Had enough! - shoulder injury

[Anon662120622]

So I injured my shoulder over two months ago now, it has been a really lengthy process with the doctors/hospital and specialist. I had an MRI and it showed "tendinopathy involving thinning of the supraspinatus and minor burstitis" and the shoulder is also visibily deformed. I start physio tomorrow, but have been trying to do the exercises on the NHS website and from videos on YouTube. I'm really doubting that physio will work as I'm not getting anywhere with the excersises I've tried. I can't lift my arm any further that 45° without being in absolute agony, and it physically won't go any further due to weakness. I'm worried the physio will try to force it, as the specialist did when I saw him.. he forced it to 90°, with me squealing and crying in pain and couldn't get it any further than that himself. The pain was UNBEARABLE for the next week or so because it was so brutal.

He did say that he would book me another appointment 6 weeks after the last one, and said they would consider either steroids or keyhole surgery. I'm terrified of trying the steroids as I went into psychosis after I had previously tried them (diagnosed with bipolar.)

I am absolutely miserable, I'm unable to work as its a very physically demanding job, I feel like an absolute burden and an utterly crap mum. My husband has to brush my hair and help me to get dressed, my children missed out so much in the summer holidays as I couldn't take them out anywhere (two toddlers, so don't feel comfortable taking them both out in a sling with only one free hand.) Now that they're back to school I'm unable to drive them to and from school so I have to rely on my in-laws.. Im 29 just see no light at the end of the tunnel, I can't carry on living like this!

Any positive story's or suggestions from others that have been in the same position would really be appreciated.

@Magpiepi I do now 🤣 I was always faster at fastening and unclipping from the back.

I do now, but not normally!

You have my complete sympathy OP. I've had a frozen shoulder after breakingbroken bones in my shoulder.

Shoulder pain is bloody awful. Can't sit up in bed, can't turn over, can't get comfortable. My armpit used to get so sore as I couldn't lift my arm away from my body. I remember thinking that if I could have one wish it would be that I could lie on my left side in bed - that's how desperate I was.

NHS physio was a total turning point for me. The physio was so understanding, gave me just a few very simple exercises and a whole load of tips to make life easier. It's fair to say that seeing the physio was a turning point for me. I felt a bit better every single day after seeing him.

It was about a month off work and three months of not driving for me.

I hope you feel better soon.

@SeaAndStars thank you, gosh.. that sounds awful!

it really is all consuming. speaking of armpits.. I would bloody love to be able to shave it! 😂

I'm so glad to hear the physio worked for you, I'm have mixed feelings.. I'm glad I'm going to be finally having it and am feeling hopeful but I'm also dreading going in and them forcing it around and making it worse. 🫣

I have to drive to work so I wouldn't have a chance of getting back to my primary job. Not only that, but it involves lots of heavy lifting, reaching up, stock rotation, so using one arm to pull stock forwards and the other to put new stock in the back and till work.. I know for certain I'm not in the position to be able to do any of that as it stands. It really is a shitty situation x

My experience of physios is that they absolutely don't do any forcing, pulling or anything of that sort. They observe what you are capable of and then work with that. In fact, I can't think the physio touched me at all.

I can understand your fear as the person who did my xray tried to turn my arm around and I jumped out of my skin.

You don't know until it happens to you how lovely it is just to be able to do little things like shave your armpits!!

I'm not sure if this is possible for you, but if you have a person who does acupuncture, cupping and/or Tekar near you, try it.

I have had raging tennis elbow (RH) since Feb and knackered AC joint, plus supraspinatus and another of the tendons with tendonitis in my LH shoulder since Jan. I have seen the GP, 2 different physios and eventually wanted to try acupuncture after DH recommended.

