Oh, he also has a swelling over his right clavicle. the doctor said that was inflammation of his muscle.

Hello Jeepster,

Welcome to this forum.

Sorry to read about the pain your husband is in. Forgive me, however, would you please tell me where the trap muscle is located.? Thanks

I am VERY glad that your husband went to his doctor as soon as he could. Most unfortunate that the doctor on call would not refill the prescription. May I suggest that you call again today and speak with the doctor who is on call today. Hopefully it will be another doctor. AND even if the same doctor I would twist her arm well so that at least your husband has some relief until he sees his doctor on Monday.

Do I understand correctly that your husband will have his injection tomorrow. Sure hope so.

I'm with you regarding Tylenol. I take it, but I've never been able to tell that it did anything for me.

I hope that by now the muscle relaxant is helping some.

I hope others can give some advice.

Please let us know how things go for your husband. You are a most concerned and carrying wife. WONDERFUL!!!!

RichT

You need not worry. Muscle pulls of the severity you are mentioning can take up to 2 years to heal. So you will have to wait and your husband should not induldge in movements which require the muscle. Especially lifing things from the groud or shrugging the shoulders.

Ugh! I cannot tell my husband there might be a 2 year recovery! Especially if workers comp won't cover the injury. My husband is a mechanic. On Saturday he changed a differential in one car (he said he had 2 others helping him left it) and also a motor in another. He's done this hundreds of times probably. There was no immediate pain, which is what will make it difficult to prove it happened at work. The doctor even said so. When he came home from work he fell asleep on the couch for about an hour. Shortly after waking he felt a mild pain in his shoulder. Well, it has just become worse since. Sunday he couldn't move his arm well and Sunday evening I noticed the swelling on his right clavicle (collar bone) where he was complaining of a major pain. I just don't know. Last night he took 1000 mg tylenol, 2 muscle relaxants (as directed) and he had the 1/2 hour hot salt water soak. He sad that something was actually relieving the pain somewhat. I wonder if it was the soak. I am going to try to get him to take one twice daily. It can't hurt right?

As far as the doctor on call, I am leaving that up to my husband. He said that he wants to be in a lot of pain come Monday morning and tell off his doctors office and get arrested! Well, I don't see how that will really help the situation! I am more willing to go downtown and find a drug dealer to get some percasets (I am mostly kidding!).

Oh, the trapezius muscle is located from your shoulder down part of your back (triangle shaped). He is going in for a second steroid injection Tuesday morning.

Thank you!

Hello Jeepster,

Playsafe is so right. It takes TIME for a muscle injurty to heal. Much longer than our mind thinks or wants to think it does.

Now to the "lecture" - Jeepster, your husband, and I know also you, may not want to hear this, but I truly hope you do "hear".

Your husband has a choice - Either stop lifting and doing the things he did, like on Saturday, even though I know it is the work he loves, OR risk PERMANANT damage and disability. One either gives the body time to heal with proper care so one can in time do what you like to do, OR risk it all and never again do what you enjoy doing.

The choice is his (and yes, yours too).

I truly hope he "hears".

RichT

Here is the muscle.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:nL5TdG 8ebYPMVM:http://www.science-


Muscles take so much long to heal then a broken bone. Depending in the severity of the injury could take a very long time to heal and is very, very painful. Going back to you husbands type of job is not the best thing in the world. Healing takes time and rest and mucles respond well to heat. Moist or Dry. No creams please. Rip off!

I am also working through a pulled trap muscle. One thing that everyone has right is that you need to relax the muscle. I no longer have a physically demanding job, having traded my wrenches for computer programming skills, but I understand what nobody on this forum does. Sometimes you just can't give up your job requirements. One thing I would suggest, though, is that your husband switch from the hands-on greasemonkey job to a management role, or even a trainer role. It is inevitable that he would end up being unable to be a functioning mechanic at some point in his life. The natural thing is to either teach others to be mechanics or to become their boss. Even if he just does this for the time it takes for his trap to heal, it will be worth it. By the way, I pulled mine lifting weights at the gym. I can't even swim because of the pain. I alternate between an ice pack on the neck, just above the C6 vertebra, and a heating pad on the muscle. Minor stretching exercises and of all things, pushups tend to help a bit, as does my regular visit to the chiropractor. Keep working on it and try to take it easy. It will heal.