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.

I've had rotorcuff tendinitis in one arm and frozen shoulder in the other. I've also had a pinched nerve in my shoulder and neck before (I'm a side sleeper with alignment issues!)

The rotorcuff one I still get pain with, and have limited strength in that arm. I can't lift much with it. That was probably 7 years ago.
The frozen shoulder went from unmovable to bareable within 3-4 days if I remember rightly.

Pinched nerves are excruciating as well, but I'm not sure how to explain the difference in feeling!

Sounds like early stages of frozen shoulder. The freezing stage can take a while. I had mine treated with hydrodilation and it was like a miracle cure.

That's frozen shoulder then. Try to get a cortisone injection asap as it can really help, especially in the early stages.

OP have you had a virus recently? An outside chance it could be this: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15390-parsonage-turner-syndrome
I had similar symptoms to you and was diagnosed with the above last year - thankfully all recovered now.

It sounds like the start of frozen shoulder. Mine started with pain that went on for weeks on end, then the pain subsided for a bit and then it started to freeze. I’m currently still in this state 3 months later. I can’t fully lift my arm over my head, can’t fasten a bra behind my back, washing my hair is a struggle. I’m doing physio and I’m I’ve got naproxen for when the pain flares up.

It could be early frozen shoulder or it could be a rotator cuff issue. If your GP practice has someone with a musculoskeletal specialty then get booked in with them.

My frozen shoulder started with it being achey and I’d put it down to lifting and carrying for a house move. The loss of range of movement with little pain (initially) was a surprise. I was lucky that it resolved itself in 6 - 8 months with physio: https://www.health.harvard.edu/stretching-exercises-frozen-shoulder).

I suspect I currently have a rotator cuff issue with my other shoukder, my range of movement isn’t afftected other than it’s sore putting my hand behind my back. I can still play golf, there’s no way I could have done that with frozen shoulder.

Also take a look at the BESS website:

bess.ac.uk/

I could have written your post, I woke up with one too. Frozen shoulder. Went away gradually when I went on hrt.

Private practitioner, have a google to find an osteopath in your area, and book in

I'm just starting to come out the other side of this. I couldn't work out how/what I'd done for weeks, but it was an over use injury - too much strimming and heavy cleaning. They were talking impingement and/or frozen shoulder too.
i have strong co-codamol from the GP and some physio exercises to do, 2 months on just as I was really despairing, I can finally feel it's got a bit better and hopefully will carry on improving

Mine was cervical radiculopathy. I was in agony but had very good range of movement. The pain extended down my left arm and into my ring and little finger. Not uncommon in menopause and often misdiagnosed as frozen shoulder.The nurse postulated that it may have been exacerbated due to me having hypermobility in my shoulder.

No trauma, intense pain and sudden onset overnight, I would think less likely rotator cuff and more inclined to think calcific tendinopathy. Your GP will be able to refer you for x-ray to rule this in/out. Otherwise could be early stages of frozen shoulder. A steroid injection would be indicated for either of these. Would also refer for physio in the meantime

Physio helped me.