Horrendous pain in shoulder area :(

[Itsalldramarama]

For the last few months I have had pain in my left shoulder and it's for progressively worse , I saw doctor 2 weeks ago who said it could be frozen shoulder and gave me naproxen which hasn't mDe a jot of difference , I have appointment for cortisone injection next week , does anyone know how effective this is ?
In tears this morning with the pain , couldn't even fasten my brA ! Pain is spreading to arm and wrist and I'm feeling so frustrated, I'm never Normally poorly ! First time I've seen a doctor in 4 years ! Movement is getting restricted as well , I've tried a range of painkillers and nothing even takes the edge off , tried tramadol out of desperation and it just kept me awake all night scratching like I have fleas ! Any one else had similar pain in shoulder ? I'm terrified the other one will go the same way !!

I don't know anything about frozen shoulders but IME doctors (the NHS?) are not very interested in physical pain that isn't otherwise a threat to health IYSWIM.

An osteopath sorted me out in only 3 sessions (hip pain) after months of getting no help from GP. £120 well spent IMO.

Thanks jump , that's an option to look into , il see if the injection helps , doctor had made a referral to muscular skeleton clinic but not holding my breath!! It's just so frustrating! I'd rather give birth the pain is bad ! Like the worst toothache ever . It's relentless, even at rest and horrific when I try to move it !

If it is a frozen shoulder you need to keep it moving as much as you can. I had one for 3 years because no-one explained that the more you rest it, the stiffer it gets.

If you have a shower, get it as hot as you can bear it and spray it directly on the shoulder, then swing the shoulder while its warmed up.

The injections do help, but physio, and maybe the osteopath would have better long term results

Thank you , yes I have been doing that in shower , really hot , then I can just about wash my hair in a fashion ! I have been just swinging it back and forth , scare to force it up or back as I'm scared it will damage it more ! It's so frustrating isn't it when you can't even dress your self !! Need to teach my 8 year old how to fasten a bra incase his dad's not about !! Sat with a hot water bottle on it now then going to try and pull my self together to get motivated! Never had a pain get me to crying point before :(

Oh and I can't get my arm up enough to shave my armpit !! Happy days !

It might be a herniated bulging disc in your neck. Can often cause extreme shoulder arm hand pain

Really :( wouldn't that cause any pain in neck ? It's not the top part of my shoulder it's more inside the joint near my chest if you see what I mean and weirdly the out side of my arm ! Hard to describe really ! The doc had me do a range of movements and it not bad moving arm out in front just horrific moving back like to fatten bra or up to shave or put deodorant on ! Guess il have one hAiry smelly pit ;) got to laugh or il start crying again ! Just managed to clean kitchen floor now to tackle Hoover ! Hubby took little one out and told me to rest but I can't just sit about !

Agree with others, you might have something going on/trapped nerve in your neck and maybe a visit to an osteopath might be helpful. You can get referred by your GP but there is usually a long wait so perhaps you could go privately? Our local ones charge about £35 - £40 per session.

I have this exact problem, I am currently going to a physio and doing the exercises she has given me. The shoulder is becoming looser, but it is agony if i turn it the wrong way. I find ibuprofen helps a bit, as does a wheat bag heated up.

What exercises had physio recommended ? I've got nepraxin anti inflammatories but not helping , I've just took some and some disolvable co codon OK to see if that helps , just been swinging the arm but wonder what else I can do ?
Thanks for all your replys , I mention possibility of neck / trapped nerve too when I see doc for injection

Frozen shoulder is awful, my mum had it and DH has had it too. You need to be referred for physio although it probably won't help, it should stop it from getting as bad as it might do. They don't really know what causes it but it seems to go away on its own eventually.

DH says the pain is like when you look at a cooked chicken and how the wing separates from the body. I don't know how descriptive that is!

try and get some physio if you can...I struggled for years on and off with a dodgy shoulder.

