It hurts just to type this
November 13, 2022 11:15 PM Subscribe
I think I have strained some arm and shoulder muscles. I doubt it’s anything worse than that, but it hurts like absolute hell and has for going on five days. Help me check reality.
This past Thursday, I was playing with my cat. I have made her a two-in-one toy. I stuffed an old sock with other old socks and sprinkled in some catnip. It’s suitable for rabbit-style kicking. Where it’s tied off, I have a very long shoelace, and at the far end of that is a plastic ring from a milk jug. I was holding the sock end and moving the shoelace and plastic ring for her to catch. I was sitting at one end of a sofa, and my cat was at my 4 and 5 o’clock behind me. I continued to face forward and just stretched my arm back to play.
In retrospect, this seems to have been a bad idea. My entire arm hurts, especially the upper bicep. The trapezoid muscle and muscles into my neck hurt. Today, the pain has descended into my hand. I’ve got fibromyalgia, so I’m used to a certain amount of constant pain, but this throbbing goes well beyond what I think a person should have to suffer on such a simple basis. Ibuprofen, Excedrin, Aspercreme, Ben-Gay, and a heating pad (not all at once) have all failed to bring relief.
So, finally, my questions: Does this sound like strained muscles to you? If so, do I just have to put up with the pain until they heal, or should I be talking with my doctor?
This past Thursday, I was playing with my cat. I have made her a two-in-one toy. I stuffed an old sock with other old socks and sprinkled in some catnip. It’s suitable for rabbit-style kicking. Where it’s tied off, I have a very long shoelace, and at the far end of that is a plastic ring from a milk jug. I was holding the sock end and moving the shoelace and plastic ring for her to catch. I was sitting at one end of a sofa, and my cat was at my 4 and 5 o’clock behind me. I continued to face forward and just stretched my arm back to play.
In retrospect, this seems to have been a bad idea. My entire arm hurts, especially the upper bicep. The trapezoid muscle and muscles into my neck hurt. Today, the pain has descended into my hand. I’ve got fibromyalgia, so I’m used to a certain amount of constant pain, but this throbbing goes well beyond what I think a person should have to suffer on such a simple basis. Ibuprofen, Excedrin, Aspercreme, Ben-Gay, and a heating pad (not all at once) have all failed to bring relief.
So, finally, my questions: Does this sound like strained muscles to you? If so, do I just have to put up with the pain until they heal, or should I be talking with my doctor?
You might try a physical therapist. The one I sometimes go to will evaluate at no charge. If they can help, then I ask my primary care physician to enter an order for PT into the mychart system, which he is happy to do. The PT can access that and away we go!
posted by Short Attention Sp at 3:47 AM on November 14, 2022
posted by Short Attention Sp at 3:47 AM on November 14, 2022
Regardless of what it is (it sounds like my wife’s torn pec muscle to me), it’s still excruciating five days after the injury and after multiple solutions that usually relieve pain for you. Please go to your doctor. If you don’t have to have referrals to see specialists, I would probably skip straight to an orthopedist, but that depends on you and the structure of your insurance.
posted by joycehealy at 4:04 AM on November 14, 2022
posted by joycehealy at 4:04 AM on November 14, 2022
Yep, see a medical professional. It could be any one of so many different things, and you need someone who a. understands how bodies work and move, and b. can see and lay hands on your particular body to work out what's going wrong.
In the UK, that would be a physiotherapist, YMMV.
(As an example, I had a very painful shoulder a year or two ago, and to diagnose it, the physio did a really specific manouvre on me - got me raise my arm to the point the pain kicked in; then had me relax my arm into this hands while he manipulated it to go higher - which it turned out didn't hurt the same way it did when I tried to move it up myself; then had me take over moving it the final few degrees up to vertical, which again didn't hurt. Turns out that very specific pattern is called 'the arc of pain' and indicates an impingement of the tendon inside the shoulder joint, which can be relieved by some very specific exercises. They worked a treat, and after 3 months of exercises, my shoulder was actually stronger and more functional than it'd been for a long time - that impingement had been building up slowly and had just hit a tipping point. But it needed an expert to diagnose it and work out exactly how to put it right.)
posted by penguin pie at 4:51 AM on November 14, 2022
In the UK, that would be a physiotherapist, YMMV.
(As an example, I had a very painful shoulder a year or two ago, and to diagnose it, the physio did a really specific manouvre on me - got me raise my arm to the point the pain kicked in; then had me relax my arm into this hands while he manipulated it to go higher - which it turned out didn't hurt the same way it did when I tried to move it up myself; then had me take over moving it the final few degrees up to vertical, which again didn't hurt. Turns out that very specific pattern is called 'the arc of pain' and indicates an impingement of the tendon inside the shoulder joint, which can be relieved by some very specific exercises. They worked a treat, and after 3 months of exercises, my shoulder was actually stronger and more functional than it'd been for a long time - that impingement had been building up slowly and had just hit a tipping point. But it needed an expert to diagnose it and work out exactly how to put it right.)
posted by penguin pie at 4:51 AM on November 14, 2022
For reference, I pulled a muscle in a similar way 5 days ago and had an unusual amount of pain for about two days, but ibuprofen helped and today I’m basically back to normal. The lack of relief and period in which the pain is excruciating definitely means doctor, if only for the appropriate physical therapy.
posted by brook horse at 6:27 AM on November 14, 2022
posted by brook horse at 6:27 AM on November 14, 2022
When people say "specialist," they don't mean a chiropractor, who would be liable to paralyze you.
posted by flimflam at 7:42 AM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by flimflam at 7:42 AM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kschang at 11:23 PM on November 13, 2022 [1 favorite]