Severe shoulder pain

[cluckinell2]

Woke up a few days ago with a pain in my shoulder which I put down to sleeping on it oddly plus doing some repetitive movements at the gym. In the last few days it’s got extremely painful when I try to lift my left arm (I can do it, it just hurts to get dressed or brush my hair etc). Laterally raising it is very tricky indeed. I’m icing it and taking paracetamol which helps a bit. What could this be?! It’s definitely not an a&e issue and dh seems to think that anything tendon/muscle related can only be left to heal alone anyway but I would really like to know what’s happened.

Rotator cuff tendonitis.
Classic symptoms.

Find a good physiotherapist as this can become chronic and you need to know exactly how to load and strengthen the muscles.

I was sort of hoping it might just be a pulled muscle but reading all of these replies I will get in touch with GP on Monday. It’s quite alarming how quickly these things can come on and how much they hinder daily life. I have dc and can’t be struggling with the basics for long.

This might help - differences between frozen shoulder and rotator cuff injury:

https://www.blkmaxhospital.com/blogs/rotator-cuff-tear-and-frozen-shoulder-how-are-the-two-different

I've had 2 frozen shoulders.
There's usually a build up /lead in before the extreme pain sets in .
Unusual I think for it to present over night.

My physio recognised my frozen shoulder as soon as I tried to do those movements

I'd had mild pain that I put down to returning to exercise. One morning I woke up to it frozen. I thought it was a tendon for a while, but was wrong

Get yourself seen and on waiting list ASAP.

If it helps the physio said with a soft tissue injury you can move, but it hurts.
The frozen shoulder restricts your movement.
Mine was at 50% when assessed.

Frozen shoulder

From the link @BIWIposted it does sound more like rotator cuff when you see the symptoms next to one another but I will get checked. I’m honestly terrified at the prospect of this lasting a long time, no idea how I’ll cope.

It won't be frozen shoulder.
Could be a whole host of things from impingement, SLAP, ACJ, tendonitis etc.
Don't waste time with the GP, see an osteopath or physio, who'll conduct various orthopedic tests as well as going over the onset etc. They can refer you if need be after that.

Go see a decent osteopath

Sorry if I’m being thick but how do you see one? Do you need to be referred by a GP? Or are they not free (NHS) services?

Does your neck hurt too? I told my physio that my neck and shoulder were hurting and he said my neck muscles were very tight but my shoulder muscles felt ok and the shoulder pain was reflective pain from my neck.

Sounds like torn rotator cuff, which is agony. Usually clears up in a few months though.
When you go to bed, lie on your back and put a pillow under your arm. Also a sling or tuck your arm into a shirt. At the very least this will remind you not to reach up and forward.

I had a rotator cuff injury @cluckinell2 and went to see my osteopath.

Osteopaths are private, so you will have to pay - but it means you can go to them without needing to be referred by a GP.

The advice I was given was that there are three forms of treatment:

• rest
• exercise
• surgery

I chose the exercise option, and worked with my personal trainer to make sure we were doing stuff that would help/wouldn't harm, and it was sorted out pretty quickly. (It was a while ago now, so I can't be more precise, but exercise definitely worked for me)

No neck pain. If I press the front of my shoulder there’s a very clear tender spot on the joint which fits with the rotator cuff thing.

Quite dismayed that I might have to pay privately to get this sorted 😩

Well you could try your GP first - but you may find that any referral you're given will mean you have to wait for some time.

You could always Google exercises for rotator cuff injuries and see what's recommended? (Although I'd definitely want a medical investigation first, to confirm that it is a rotator cuff injury)

I had agonising shoulder pain 2 days before we were due to go to France last year. I went to the GP who arranged an xray. Turned out to be calcific tendonitis. I took a shit-ton of painkillers on holiday. DH had to do all the driving on holiday which he was annoyed about. I couldn't even lift my arms to get dressed. Needed help washing my hair, couldn't swim in the pool, play boules. Was really awful.

Got back to the UK and had a steroid injection (fucking painful) and some physio which sorted it.
It was horrendous though. Hope you get it seen to.

I had it, mine was a frozen shoulder. It was very painful at first but it kept getting easier. It took 6 months to go completely but I still can't fasten my bra behind. I had physio exercises but I don't know if they did much good. I also had one a few years ago and it took the same amount of time to feel better.

Mine was calcific tendinitis. Got so painful that I almost passed out when trying to brush my hair. I went to a and e and they worked out that I had hurt my shoulder in a trampolining accident a few weeks before and the calcium had built up in the tear. It took a few months to go away completely but exercises helped.

Ignore MN “doctors” & get a proper diagnosis. This will involve seeing, first your GP, who basically knows nothing, but will give you a referral for an ultrasound specialist, who will be able to give you a preliminary diagnosis. You can also then get a steroid injection which will help a lot with pain.
I had symptoms similar to yours, it was rotator cuff damage, & ultimately had my shoulder replaced. I am not saying this is what you have!!
ultimately, you need an MRI ( and an orthopod) to get the correct diagnosis, so off you go, contact GP ASAP & get the ball rolling.

I've had pinched nerves in my shoulder twice. I'm also a side sleeper and my job involves repetitive shoulder motion. Went both times to an orthopedic doctor who gave me a cortisone shot and muscle relaxers. Helped almost instantly.

Definitely get a pillow for bed that you can prop your arm on - really helps with rotator cuff injuries. Also some of that voltarol gel and get someone to rub it in for you

As others have suggested, possibly calcific tendonitis.

Mine came on overnight, and I assumed I'd slept badly on my arm/shoulder. Ridiculously painful. After three days of no sleep and unable to lift my arm, I was referred to a physiotherapist, who diagnosed calcific tendonitis based on pain location and range of movement. Over the counter ibuprofen barely touched it, but GP prescribed stronger anti-inflammatories which really helped.

The good news was it was intense and debilitating for a few days, but very rapidly faded and has not recurred.

This sounds exactly like the rotator cuff injury I had.

The good news is that it is repairable and involves inexpensive physio which won’t cost much privately.

The bad news is that it takes a long time to resolve. I had to do significant amounts of weights based physio exercises and almost lost faith in the process after about 6 months. I was assured if I stuck to the process it would work. In the end it took about 12 months.

I’m so happy I did as I’m pain free now. It would have been so easy to have given up and just accepted the condition was something I had to live with but that’s a slippery slope to go down.

Could just be a pulled muscle. Hurt like fuck for a few days then get better.