I think it's because I broke my collar bone as a teen, it's shorter and kinked compared to the other one, plus having burly babies to lug about, and a job that means I am making lots of repetitive arm manoeuvers

Took about six months of repeated painkillers and a couple of private physio sessions before I made it to the NHS system but have been okay for years now. Just the occasional crick, but I watch my posture, am spending less time at work and the baby no longer needs carrying he is 18 now!!

I used diclofenac, plus paracetamol with codeine, plus heat packs. Those stick on giant plaster types are great when you are having to go out and about.

I would strongly advise booking an appointment with a private physio while you are waiting for NHS referrals.

This is my shoulder story..
Had a nagging pain in between my shoulder blades on and off for a few months. Ignored it. Woke up one Thursday in May in lots of pain. To cut a long story short, I was misdiagnosed by minor injuries clinic with frozen shoulder. Told to keep moving it. Saw GP a few days later (after the weekend) and it was indeed a bulging disc trapping the radial nerve. The radial nerve was also very bruised, which turned out to be the bigger problem. Had 6 weeks of private physio and acupuncture while waiting for NHS referral to come through. Had 5 weeks off work as my work exacerbated the problem. Had to wear a soft neck collar off and on for 6 weeks. When I did return to work, it was on a medical phased return of mornings only for another 6 weeks. I left my job at that point which was already planned (had resigned back in March).

6 months later, I am just about to be discharged from NHS physio. I am still on Amitriptyline every night because the nerve has not fully healed and may not do so.

I do not wish to scare you but go and see a physio. It was the best money I have ever spent.

I don't know if you have what I had/have, but I was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder last year. When I first went to the doctor with the pain they said I had to wait 6 months to see if it got better. I went back 5 months later because it wasn't getting better, it was getting a lot worse, so then they sent me for the cortisone injection.

The injection didn't fix it immediately, there was an initial pain free period, then it came back, but from that point it was slowly getting better. I was given exercises to do, which I did a bit sporadically, along with more regular general exercise, and almost a year later I have the odd twinge, but I have full movement and nothing like the problems I was having.

It does sound like you are having it much worse than I did. I had a permanent dull ache but the only really bad pain was when I made particular movements - closing the car door was one, strangely. And when my 4-year-old would suddenly jump into my arms.

Good luck with the cortisone injection, I hope it helps.

Having had 2 frozen shoulders my advice would be to ICE the shoulder to reduce inflamation .Alternate ice with heat if you must but finish on ice .

See a physio or oesteopath asap .Hold off exercising until you have professional advice .

Alternate ibruprofen with paracetomol for pain .

I agree with gingeroots about the exercise and pain relief. Be very careful what you do. It sounds like your GP isn't too sure if they have said "it could be a frozen shoulder".

I had something like this - if I moved it the wrong way, it felt like someone was shoving a sword through my shoulder and sometimes hurt in a line all the way down my arm to my fingers. (That might only make sense if it hurts like that for you, too.) It constantly hurt enough to make me feel queasy.

It was like that for a couple of months until I went to the osteopath who did something that magically fixed it. It took a couple of days for the residual pain to go away but the worst of it was just gone.

However this sort of thing happens to me regularly; I think I'm prone to it. If you're in London and want the name of my osteopath, let me know. He's very good and quite quick to refer people on if he feels it's not within his remit (I like that a lot!)

Thank you , I haven't tried ice but heat gives some relief from the pain when just resting it but not from any movement which still makes me Yelp ! Il give it a go ! Sounds quite a common problem ! I'm in the north eAst , il look into physio options and osteopaths

Itsall, I have to use a pole held in front of me to push the sore arm away from the body, then hold pole begin me to try and raise my arms begin my back. So hard to explain, sorry! Maybe google physio exercises for frozen shoulder.

I feel your pain! Have had shoulder issues since 2012, started with Physio but didn't get better, have been on Naproxen all the time it just takes the edge of the pain enough to make it bearable. 1st cortisone injection in 2014 lasted about 4 months, 2nd one this year 4 weeks! Back to Physio again it would appear he has never seen anyone with so little movement in a shoulder. If Physio doesn't fix it I will gave to be operated on, not going under the knife unless they guarantee it will be a miraculous cure.