The therapist has used acupuncture and cupping on the shoulder and high, high intensity Tekar on the elbow and for the first time in months, the pain is reduced and in my shoulder, the range of motion without pain has significantly increased. I'm even back doing some gym work to try and increase my strength again.
The therapist is a bit woo, but she's lovely and the treatment is working. Good luck x

I dislocated and broke my shoulder in January and had 17 weeks of physio..I was in tears a couple of sessions but it made a difference. Now got 95% of movement back. I started back at the gym in April and can do pretty much everything

I’ve recently suffered very similar I had a torn shoulder muscled - shredded was the way the consultant described it and he didn’t think it would repair itself so offered surgery and advised I would need general anaesthetic.. I couldn’t wash my hair properly, dress, or hang out washing or lift anything above 45 degrees. Sleeping was difficult as I’m a side sleeper and it was painful during the day

There was a 16 week wait for the op so I rested my arm as much as possible and kept it close to my body and still all the time. I upped my protein intake making sure I had some at every meal, such as eggs, fish, lean meat, dairy etc., as protein helps repair muscle and as I attend the gym twice a week I did some very gentle exercises to keep my other arm muscles in shape. No lifting though!

I did learn to peg washing out with one hand but after about 12 weeks noticed that subconsciously I was raising my poorly arm when doing so, so started experimenting and found that it had more flexibility and less pain. I had a pre op appt with my consultant and when I told him he said that it wasn’t worth the risk of an op now and referred me back to the physio. I haven’t found their exercises helpful so I’m finding my own path by gradual gentle exercise. It’s not back to normal but definitely slowly improving. I do a lot of gardening which has helped

They say time is a great healer. The process I’ve described took about 15 months from first reporting problems to now in which time it got worse before it got better.

Maybe this will give you some hope. I feel for you and hope it inspires you a little

I'm in the same position and have been for 5 months! I've been having private physio and no improvement, they have mentioned rotator cuff and shoulder impingement (but not a bony impingement).

I am seeing an nhs physio in 15 mins!

Wish me luck. I am hoping for a scan referral but suspect I will get given the same exercises to do that I've been doing for 5 months because nobody can use their brain ime.

And the worst thing is struggling to wash my left armpit because I struggle to move my right arm across my body...I need to investigate a scrubbing brush I think.

I had a shoulder operation in 2023 as I fell over & smashed my shoulder ball clean off & there’s now a metal plate holding it in place! And as soon as the cold weather starts, I start getting pain so I fully sympathise. I had to have physio to get the use of the joint back as I couldn’t lift my arm above waist height at first. Shoulders are the WORST! I survived by mixing ice packs (you can get one from Amazon specifically for the shoulder), heat packs but the thing that was a god send was Biofreeze gel. It’s super strong & provided instant relief!! Great stuff!

I hope you manage to get it sorted soon

Magnesium and epsom salt baths, castor oil packs and CBD pain patches are all useful but obviously not at the same time.

Physio and then specific home exercises to increase mobility.

Hrt and anti inflammatory diet made a big difference as did acupuncture.

Lastly it just takes time.

Since 2020 I have had two different frozen shoulders one starting six months after the other resolved and just recovering from some sort of inflammation/impingement.

It’s very tedious.

Update :

I've just gotten home from my first physio appointment, The physio therapist thinks something might have been missed on the mri because of the amount of pain I'm still in, along side the limited range of movement. He thinks they might not of scanned down far enough on my shoulder and has essentially said that he doesn't think they're really going to be able to help to do anything other than to keep my shoulder moving.

He thinks I need another mri or scan further down on the back of my shoulder and seemed like he didn't really want to push me at all. He has given me some excersises to do and has told me to chase up my next appointment with the shoulder specialists in Salisbury.

He did say to stop wearing the sling and try to support it against my side, rather than allowing my arm to relax into the sling, as I'm obviously going to be losing muscle strength if I'm not using the muscles at all.

He was absolutely brilliant.. a very straight to the point man, but the highlight of the session was that I told him I don't want to be deformed for the rest of my life and said "it looks bad, doesn't it?" To which he replied yes. 😂😂 I burst out laughing and told him he was suppose to make me feel better and could've atleast tried to say it didn't look that bad. We all had a little giggle (there was a student there too.)

