What is the cause of achy pain in the arm and shoulder?

[Travelharmony]

Has anyone experienced aching, stiff arms and shoulders and difficulties putting their bra on? I am having problems reaching back to fasten the hook of my bra. It can be painful when I take it off. I also can’t properly straighten my arm to the right or lift it up high.

I can still write, carry and hold things.

A few months ago, I was diagnosed with golfer's elbow (phone consultations only). I think the physio may have given me the wrong diagnosis. I have read about the symptoms online.

I have exactly that and the good news is, it has very slowly been getting better after a year. I know this because I suddenly realised I could raise my arm higher up my back to do up my bra although I don’t think I’ll ever regain as much flexibility as my other arm. I can raise / straighten it now too.

I don’t know what the condition is called though so will await further posts with interest..

I have those issues due to arthritis in my shoulder.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polymyalgia-rheumatica/ PMR. Worth seeing GP

I’ve currently got a severe rotator cuff injury and the beginning felt exactly as you describe. It gradually got worse as I didn’t address it. My pain is in the shoulder and my upper arm. It’s all to do with pain when you move the arm away or behind your body. Classic sign is bra problems 🤣

Frozen shoulder. I’ve had it twice. The difficult bra manoeuvre is the cardinal sign.

Can you ask for a physio appointment?
We can self-refer for physio locally.

Sounds like frozen shoulder, and you are in the painful freezing phase, then you have the frozen and the thawing stages. Can take a while to resolve and more common in perimenopausal women

I literally feel your pain. I have had the worst shoulder pain lately. I'm 51 so maybe par for the course. I have found that exercise releases it, its the only thing that works actually.

I've had shoulder impingement which is miserable and painful, but not as severe as frozen shoulder.

Made better by physio. Basically posture. Physio's advice "Stick your tits out".

Also sounds like the start of a frozen shoulder to me. How high can you raise the affected arm?

It tends to resolve by itself over time but can take months. Look up the Harvard frozen shoulder physio exercises as I found that they helped mine.

Some people also swear by acupuncture.

Same here the only thing that helped with the pain & very limited movement was steroid injections I had two over the course of six months, still a bit painful reaching behind or stretching still a bit limited, the other shoulder/arm is now going the same way am beyond fed up with it.
my advice get a physio appointment if manipulation & exercises don’t help then a steroid injection may help, hope you get it sorted.

I’ve had cervical radiculopathy which was like that but with additional pins and needles. It was incredibly painful and I had to take some serious painkillers and do physio for 3 months. It was really bad for about 3 months and then it eased. It’s still not 💯 a year later but it’s getting there. I’m pretty sure it’s related to the menopause because every time I forget to change my HRT patch I can feel the aches and pains more.

Frozen shoulder. Excruciating. Look into dilatation (injection into shoulder via guided X-ray)

Another possible to add to the list. Maybe it could be a trapped nerve in your neck or the vertebrae between your shoulder blades.

Is it frozen shoulder? Apparently common in perimenopause

I had this mine is calcific tendinitis.

Frozen shoulder?

Glad you posted this as I've been experiencing the same, think I need to see the GP as I'm in perimenopause 😩 I've just started HRT patches so hoping they will help a bit.

Tendonitis (repetitive strain injury), frozen shoulder or damage to the rotator cuff. You need an MRI to diagnose exactly what it is and do it soon because you risk causing further pain and damage. Getting my arm into and out of my coat sleeve can be the most painful thing when I forget my stupid shoulder is fecked. Weirdly enough shoulder problems, particularly frozen I think, are common in menopause

Hi all.
I filled out an online triage form this morning. I hope I receive a call from them today.
My joints are stiff and achy, and I've woken up a few times throughout the night.

Thank you all for your responses.

May I ask what is self-refer for physio?
Thanks.

I'm thinking... could it be a perimenopausal symptom? I'm still peri.

Usually you can refer yourself straight to physio as in you don't need to see a doctor to do it. Check out your GP website online or ask the receptionist how you do it 👍

It certainly sounds like when i had a frozen shoulder (try fastening bra at the front then twist that round to the back before putting your arms through the straps). Personally did not have those symptoms with perimenopause, mine was a repetitive strain that caused the problem.

I had frozen shoulder in my 40s, GP sent me to a shoulder triage unit and they organised a steroid injection. I had several exercises a few times a day straight after the injection and it released. It would ache from time to time afterwards but I found if I did a few days of the exercises it would settle down.
By chance I realised that I had no ongoing trouble when I was swimming breaststroke regularly and 15 years on I fortunately haven't had a repeat.

Update.. Physio on Monday.

Thanks again all. x