's to the point where I cant lift my hand above about my chin without causing excruciating pain, and I can't do basically anything with my hand while my elbow is bent (like, to the degree that buttoning up my pants causes me to grit my teeth with pain). The pain is always in my shoulder, right at the joint.
It really feels like a torn muscle except that: 1. It's getting worse over time, and 2. Can I really have torn a muscle while sleeping?
There's no visible swelling or discoloration at all. This seems like a silly thing to go to the ER for (I don't have a family doctor), but I really don't know what to do to make it feel better.
Have you experienced anything like this? What can I do to ease the pain? At what point do I consider this something to take to the health care system?
Now it's to the point where I cant lift my hand above about my chin without causing excruciating pain, and I can't do basically anything with my hand while my elbow is bent (like, to the degree that buttoning up my pants causes me to grit my teeth with pain). The pain is always in my shoulder, right at the joint.
It really feels like a torn muscle except that: 1. It's getting worse over time, and 2. Can I really have torn a muscle while sleeping?
There's no visible swelling or discoloration at all. This seems like a silly thing to go to the ER for (I don't have a family doctor), but I really don't know what to do to make it feel better.
Have you experienced anything like this? What can I do to ease the pain? At what point do I consider this something to take to the health care system?
At what point do I consider this something to take to the health care system?
The day it got worse instead of better. Get on to a doctor of some kind, a clinic or whatever. If you gotta go to emerg, then go to emerg. "Excruciating pain" is a good reason to seek medical care.
posted by Sternmeyer at 1:56 PM on October 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The day it got worse instead of better. Get on to a doctor of some kind, a clinic or whatever. If you gotta go to emerg, then go to emerg. "Excruciating pain" is a good reason to seek medical care.
posted by Sternmeyer at 1:56 PM on October 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you have any walk-in clinics nearby this is the sort of thing that they are great for. I went in to an urgent care in my hospital network with similar shoulder pain about 3 years ago (which unfortunately turned out to be hugely complicated and unrelated to shoulder things) and it was a good place to start off with ruling stuff out and getting pain meds right away, and to getting referrals for further specialists who are still in the process of sorting me out.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:57 PM on October 21, 2015
posted by poffin boffin at 1:57 PM on October 21, 2015
Best answer: Go see a doctor. I had symptoms similar to what you describe and it turned out to be frozen shoulder.
It took months of physical therapy for me to get better, for what its worth, and my only wish is that I had gone to see the doctor sooner.
posted by vacapinta at 2:00 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
It took months of physical therapy for me to get better, for what its worth, and my only wish is that I had gone to see the doctor sooner.
posted by vacapinta at 2:00 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Makes me think of things like biceps tendinitis, which can be brought on by insults like a too-deep or incorrectly-placed flu vaccination and then only become aggravated enough to notice over time (and you can recover from it with a doctor visit and some physical therapy).
But, yes, the time to go to the doctor to ask is generally when you start to use words like "excruciating," "getting worse," and "I should ask the internet if this is bad enough to go to the doctor."
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:00 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
But, yes, the time to go to the doctor to ask is generally when you start to use words like "excruciating," "getting worse," and "I should ask the internet if this is bad enough to go to the doctor."
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:00 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
If it is your left shoulder/arm, sometimes that is a heart problem.
posted by Oyéah at 2:02 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 2:02 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Doctor! It is time to go to the doctor. Your doctor if you can get in, or urgent care if not.
It sounds kind of like it might be frozen shoulder to me as well -- if that's the case, then the babying is actually making it worse. Mine got a WHOLE lot better once I saw a doctor, they confirmed the diagnosis, and I started gently moving it around. (I was basically on the path to frozen shoulder when I went in -- moving and stretching it short-circuited that path.)
posted by pie ninja at 2:17 PM on October 21, 2015
It sounds kind of like it might be frozen shoulder to me as well -- if that's the case, then the babying is actually making it worse. Mine got a WHOLE lot better once I saw a doctor, they confirmed the diagnosis, and I started gently moving it around. (I was basically on the path to frozen shoulder when I went in -- moving and stretching it short-circuited that path.)
posted by pie ninja at 2:17 PM on October 21, 2015
Response by poster: Okay okay. I get the message. I'm generally pretty doctor-averse, but I've made an appointment at a clinic for tomorrow.
posted by 256 at 2:24 PM on October 21, 2015
posted by 256 at 2:24 PM on October 21, 2015
Response by poster: And yes, that Wikipedia page for frozen shoulder describes my symptoms exactly.
posted by 256 at 2:30 PM on October 21, 2015
posted by 256 at 2:30 PM on October 21, 2015
i had similar shoulder pain over the summer. it went away on its own the first time but the second time... OMG, I CAN'T EVEN SLEEP.
i ultimately went to an urgent care clinic on a friday night. they diagnoses it as something rotator cuff related and gave me prednisone and percocet. the percocet did a good job dulling the pain and i stopped 'em after a few days. the prednisone really helped get my shoulder mobility back to 95%...
a week or two later i saw a sports physiologist about the injury (as i didn't want it to happen again). he offered three options- physical therapy, a steroid shot or surgery. i opted for the physical therapy and i've been to four sessions now.
the physical therapy has shown me just how week the smaller muscles in my shoulders had gotten from not being worked. it's a surprising amount of work building them back up. all of this has been a slight pain in the ass and made me realize i need to be better about physical activity so that other joints don't fail similarly...
and with that said, it's time to get back to my shoulder exercises... this was a longer break than i intended ;)
posted by noloveforned at 3:38 PM on October 21, 2015
i ultimately went to an urgent care clinic on a friday night. they diagnoses it as something rotator cuff related and gave me prednisone and percocet. the percocet did a good job dulling the pain and i stopped 'em after a few days. the prednisone really helped get my shoulder mobility back to 95%...