Glad you had a good appointment

Ive been referred for an ultrasound which I’m pleased about

Glad your physio went ok OP - I have been in agony for 4 months
now. I'm paying for private physio and am seeing a specialist later this month when I'm hoping to have a cortisone injection. The MRI showed tendonitis, bursitis and a tear.

My movement is starting to improve a bit now and the worst thing is disrupted sleep. I'm averaging about 5 hours a night.

It is such a bad injury. so painful doing anything, particularly brushing my hair.

I had this and had keyhole surgery. Took a while to recover but now am pain free with full range of motion. Physio can’t always solve it!

I had the surgery privately under insurance.

@YanTanTetheraPetheraBumfitt amazing, hopefully they'll be able to get to the bottom of it. 🤞best of luck x

@Giddykiddy I feel for you, It's awful isn't it.. it just feels like such a long, dragged out process.. the first specialist I saw said I was in too much pain for him to assess me and said he'd book me in for another appointment in 10 days 😳 went to the dr and he sent me straight to another specialist. When I say my shoulder is deformed, I mean it's atleast three inches lower that the other so I have a feeling it'll be surgery rather than conservative treatment.

I hope your recovery carries on getting easier.

They say a break is better than a muscular injury as it's so much quicker to heal, I know the feeling.. hubs has to help me get undressed, brush my hair and has mastered a half decent ponytail. I can't raise my arm any higher that 45 degrees due to weakness. X

@Twilightstarbright
I'm glad you're doing better, I'm thinking surgery will be my outcome too x

Mine was a frozen shoulder and I had a steroid injection into my shoulder, which didn’t cure it straight away but was the start of it improving.

I didn’t find physio helpful. Ibuprofen helped and cocodamal if I woke in the middle of the night.

Have they mentioned surgery? I have friends who were really helped by surgery

Sending sympathy and wishes of good health!

I broke my shoulder and my hip about three years ago. The hip needed a metal plate and screws and the shoulder they just left it.

It was honestly way more painful than the whole hip recovery. I still can't lift my arm fully straight up above my head.

I also couldn't believe at the time I hadn't broken my elbow as the pain transferred down so strongly. Couldn't write or wash myself or brush teeth properly for about three weeks!

I really hope the physio can help. X

@GoldPoster I've heard frozen shoulder is awful, I'm glad you're feeling better. I went manic and struggled with psychosis after having steroid injections to mature my little girls lungs, as she was premature. After revising into it, it's quite a common reaction for steroids to effect people with bipolar in that way. I'm so down as it is already because I feel so useless and as though I'm just a burden on my family. I really don't think I'd want to risk doing the injection.

They did mention surgery, and I got the impression that the physio refused to touch me because he felt that would ultimately be the outcome, and wouldn't want to do any further damage.

I had keyhole surgery earlier this year to sort out my shoulder that had not fully recovered from a very nasty 4 part fracture and dislocation 2 years before that.

i was given a steroid injection beforehand as they said how I reacted to that (well) indicated surgery would be successful, as I was not keen for them to do surgery with an unknown outcome. Mine was some impingement and some scar tissue so they did 4 procedures at once. It took about 6 months to feel the full benefits but my arm and shoulder no longer hurt all the time and the movement is at least 90% of what it should be, so it was worth it. I can never get 100% movement as the bone has healed a bit wonky, but losing the constant pain is a winner. Just get the odd ache which is to be expected.

Hope you can get some answers and results soon.

I'm currently dealing with possible nerve damage in my shoulder which is causing my whole arm and hand to go into spasms randomly. It also aches all the time.
Currently on naproxen to hopefully reduce any inflammation and codine for pain while waiting on a physio appointment.
I'm the same as you, 60mg of codine makes me super sleepy, so what I do is take 30mg or 45mg in the morning, 30mg during the day and 60mg at night (to help me sleep through the discomfort). Codine comes in both 15mg tablets and 30mg versions so you can ask for 15mg to help tailor your pain relief needs and sleepyness.
I'm no where near as sleepy on 30mg compared to 60.