Painful shoulder for 10 weeks now...

[Pebbles574]

In September I took some medication which made me sleep very very deeply for a few nights and gave me terrible headaches. At the same time I developed a painful shoulder, which I assumed was because I'd slept on it heavily without moving for hours overnight.

Saw a physio for 2-3 visits, which helped initially. She said I had 'knots' in my muscles and gave me exercises etc.
It's not as bad as it was, but I still have some stiffness/pain and I don't know what to do next?

DH says go to GP, but from past experience I think GPs are bad at dealing with vague pains such as this.

Friends are suggesting:

• acupuncture

-vitamin D

• heat packs

I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever go away!
Ideas? Sympathy?

I can only give you the benefit of my horrible experience of shoulder pain.

I woke up one morning with a sudden painful shoulder and horrible neck pain. The neck pain eventually went after a few weeks but the shoulder pain continued and wouldn’t go away. Eventually it got to the stage where the pain was waking me up at night so I booked an appointment with the GP. Had to wait a month for an appointment with him and then another month for a scan and then another month to see the GP to discuss the scan result.

Scan showed a slight tear in the muscle and GP gave me a cortisone injection and referred me for physio ( another 6 weeks wait!) The injection and the physio just made it worse.

18 months from when the pain first started I had practically lost the use of my entire arm and even had pain in my little finger.

Eventually after sobbing in pain and frustration at a physio session the therapist referred me to a consultant who diagnosed a text book frozen shoulder that would only get better through a manipulation under general anaesthetic. He couldn’t believe how long I’d put up with the pain and said that no amount of physio was going to fix it.

Luckily I have private health insurance that kicks in once you’ve seen a consultant so I had the manipulation done privately very quickly ( the NHS wait time was 3 months) After that I had 10 more physio sessions and I fully recovered.

Thanks Angels - that sounds like a horrible experience!

The thing that is confusing me with my situation is that I haven't lost my range of movement at all. DH had a frozen shoulder and could barely move it, but mine isn't like that.

The physio showed me how to use a tennis ball to put pressure on some of the most painful parts (by lying on the floor or against a wall) and I definitely have some tight spots where I feel I just want a continuous deep tissue massage (!) but although it gives me temporary relief it doesn't solve the problem.
I can't decide if I should be stretching even more, or if this is damaging the muscles?
I just don't know what to do for the best?

I can offer sympathy. I'm going on ... 5 yrs with my dodgy shoulders? Not found anything to fix 'em, either.

Hi, I can totally empathise with this. My problem went on for almost a year before it was diagnosed and treated. Apparently shoulder problems are notoriously difficult to diagnose and problems can mimic and mask each other. I was initially told it was impingement and a steroid injection failed. Then it worsened, severe pain and increasing stiffness and was told it was too frozen for physio. Long story short I had hydrodilation to release it followed by on going physio and It's proved to be a miracle for me. Good luck op

Forgot to add, you should see a gp so that you can get on the road to an accurate diagnosis and treatment

I saw a GP & did not get diagnosis (or treatment, really). They ruled out arthritis, is all. Other people seem to have more productive experiences, admittedly.

I had shoulder pain for a long time following a spate on crutches. My GO referred me for physio but it really didn't help. I was given exercises which I did religiously and when I saw the physio he used to perform very light massage in the general vicinity of the pain. Almost like he was imitating strumming a guitar across my back. I totally identify with the feeling of constantly wanting a deep tissue massage and in the end this was the route I went down. I saw a couple of local massage therapists who specialised i injuries but even they didn't seem to go at it hard enough. I felt like I needed someone to really burrow in deep around my shoulder blade and eventually the third person I went to did just that. She is small but my god she is strong and brutal! The relief after just one session was immense but it all tensed up again a few days later and I ended up seeing her weekly for 6 months before we eventually cracked it and now I just see her every couple of months for maintenance as it does still tense up a little bit over time. Getting it fixed was expensive but worth every penny!

Anyway, in between sessions she advised me to use a device called a "back nodger" which I bought for £30 on Amazon and I can't recommend it enough. It is a little gadget that you can use to put deep pressure on trigger points whenever you need to and as often as you need to without the need for contortions and I honestly wouldn't be without it now as it allows me to reach all the bits that I even struggled to get a tennis ball into. If you google it you will find videos demonstrating how to use it and how effective it is. I know I might sound a bit evangelical but it really did change my life! Get one and see if it helps!