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?

All these symptoms here! A few years ago my dog yanked on the lead and tore my shoulder muscles, leading to intermittent flare ups - at the moment awful. Pulling the duvet up in the night is terribly painful.

May I ask, does one go to GP first or to a physio? When I went to the GP five or so years ago he said that nothing worked

It's not a fun club to belong to . How long have you had it, @Twilightstarbright? Sounds rough.

I started by paying for private physio because I wanted immediate help. When the pain and freezing became worse, I booked in to see the GP.

As the physio said, she doesn't have X-ray eyes, so she can't see if there's a tear. I'm hoping the GP will refer me for an X-ray or MRI.

Maybe I should have gone to the GP first, but it wasn't really bad enough at first.

@Toffeewhirl since March 😬

Mine is left arm too!

Now at exactly a year since mine started hurting. In that time I've gone through the agonising pain if I even so much as brushed it on anything, so much pain first thing in the morning, physio, 2 cortisone injections, and the really frozen phase.

Physio suggested cocodamol at night to help me sleep. I found sleeping on my right with my left hand tucked between my knees to keep my shoulder steady helped.

My movement has been improving since the injections, which really helped, but there are certain movements I struggle with and it's still a bit sore and stiff in the morning.
I'm 42, so right age for it, and have been on thr progesterone only pill for 7 years, which physio thinks contributes as my oestrogen is dropping due to age.

OP, I have had similar. Gradually increasing symptoms, saw private physio, rotator cuff injury diagnosed, started improving with rehab exercises. I then fell and shot my arm out to protect me - didn't make contact with anything but the pain was off the scale, temporarily. My physio assessed me and was concerned I might now have torn the labrum, which would require surgery.

He sent a letter to my GP, asking them to refer me for an MRI, and in the meantime I had to rest the joint (working it if labral tear could have made things worse). The GP did this without seeing me after a phone consult.

Luckily, the MRI confirmed it was "just" an RC injury - full thickness supraspinatus tear and partial thickness other one (can't remember which). Physio and strength training sorted it (well, the injury is permanent unless i have surgery one day) and I never feel it now and strength train quite seriously.

This was a few years ago and my NHS MRI referral came through quite quickly. If not, I would have considered paying for one if possible. It was vital to know what the injury was given conflicting signs, and starting rehab as soon as possible will have helped.

Good luck.

As shoulder issues can be so.complex, prone to mis-diagnoses & can often involve long periods of severe discomfort & pain (which can impact work, family life, mental health), the quickest & easiest route to a solution is likely to be a visit to a shoulder specialist plus diagnostic MRI. In practice, this means going private unfortunately & even privately there are waiting lists due to covid/deterioration of NHS provisions. This way can avoid months of repeated physio visits, which can work, but frequently just chip away at a problem which might be helped more quickly by this "one stop shop" approach.

@Twilightstarbright Has hydrodistention/hydrodistention been considered? Less invasive than surgery, one up from injections. My double frozen shoulders were triggered by surgery nearby to the area on one side so it would've been ironic if I'd needed surgery to fix it!

@Twilightstarbright - oh, that's grim. This does seem to be of those things that takes ages to heal .

A year!

Good to hear the injections helped. That's a useful tip about sleeping with hand tucked between knees. I haven't found the right position yet. I've tried sleeping on my back, with my left arm on a rolled-up towel, but it feels unnatural to me. Last night I slept on my right side, hugging a pillow, with my bad arm resting on that. DH just has to fit round all the paraphernalia!

I have oestrogen in my HRT, but maybe I've still experienced a drop in overall levels. There doesn't seem to be anything good about losing oestrogen as we age .

@MsMartini - that sounds very similar to my experience. I'm sure my fall after the initial over-stretching injury has done something bad. I fell on my bad arm too - disaster!

That's not good that you're stuck with the injury, but at least it feels better now. Is the only way to repair it with surgery?

I haven't been doing enough exercise in the past two years, so this has prodded me to start taking better care of myself again.

Sounds like I have a lot of exercise ahead of me!

Thank you for this advice. I'll bear this in mind. The sooner it's sorted out, the better. It has such a negative impact on everyday life.

@HauntedDishcloth they haven’t but I’ll mention it in my next appointment. I think I’m going to get a second opinion anyway.

I had an inflamed tendon which I had 2 cortisone injections for. The first gave me cortisone flare which was incredibly painful. The second was injected using a scan and helped for 3 months before the pain returned.
I was eventually referred for sub acromial surgery on NHS and after a bit of physio got full motion back. It was such a relief.

It's been a long journey. I miss yoga, and when it started I'd been doing online live workouts (suspect this is when i injured it) for 2 months and I was feeling really good in my body. When I talked to friends they asked about jogging or walking as exercise and it's just not possible - my arm had to be as still as possible because even the slightest movement triggered the pain flare.

Lots of painkillers and my physio told me to do my physio exercises about an hour later, to take the edge off.

Oh also since it actually froze (May-ish), and started to thaw (summer) it's occasional awkward to move or painful or stiff but it is MUCH better than the freezing stage.

I am leery of consulting a shoulder specialist as surely they’ll be invested in ushering you into a procedure? Otoh the NHS is fob off central.

it’s like when you Google an ailment: US sites tell you you have 3 days to live; NHS says take a paracetamol…

@Toffeewhirl , it was actually good news. The FT tear can't mend itself - the tendon is flapping around - but my understanding is the other RC and nearby muscles can compensate if trained properly - hence the physio and strength training (which I was doing anyway and now do pretty seriously, never feel my shoulder). Whereas if it had been a labral tear, I would probably have needed surgery. The rule is treat the person not the scan so unless it causes me problems in the future (which may happen if i have to stop training), I won't get surgery. But the scan was vital is making sure it was safe for me to train and speed mattered.

I'm glad that was actually a good thing. Sounds like the outcome would have been much poorer if you hadn't worked so hard at physio and strength training, though. That must have lots of other benefits too.

Maybe this is the kick up the arse I needed to start exercising again.

Sounds like you had a tough time! Glad you're ok now. I can imagine the relief.

I'm reviving this thread for anyone else who gets a frozen shoulder. I've just had a hydrodilatation, where you're injected with steroid in your shoulder plus a saline solution to stretch the tendon. It was momentarily painful at times and definitely uncomfortable, but it was bearable. And I'm so fed up with the pain and immobility in my shoulder that I'm up for anything that will help.

Now feeling quite sore. Apparently it will feel sore for a few days, but then, hopefully, the pain will decrease and I'll start to regain some mobility again. Can't wait!

Good luck I hope it helps, watching with interest

@Toffeewhirl , thanks for the update and good luck!

I’m having private physio; it’s costing two arms and two legs but I went to a specialist so fingers - or rather shoulders - crossed.

I really hope that works for you, OP. I've had shoulder issues (there was another thread on here where I whinged 😂) So hard to deal with.

There is a link between shoulder issues, especially frozen shoulder, and thyroid problems. My last 'bout' started after my COVID jab, my arm and shoulder hurt after that and just got worse and worse. Lots of expensive physio and exercises made absolutely no difference. About five months later I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid, started medication and within a week my shoulder pain all disappeared. Could be coincidence, who knows, but the resolution was so quick, considering I couldn't even put my bloody coat on the week before!

@BatshitCrazyWoman - that's interesting about the link with thyroid issues. I'm glad you found a solution.

The consultant I saw said people with diabetes can end up getting frozen shoulder over and over again. How miserable.