Shoulder impingement - pain!!

[Toffeewhirl]

Has anyone had this? I pulled something in my shoulder when I stretched one day. Was painful and couldn't raise my hand behind my back.

Saw physio who helped a bit and gave me exercises. Then went on a weekend break to Lisbon, slipped on the cobbles and landed on that arm.

Now the pain is worse than ever. I can barely do the physio exercises and keep my arm pinned to my side to protect it. If I move it wrong or bang it, it's so painful I feel sick.

I can't sleep properly at night because of it, so that's making me grumpy too.

I'm usually fairly stoic if I'm ill, but I'm not being stoic at all this time. I'm thoroughly fed up. Especially because the physio said if it's developing into frozen shoulder, it will take months to heal.

Has anyone had anything like this? If so, what helped?

Oh wow, sounds like a dream come true!

I had impingement and had a subacromial decompression operation. It was a miracle. The physiotherapist made it hurt much more.

The pain is awful, I have had it since February and despite two injections it is still bad.

I'm currently taking naproxen and zapain but at times they don't ease it at all.

Front fastening bras and sizing up for t-shirts etc really helps.

I strained my rotator cuff at the beginning of August. Physio gave me a leaflet with some simple exercises which I only did occasionally. I seemed to be getting worse so started doing the exercises twice a day plus some extra ones I found online. After two months I'm finally beginning to make a little progress. The shoulder is very complex and takes ages to heal, in my opinion the exercises make the whole joint stronger over time. Sleeping is still a bit difficult. I rub on White Tiger Balm at night and take paracetamol. I'd never heard of Tiger Balm before but it's very effective.

Ive had same thing for over 2months and was prescribed Naproxam a it works for longer I take it at 11pm and much better sleep told once inflammation of tendon goes down ill have more movement ive done exercises for a week I can't do the snow angle one. I also swim but not over arm . Get a xray from your gp to rule out any breaks from fall. My xray showed I have mild arthritis in shoulder but the phsio said the pain is the tendonitis. Takes a good few months to get better. Also I use a hot water bottle it really helps and voltarol gel is good. Best wishes.

Sadly shoulders and surgery don't mix well. Outcomes now are showing physio is better medium to long term than surgery. Surgery can cause more issues and pain, especially with scar tissue.

Post accident I did have a consult with a surgeon (excellent does all the AFL player shoulders here in AUS), and he said to wait 12 months and see where I'm at following my extensive physio plan.

What we're doing now I'm out of the acute phase is not only working on mobility, but more importantly making the rest of my shoulder is as strong as possible to help protect my AC joint long term.

My husband injured his shoulder in march, the week we moved house. Struggled on and said 'he'd be fine'. No need to go to dr. After three months he gave in and had a telephone appointment with Dr followed by 6 (privately paid for) physio appointments. No improvement and physio referred him to NHS Orthopaedics where waiting time was 2 years so again he paid £1300 which included Consultant twice, x-ray and MRI. Consultant says rotator cuff year which needs surgery. Checked with NHS and was told 3 year wait for orthopaedic surgery so back to paying privately. The operation is to be done privately next week, 2 months after original private consultation. It will cost £8000 on top of the previous £1300 to achieve a diagnosis.
Our savings are wiped.
He has been told by the consultant..... Following surgery you will hate me for 4 weeks. 6 weeks in a sling. Physio (more money) and 6-9 months to recovery.
So he will be in agony up to and over Christmas. I have an ongoing chronic pain condition. Wondering how to sort Christmas, the shopping, even getting the bl**dy Christmas cards written!

Don't mind me, poor dh is the one in major pain. But it will be seen to - starting in 4 weeks. It would have been years on NHS. We are lucky to have had just enough savings to cover it.

I had been interesting reading all your experiences.

Rotator cuff tear.... Not year.

@LadyB49 - I'm so sorry. This sounds awful! And just after you've moved house too! We moved four years ago and still haven't finished unpacking.

I just hope that the surgery works a miracle. And that you win the lottery to make up for losing all your savings.

I'll bear this in mind, thank you. I'm seeing the physio tomorrow.

I bought Volterol today and I think it helped, so thanks for the tip. I'm also taking regular paracetamol and keeping my arm pressed to my front so I don't knock it by mistake, so think that's helping too. The pain was definitely under better control today.

Good to hear you're improving. It's a slow process, though. I'll stick at the physio, but I do find the exercises very boring. I'm doing them every day, as advised.

I was tempted to buy Tiger Balm in Tesco today, after your recommendation, but Volterol was cheaper. Useful to know that's worth trying if the Volterol doesn't do the trick. Thanks for the tip.

See, this is why I hoped surgery might be the answer. I'm glad it worked out so well for you .

Poor you. That's a long time to suffer.

I've been looking up front-fastening bras since your post, thank you. At present, I have only one bra I can wear: it's so old and stretchy that I can put it on back to front, do it up at the front, then twizzle it round.

I like the idea of baggy tee shirts. Getting in and out of clothes is such a palaver now and so bloody painful.