a week or two later i saw a sports physiologist about the injury (as i didn't want it to happen again). he offered three options- physical therapy, a steroid shot or surgery. i opted for the physical therapy and i've been to four sessions now.
the physical therapy has shown me just how week the smaller muscles in my shoulders had gotten from not being worked. it's a surprising amount of work building them back up. all of this has been a slight pain in the ass and made me realize i need to be better about physical activity so that other joints don't fail similarly...
and with that said, it's time to get back to my shoulder exercises... this was a longer break than i intended ;)
posted by noloveforned at 3:38 PM on October 21, 2015
So I'll add my frozen shoulder story. It was not so severe as yours--no pain unless I tried to raise my upper arm above horizontal. But then it . Just. Wouldn't. Raise. Period. Plus pain if I forgot and tried to put on a blouse or something or brush my hair. My PT put it through all the moves and said A. This is frozen shoulder and B. It is going to get better but not for a year and there's not much we can do about it.
She gave me some exercises to try that were both impossible and painful, so I didn't do them. I just stretched it gently every now and then and then one day it didn't hurt or bother me anymore and I looked at the calendar and it was a year later. That was 5 or 6 years ago and it is still fine.
Good luck!
posted by SLC Mom at 3:42 PM on October 21, 2015
She gave me some exercises to try that were both impossible and painful, so I didn't do them. I just stretched it gently every now and then and then one day it didn't hurt or bother me anymore and I looked at the calendar and it was a year later. That was 5 or 6 years ago and it is still fine.
Good luck!
posted by SLC Mom at 3:42 PM on October 21, 2015
Had something similar - primary care Doc thought it was impingement of the nerves - they go out through a small opening between bones. Had MRI's. Prescribed steroid injections to get the nerve sheath to un-swell from irritation of hitting bone. Steroids etc didn't really help though..
Ended up going to my *aces* DO Orthopedic surgeon, who said screw the MRI's, I need an x-ray to see bone. 5 minutes later he's showing me the bone spurs that caused all the pain. I had outpatient surgery, MUCH better now.
posted by rudd135 at 5:52 PM on October 21, 2015
Ended up going to my *aces* DO Orthopedic surgeon, who said screw the MRI's, I need an x-ray to see bone. 5 minutes later he's showing me the bone spurs that caused all the pain. I had outpatient surgery, MUCH better now.
posted by rudd135 at 5:52 PM on October 21, 2015
Can I really have torn a muscle while sleeping?
A few years ago I ended up needing RC surgery, but the pain (and damage) had been building up for a long time. On the other hand, earlier this year I tore my meniscus, which I only discovered after waking up in excruciating pain.
The best advice I have is if you go for PT, do your exercises!
posted by Room 641-A at 4:18 AM on October 22, 2015
A few years ago I ended up needing RC surgery, but the pain (and damage) had been building up for a long time. On the other hand, earlier this year I tore my meniscus, which I only discovered after waking up in excruciating pain.
The best advice I have is if you go for PT, do your exercises!
posted by Room 641-A at 4:18 AM on October 22, 2015
Best answer: I have this going on right now. In fact, my symptoms mirrored yours to a T. Slept on my side, as well.
I was advised by a doctor friend to go to a walk-in orthopedic / acute injury clinic and not to waste time by going to the emergency room or a regular walk-in clinic. They took some x-rays and nothing stood out, thankfully. We talked for a while about what it could be, including his thoughts that it was probably a pinched nerve of some sort as opposed to a true shoulder injury. To find out anything, there would have to be more exploration.
The doctor gave some options to include and MRI, therapy, and pain killers. Since the pain was rapidly going away on it's own I declined all three. I am just about healed now with simplly time and rest. I however, don't necessarily recommend just time and rest because if the pain wasn't going away naturally by the time I went to the doctor, I certainly would have explored the options given.
posted by lstanley at 1:20 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was advised by a doctor friend to go to a walk-in orthopedic / acute injury clinic and not to waste time by going to the emergency room or a regular walk-in clinic. They took some x-rays and nothing stood out, thankfully. We talked for a while about what it could be, including his thoughts that it was probably a pinched nerve of some sort as opposed to a true shoulder injury. To find out anything, there would have to be more exploration.
The doctor gave some options to include and MRI, therapy, and pain killers. Since the pain was rapidly going away on it's own I declined all three. I am just about healed now with simplly time and rest. I however, don't necessarily recommend just time and rest because if the pain wasn't going away naturally by the time I went to the doctor, I certainly would have explored the options given.
posted by lstanley at 1:20 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: UPDATE: Things had already started to improve by the time I saw the doctor. After an examination, the doctor said that is was probably tendonitis and would get better on its own. She suggested stretches and ibuprofen. Now, 24 hours later, I am almost entirely better. So, in retrospect, a visit to the doctor was probably not necessary, but thank you for browbeating me into it anyhow.
posted by 256 at 1:32 PM on October 23, 2015
posted by 256 at 1:32 PM on October 23, 2015
your symptoms describe my calcific tendonitis, which was only revealed after a scan. couldn't lift my arm over my head for about a week after a repetitive use strain from the gym. now that you've got that diagnosis, please visit a PT and get some therapy and exercises to re-strengthen it once the pain subsides. likely to be a combo of stretchy band stuff and triggering out pecs or your thorassic area. tendonitis is likely to flare up on occasion, so knowing a range of things to stave it off besides just rest will be a good toolkit to have.
posted by chronic sublime at 4:46 AM on October 25, 2015
posted by chronic sublime at 4:46 AM on October 25, 2015
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