What can this be? Awful shoulder pain keeping me awake.

[YgritteSnow]

It's been achy for a while and I just put it down to ageing and losing flexibility. Tonight though it has become agonising. I carried a heavy bag of shopping in earlier and put it all away. Didn't feel too much. Is it possible I injured it then and the pain set in later? I'm lying here totally unable to get comfortable. Can't lift my arm, can't lie on it. If I press my shoulder I feel a deep throbbing pain in the socket. It's honestly throbbing like a toothache whenever I move. What have I done to it? I'm actually crying with the pain. It's clicking sometimes too. Any medical people on here with any ideas or advice please?

I'm sure it's not, but when I saw "arm pain", I thought "heart attack".
Is it your left arm?
Only the shoulder?

I'm not a medical person btw

Only the shoulder. Right inside it rather than surface pain. It's definitely an injury pain. As I said it's been there a while but suddenly became excruciating tonight. Thanks for replying.

Have you tried hot or cold compresses? Like a heat pad or a bag of peas?

Hope it gets better soon

And it's slightly relieved if I lie on my right side with my arm supported along my side and bent up with hand resting on my right shoulder. I think heart related pain wouldn't have any relief.

Yeah no I'm sure it's not your heart but it can present as pain in the arm and shoulder in women, over a period of time i.e not suddenly

Frozen shoulder? My mother had this a few weeks ago and required steroid injections.

I'm a physio. There's a few different things that could be, shoulder injuries are tricky to diagnose without feeling it.
Put some ice on it, take some paracetamol and see how it is in the morning.
If you can afford to see a private physio, I would do that rather than wait for an NHS appointment.
If it gets any worse before morning, call 111 for advice. You are likely to have to wait a while for them to answer due to the mass hysteria around Corona virus.

You maybe already know this, but shoulder pain can be a symptom of an ectopic pregnancy.
Or you might have just hurt it

Trapped nerve, frozen shoulder?
About 10 years ago I had terrific pain in my shoulder and arm -- deferred pain going down the arm. The worst pain I have ever had.
I could move the arm at all without major pain. Mine turned out to be calcific tendinitis, diagnosed by x ray.

As others have said, cold compress for now and pain killers. Try to get to doctors appointment. Hope you feel better soon.

A bit out there, but does your mattress need replacing?

I had a frozen shoulder. Very sudden, very painful. Sounds similar. Painkillers and rest. That was all I could do

Bursitis? I had awful shoulder pain with that

I suffered from similar symptoms and it turned out I had a torn rotator cuff. I've given birth 6 times without pain relief, and the pain in my shoulder was, at times, worse than labour. I was actually sick a couple of times with it. Couldn't lift my arm above waist height. I agree about a private physio appointment as a 1st priority. Hope you get it sorted quickly.

I had similar with a rotator cuff injury too. Mine presented at its most painful a few months after I actually injured the shoulder skiing. The pain at night was the worse - I couldn't sleep. I had to have lots of sessions at a physio.

It might be impaction syndrome. Says she knowledgeably because I had it and had no idea until the physio said it. Kind of like frozen shoulder. Can't believe an old crock like me got it sorted with physio. Please see you GP or self refer to a physio (if that's how it works in your area). It takes several weeks to fix through exercise but it can. If that's what it is.
Made me cry. And I'm a tough old git.

Also saying rotator cuff. It's agony and is worse at night.

Pneumonia can also present as a painful shoulder, but unlikely as you think you have a physical reason.

almost a relief to hear you all confirm that shoulder pain can be exquisitely awful. Currently working my way through a frozen shoulder; got steroid flare after the cortisone shot and OH MY GOD! Op, a good physio is a thing of wonder.

Have you got a chesty cough? My DH had exactly this and it turned out to be pleurisy. He was rushed to hospital and had antibiotics and morphine. We thought it was a trapped nerve too from his physical job. My advice..don't leave it..call 111.
Good luck

I had a rotator cuff injury in the autumn and agree with others about how awful it was, especially combined with nerve pain in neck. I found heat more helpful than cold, and spent my days and nights with hot water bottle and lots of strategically placed hot gel pads.

The trouble was that the GP I saw basically said that it would probably go away within a few weeks and so he was reluctant to do anything other than prescribe stronger painkillers than I could buy.

He eventually agreed to refer me to physiotherapy and that has made a big difference (presumably combined with passage of time). I've been out of pain now for a while, but still have limited movement, though it's improving, and am continuing with the physiotherapy.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Thank you all for your kind replies. Love MN for this. Always someone around to help out with advice.

From all your replies and consulting Dr Google I think it may be a rotator cuff injury as the pain is more manageable this morning. I was literally crying with pain and woke up sweating after only managing a few hours sleep because it hurt so much. It seems that pain is much worse at night. It was bad when I first got up but has decreased as the morning has gone on and is manageable now. I had no idea a shoulder could hurt so much. Going to look for a private physio today.

I have this; I was running for a bus and tripped, and put my arms out to save myself. The physio said I've stretched the ligament, and sometimes the joint "drops" in the socket and traps the nerve. It feels like someone has pushed a knitting needle through the joint. Unfortunatey I have to live with it.