I can’t even describe how agonising the pain was, like so many when I had the first steroid injection. for the first time in months I could sleep without waking up crying in pain. Unfortunately it lasted a few months and an urgent referral to a consultant resulted in a guided deep steroid injection into the joint cavity. I was awake and did think I was going to pass out at one point, I just had to concentrate on not moving even a tiny fraction. I’ve been told I need surgery and the recovery is not fast. In the meantime I am allowed one more injection. You can have a set amount as after that the steroid damages the tissue.
For anyone with a frozen shoulder going down the pain killer physio route, and having no joy if you can afford it go private. That injection gives you, your life back.

Sleeping with a pillow under my right shoulder
a massive shoulder shaped ice pack

but really I didn’t get function back until I got a cortisone shot.

the Same thing happened about 10 years ago. The doctor who did the cortisone shot said if I can make it 10
years between injections I am in pretty good shape, but I should expect the frequency to increase.

Acupuncture has been known to help with frozen shoulder, although I didn’t try it - mine went with persevering with the physio exercises. I found sleeping with the affected arm propped up on a pillow helped, and I use an orthopaedic pillow these days.

I had my shoulder impingement operated on, mine started turning over in bed, the pain was so bad I panicked & rang 111, I had physiotherapy which did nothing & after 6 months managed to get my GP to refer me to a shoulder surgeon who straight after seeing my Xrays said I needed the op. I had it done day surgery under NHS choose & book at a private hospital, went in for 7.00am, went to theatre at 9.00am & was on my way home by 1.00pm. I had to wear a sling for a few days but was out & about 3 days after surgery & driving a week after. I had physio for a month & was discharged 3 months after the operation. My other shoulder is catching now & as soon as it gets bad enough I will be getting referred back to the same surgeon.

Goodluck @Toffeewhirl . If you do end up going down the physio route, it's a hard, tedious and challenging slog to be honest, but now I'm finally seeing results and massive improvements weekly. We're now focused on end ranges; day to day I'm pretty well pain free, and finally rid of my giant cushion at work which supported my arm (much laughter from my colleagues lol).

I did find laser to be a huge help; I was included in a test group luckily using laser treatment twice weekly for 6 weeks to measure impact to increasing healing and reducing inflammation. I'm in AUS, not sure if a similar option is available in the UK.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Update: I saw the physio on Tuesday and she confirmed the frozen shoulder diagnosis (she said she thought it was going that way last time I saw her, but wasn't sure yet) and gave me some very gentle exercises to do. She said the real physio will start once I move out of the 'pain' phase and into the 'frozen' stage. She gave me a lovely massage on my neck/top of my shoulder, so I came out feeling quite relaxed.

She said tops with buttons and zips are going to be easier to wear, so I've ordered a few secondhand from Vinted.

Did a Pilates class yesterday. The teacher was very thoughtful about suggesting adaptations to the exercises for me.

It feels so odd not to be able to move my left arm normally. It's as if it hits a magnetic forcefield and won't move through it. I spend most of my time with my left arm tucked inside the pocket on my Oodie to keep it safe, as knocking it is the worst thing ever. I feel like Napoleon.

I'm intrigued as to why it's usually the left arm that's affected. And menopausal women too. The physio said there's also been a slight increase since the Covid vaccines, which I imagine is linked to the vaccination itself, not the content, as injections can occasionally trigger frozen shoulder. Not the trigger for me, though, which I know was a simple stretch.

It was my right shoulder that froze for me, but I tick the menopausal female boxes. It sounds as if you’re in the frozen painful stage (remember it well - the zingers from knocking my elbow were the most painful things ever), I just tried to keep it moving gently and the frozen painful stage only lasted 2 or 3 months. I was lucky that it resolved itself quickly with physio exercises at home and I got pretty much the full range of motion back.

Yes, the zingers are the killers. A door slammed on my left arm the other day and I was doubled up with the pain.

I agree with continuing to keep the arm/shoulder moving gently. The physio said it's important to keep the muscles working, as much as it's bearable.

I hope the pain bit passes relatively quickly, like yours did. That's great that you have full movement back again.

Beginning to read the posts,I was going to say frozen shoulder
Have had 3, physio didn't help at all. Ironically,my eldest DD who is a qualified masseuse helped me get over one in 6 weeks
That was my left arm,had it twice on the right. Physio, osteopath, which cost a fortune. I bought a book by a Swedish osteopath, called "Treat your own Frozen shoulder. You can't literally, there are pressure points. You need some one like my DD who knows anatomy and physiology. I was nursing at the time,and no-one I spoke to at that point was helped by the steroid injections, but I see a lot of folk on here have been. Ironically,DH pulled his rotator cuff, coming down hill walking the dogs, slipped on mud,hyper-extended his hand,and landed on it. He had just physio. This was 3 years ago,he had to give up work, motor trade. I said at least he knew then how I felt! I found no painkillers worked,I slept on the floor,well, I say slept!

Good to know you saw results with physio.

I can't find anything about laser treatment here, unfortunately. Sounds promising.

This DD has a frozen shoulder,she's 52 and menopausal. I diagnosed her, before the Dr,scan physio. Her words "How the fuck did you know", well because I've had 3,and quite a few years nursing.